Poet Mike James to teach a poetry workshop at Writers Circle Studio, Hayesville, NC, Saturday, April 14, 2018

Saturday, April 14, 2018
Poetry workshop, Formally Speaking - 12:00 noon until 3:00 PM

Writers Circle Studio, Hayesville, NC

Formally Speaking

This class will focus on different types of traditional poetic forms such as the sonnet, the villanelle, and the sestina, and will also include other verse forms such as erasures, found poems, prose poems, and last poems.    

Mike James is the author of eleven poetry collections. His most recent books include: Crows in the Jukebox (Bottom Dog, 2017), My Favorite Houseguest (FutureCycle, 2017), and Peddler’s Blues (Main Street Rag, 2016.) 

His work has appeared in over 100 magazines and anthologies throughout the country. He has also been active as an editor for The Kentucky Review, Autumn House Press, and his own Yellow Pepper Press. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the Paterson Poetry Prize.

Read a recent interview with Mike here.

After years spent in South Carolina, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, he now makes his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his large family and a large assortment of cats

Mike James will read his poetry at Writers' Night Out in Blairsville, GA 
Friday night, April 13, 7:00 PM.   
Contact Karen Holmes - http://www.facebook.com/karenholmespoetry

WRITERS CIRCLE AROUND THE TABLE 2018 CLASSES 

Contact Glenda Beall -- gcbmountaingirl@gmail.com

Don't wait until the last minute to register for a class. If we don't have a minimum five days before the start of the class, we cancel the workshop.
                   Fee: $45.00                      Limit: 10 students

To Register for classes, send check to arrive before deadline, to Glenda Beall, Writers Circle, 581 Chatuge Lane, Hayesville, NC 28904 - Please copy and include the Registration Form page. You may also pay online with PayPal for this class. The link for this class is:

 http://www.glendacouncilbeall.com/p/schedule.html,

Local Writers to hold Therapeutic Writing Workshop on Saturday, April 7, 2018

Mary Rose Workshops

 You are invited to the premier presentation of Therapeutic Writing Workshops for Women, by Mary and Rosemary (Mary Rose).

The First Mary Rose Workshop will be held 4/7/2018. It will be led by:

Mary Ricketson

Rosemary Royston

Mary Ricketson, (left), published writer of poetry, and Licensed Professional Counselor.

********** 

Rosemary Royston, (right), published writer of poetry and prose, Master of Fine Arts, Lecturer at Young Harris College, GA.

The theme of this workshop:

Therapeutic writing, any genre:  crafting your own poem or prose

Schedule:

Saturday, April 7, 2018:

When:

10 AM – 4 PM                        $50 per person             limit 12 participants

What to bring:

A bag lunch, notebook and pencils/pens.                  Healthy drinks and snacks will be provided.

Where:

447 Pet Lane, Murphy NC 28906  

Directions will be provided upon registration.  Count on a 20 minute drive north of Murphy NC.

Arrive at a cabin in a quiet wooded setting.

 Details:

Expressive writing about your own experience, including trauma, even for only 15 minutes a day, is known to be helpful to the immune system, stabilize blood pressure, calm the body and mind, and contribute to overall good health.

This workshop is geared toward writers of intermediate and advanced levels.

Expect informative sessions, time to write, read your own words, receive and offer critique.

Break times will allow for indoor/outdoor seating, walks, conversation or quiet solitude.

Register by:

Contact Mary or Rosemary:

maryricketson311@hotmail.com

rosemary28rr@gmail.com 

Fees may be paid by cash or personal check.

Congratulations to Betty Reed of Transylvania County

We are happy to announce that Betty Reed had three poems accepted for the 7th issue of Eno Magazine (Duke University).Eno is about connecting with the natural world through artistic mediums.
Betty encouraged a new member of the Transylvania Writers Alliance to submit a poem and his is also going to be published.
Betty said, "He was encouraged and he submitted to a literary magazine in Mississippi. Two more of his poems now will be published."

This is an example of how our mountain writers reach out and help other writers. I'm sure Betty was as happy for the new member as she was for herself. Be generous toward other writers. We should not be in competition with each other. Let's help promote our fellow writers and do what we can to help them get their work published.

 

Betty Jamerson Reed, a native of Western North Carolina, enjoys playing with words. Her poems have appeared in Lucidity Poetry Journal, Living with Grief, and Friends Journal, as well as anthologies such as Echoes across the Blue Ridge, (2010), It's All Relative: Tales from the Tree (2016), as well as in the special "Signature (2016) " and "Windows (2017)" anthologies of River Poets. Two of her poems appear in Mountain Mist (2017) 

 

She is also the author of two award-winning works of nonfiction: The Brevard Rosenwald School (2004) and School Segregation in Western North Carolina (2011).

Joan M. Howard's Poetry book, Jack, Love, and the Daily Grail is available on Amazon.com

Jack, Love, and the Daily Grail, is a modern hero's attainment of the grail revealed in his widow's seventeen year long poetic journey. This is a love story of daily heroism, marriage and miracle.

Joan Howard’s poems, crafted like finely cut jewels, reflect a joyful and sustaining force in the natural world, even as the poet confronts a major loss. Whether she is kayaking on the lake “I glided into diamonds” or noting a solitary clematis blooming on her late husband’s birthday, she presents a remarkable tapestry of all our lives, in which, as William Blake wrote, “Joy and woe are woven fine.”

--Janice Townley Moore, author of Teaching the Robins

Joan Howard’s collection is pure music: love songs, laments, hymns. She has an incredible ear for sound, including rhyme and meter. This, coupled with an eye and heart for discovering the sublime in nature, gives her poems a classical feel—a formality that ups the poignancy while keeping sentimentality at bay. These are short poems, packed with grief and wonder: “Let me go,” you said, and divine / ownership took you in a breath. Howard has written a profound tribute to her beloved. It is their story and her story: the hard and beautiful necessity of moving on while never forgetting.

--Karen Paul Holmes, author of Untying the Knot

Poetry written in beauty leaves the reader with nourishing aftereffects. Happily, Howard’s sonnets, such as “Time Travel,” “The Secret,” and “Grace” shimmer with superb craft, evidence of a clear and powerful intelligence. Like those of Gerard Manley Hopkins, her use of word links: lake wed, these now years and life hearts on, create new meanings and illuminations.

--Maren O. Mitchell, author of Beat Chronic Pain, An Insiders Guide

How refreshing to find a new collection of poems filled with sincerity that takes you through a deeply moving love story. With exquisite imagery, Joan Howard reveals the beauty of nature around her before piercing the heart with human truths.

--Glenda Barrett, Visual artist, author of When the Sap Rises, and The Beauty of Silence

Joan M. Howard earned a B.A. in German Literature at Indiana University, an M.A. from the University of Oregon. She studied in Munich, Germany, and at the University of Georgia. Howard is a former teacher and lives in Athens, Georgia, and on the beautiful waters of Lake Chatuge in Hiawassee, who enjoys birding, walking and kayaking. She is a member of North Carolina Writers Network, North Carolina Writers' Network-West, and the Georgia Poetry Society.

Jack, Love, and the Daily Grail, is Joan M. Howard's second publication. Her first poetry book is, Death and Empathy: My Sister Web.

Joan’s husband was a professor of Medieval German at the University of Georgia. This book was written chronologically from 2000—2017.

A Poet of Distinction, Nancy Simpson

It was with a very sad heart that I heard the news I had feared hearing today. My mentor and teacher, Nancy Simpson, poet and co-founder of NCWN-West, passed away today, February 17, 2018. She had been ill for a few months and had surgery at Emory Hospital.

We will miss her advice, her knowledge of our history and the journey she traveled to bring writing and publishing opportunities to those who lived where the difficult terrain of these mountains made it hard to find, and form a writing community. She was a strong advocate for those of us who were being short-changed because of where we lived. She was often a force to be reckoned with when she saw discrepancies in the way the poets and writers here in our area, back in the nineties, seemed to be ignored although we paid the same dues as those in the Piedmont area.

Nancy Simpson was a poet of distinction. Her poems appeared in the best journals. She authored three poetry books, Night Student, Across Water and Living Above the Frost Line, New and Selected Poems published by Carolina Wren Press (N.C. Laureate Series, 2010.)  With the late Kathryn Stripling Byer, Nancy Simpson went to the leaders of NCWN and the NC Arts Council to insist they bring to us a program which we have used for more than twenty-five years to form a writing community that has grown in number and in quality of work published. At first the program stumbled when the original program coordinator moved away. But Nancy Simpson stepped in and dedicated her time and energy for thirteen years as program coordinator and kept NCWN-West working for all of us. 

As many of us who enrolled in classes with Nancy at Tri-County Community College can attest, she gave generously of herself to her students. With Nancy's mentoring we fell in love with poetry as she had. In my first class with Nancy at the John C. Campbell Folk School, I shyly handed her some verses I had written. "Is this a poem?" I asked. She read it, smiled, and said, "Yes, this is a poem."

Within a year I had submitted and had published several poems. So many of us in Clay and Cherokee Counties in North Carolina and Towns and Union Counties in Georgia owe Nancy Simpson more than we could ever repay.

As program coordinator, she always had two representatives in the eight counties of NC, and the north Georgia region when she had only the telephone with which to communicate to those members so far from where she lived. All counties were involved through their representatives. This was before there were any regional reps for NCWN. Unlike in a city, writing groups were scarce in our area.

Nancy taught us how to hold a critique group where everyone respected each other and no one was rudely treated, verbally attacked, or made to feel they did not belong. She was a teacher and a leader. She helped to create professional critique groups for our members. This brought writers from miles away who were looking for that kind of group.

As a teacher of writing now, I refer to my notes from Nancy's classes in 1995, 1996, and later. I pass on the teachings of my mentor, my friend. Even after she resigned as program coordinator, she stayed involved with NCWN-West. She edited our last anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, which sold nearly 2,000 copies.

Nancy Simpson was also a special needs teacher in the schools in Hayesville, NC. After teaching all day, she drove two hours one way at night to Warren Wilson College to earn her masters degree.

The death of her son from cancer was a devastating blow. I believe that was when her health began to fail. While grieving her loss, she worked day and night on Echoes Across the Blue Ridge. It was a big undertaking for someone who was in mourning. She was proud of the book and so were we all. 

She spent so much of her time encouraging and teaching others, that she fell behind in publishing her own books of poetry. When her last book was submitted to a press, I heard that the editor was not eager to publish it because of Nancy's age. Her age was not the problem. It was her health. Sadly, by the time the book came out, Nancy was not strong enough to travel and do book signings. Although all of us who knew her treasured that book, if she had been able to travel across the state so many more people would own one of them. The book is still available  Here.

To know more about this outstanding woman, visit her blog. She had the most gorgeous flower garden and joyed in sharing pictures with her readers. Read her poetry and learn from this poet who published in all the major journals and was highly respected by editors and publishers, not only in North Carolina, but from California to Maine.

While Nancy Simpson is not with us physically we will always carry with us the memories of her teaching, her mentoring and her love for poetry.

Glenda Barrett, one of Nancy's poetry students,  and Nancy Simpson

Georgia Author of the Year Deadline for Submissions Extended

Nominations for the 2018 Georgia Author of the Year Awards are now EXTENDED to February 12, 2018

Georgia Author of the Year Nomination Form 2018
Official 54th GAYA Guidelines 2018
Please review these guidelines before submitting a nomination. Download the nomination form here.
Nomination Fee: $60 per nomination
Deadline: February 12, 2018
Only chapbooks and books published within the 2017 calendar year (January 1 to December 31) are eligible. Traditionally published or self-published books are eligible, as are electronically published books on a major platform (Kindle, Nook, or iPad), for a fee of $60. For electronic books, a URL and ISBN must be provided as well as one print copy of the text for judges to review. Books will not be considered nominated if any of these guidelines are not met and materials and payment are not postmarked by February 12, 2018. First- and second-place winners will be announced at the Georgia Author of the Year (GAYA) ceremony on June 16, 2018.

Required Materials
Must be received on or before Monday, February 12, 2018 (postmarked)
Two hard-copies of the nominated book, the completed nomination form, and the $60 fee must be mailed to:
Georgia Writers Association
Georgia Author of the Year Awards 
440 Bartow Avenue #2701 
Kennesaw, GA 30144

Definition of a Georgia Author for the 54th GAYA
To be considered a Georgia author and thus eligible for nomination for GAYA, an author must meet one of the following criteria: the author must have been a resident of Georgia when the nominated book was written, though she or he may have since moved out of state; or the author must be currently living in Georgia when the book is nominated.

Definitions of GAYA Categories for the 54th GAYA
A book may be nominated in only one category selected by the nominator.
Fiction

• Detective/Mystery—A novel by a single author featuring a crime or crimes
• First Novel—First published novel by a single author
• Literary Fiction—A novel by a single author
• Romance—A novel by a single author intended for the mass-market and involving a primary focus on relationships
• Science Fiction— A novel by a single author that is grounded in the science or technology of the future
• Short Story Collection—By a single author

Poetry

• Chapbook—By a single poet and generally no more than 40 pages
• Full-Length Book—By a single poet

Nonfiction

• Biography—A life history that is a fact-based, referenced life story of a person, a group of people, or a family. This category does not include autobiography, which should be nominated under
• Cookbook—Books that contain a collection of recipes, techniques, or focus on the exploration of food, cooking, and culture of food.
• Essay—A collection by a single author that sustains a single topic or theme. May not be an anthology of essays by multiple authors
• History—Research-based books which use narratives to examine and analyze past events
• Inspirational—Books on topics in self-help, life improvement, motivational, religious, or spiritual.
• Memoir—A book that is an account of one’s personal life and experiences by a single author
• Specialty Book—Books that include a visual element such as art or photography.

Children’s Book—Books written for ages 9 and younger by a single author (and/or illustrator). A children’s book includes picture books and can be fiction or nonfiction.
GLBTQ—Works produced by or for the GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer) community and can be fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.
Graphic Novel—A narrative work where the story is told not only through words, but also sequential art and can be fiction or nonfiction.
Young Adult—Books written for ages 10 and older by a single author (and/or illustrator), and are either fiction or nonfiction.

In the Event a Category Has Fewer than Four Nominees
If a category has fewer than four nominees, authors will have the opportunity to move their books to the next best category. For example, if there are only two books in the Romance category, the authors will be notified and may choose to place the book in the Literary Fiction category. If the author decides that no other category is suitable, the nomination fee will be refunded.
In the Event an Award Is Not Made in a Category
The Georgia Writers Association reserves the right to not award a winner in a category if it is determined that none of the nominations should win. If no winner is selected due to a lack of sufficient nominations in a category, the nomination fee will be refunded. However, if the category judge determines that a category has no first– or second–place winner, the nomination fee will not be refunded.

 http://files.constantcontact.com/8a70c697001/f752b2c5-7285-4575-b92d-0c2dc9e9127a.pdf?ver=1509630037000

Now Available: Second Book by Karen Paul Holmes

"Like a circus aerialist who makes us gasp one moment and laugh the next, the poet takes us from her immigrant father’s Macedonian roots to her own maturity, to the life of a woman who is smart and well-read yet knows her way around a Coney Island hot dog..."

- Poet David Kirby

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"Her title may signal quantum physics, but it’s also how close this poet whispers in her reader’s ear."

- Poet Denise Duhamel

Now available
click for link to purchase:

Amazon (Kindle & Paperback)


Barnes & Noble (Nook & Paperback)


KarenPaulHolmes.com (Signed copy)


Terrapin Books