Hayesville Library to Host Local Writers Nov. 12 for Reading and Book Signing

You are invited:

 

Final Literary Hour for 2024 Features Benson and Plunkett

  The final Literary Hour of the 2024 season will feature local author Sandy Benson and poet David Plunkett reading from their most recent books.  The Literary Hour, sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West, will meet in the Kieth House on the J.C. Campbell Folk School campus Thursday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. and is free and open to everyone.

Sandy Benson

Sandy Benson, a retired forester, is a non-fiction writer whose new book, “Dear Folks: Letters Home 1943-1946 World War II,” is a collection of her father’s letters home from World War II.  In it, she chronicles the experiences of George David Geib, a pilot in the US Army Air Force during World War II.  His letters home vividly describe his training, travels, and wartime service, providing an authentic and detailed account of military life during that period.  In 2021 she published “My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia,” is a memoir written to help others understand and cope with the changes to a loved one brought on by the disease.

In addition to her books, she is also well-known as a local storyteller, appearing at gatherings and penning publicity releases for the Peacock Performing Arts Center in Hayesville.  In 2023 and 2024 she received awards in the Cherokee/Clay Senior Games, Literary Arts Division, and in 2024 she placed third in the statewide competition, Life Experience category.  She and her husband, Barry, live in Warne, NC, with their two bossy dachshunds.

David Plunkett

David Plunkett is a novelist and poet who will be reading from and discussing his new collection of poems, “The Blue House.”  The poems in the collection address themes of loss and hope, life in the Georgia mountains, and the human need to be loved and remembered.  His poetry has appeared in North Carolina and national anthologies.  His two novels, “Chessboard” and “Poisoned Pawn” are thrillers set in the Middle East and deal with America’s involvement in Afghanistan, and the struggle to end the world’s dependence on oil.  Plunkett lives in Young Harris, GA, with his wife, Vickie.

Murphy, NC, author Mary Jo Dyre (“Springheads,” Redhawk Publications, 2023) will host the event.

The Literary Hour at the folk school is offered every third Thursday of the month through October and brings local writers to the campus to share their work with the community.  Students and faculty of the school are welcome to attend the readings.

The John C. Campbell Folk School offers classes in folk arts and crafts and storytelling.  For information about the school, you can find its webpage and contact information at https://www.folkschool.org/.

Owens and Beal to Read at Literary Hour Sept. 19

  Poet Scott Owens and Author Donna Beal will be the featured readers at the next Literary Hour Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. in the Open House on the John C. Campbell Folk School campus. The Literary Hour is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and is free and open to everyone.

Scott Owens

        Scott Owens is the author of 22 collections of poetry and recipient of awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Pushcart Prize Anthology, the Next Generation/Indie Lit Awards, the NC Writers Network, the NC Poetry Society, and the Poetry Society of SC. His poems have been featured in The Writer’s Almanac eight times, and his articles about writing poetry have been used in Poet’s Market four times. He has twice been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award and to be North Carolina Poet Laureate. Owens holds degrees from Ohio University, UNC Charlotte, and UNC Greensboro.  He is Professor of Poetry at Lenoir Rhyne University, and former editor of Wild Goose Poetry Review and Southern Poetry Review. He owns and operates Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse and Gallery and coordinates Poetry Hickory in Hickory, NC.

Western North Carolina writer, Donna Beal, was raised in Greensboro, NC, and has lived in various towns in the eastern states. She moved in June of 2023 to her husband’s hometown of Hayesville, NC, where they live the good life with their two Chinese Crested dogs Honey Bear and Gracie Bear, an unnamed visiting bear and a gang of turkeys.

Donna Beal

        Beal is a graduate of Winthrop University with a double major in philosophy and religion and concentrations in both technical and creative writing. After college she began working in a large financial institution where she became a senior vice president and director. After retiring she pursued her interest in writing.  She has been published in numerous journals and is a member of The North Carolina Writer’s Network-West and the sistaWRITE group founded by North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green. She’s even been known to preach a few sermons.

Well known local author Mary Jo Dyre (“Springheads,” Redhawk Publications, 2023) will host the event.

The Literary Hour at the folk school is offered every third Thursday of the month through October and brings local writers to the campus to share their work with the community.  Students and faculty of the school are welcome to attend the readings.

The John C. Campbell Folk School offers classes in folk arts and crafts and storytelling.  For information about the school, you can find its webpage and contact information at https://www.folkschool.org/.

What do you think about the Good Old Days?

Many of our local poets are published in the latest anthology by Old Mountain Press, The Good Old Days. This book includes 69 poets and prose writers with the theme of anything about memories/events from the past good, bad, sad, or a funny take on the good old days, or of Summertime.

Cover photo by Carolyn York

Available in Kindle Format  for $2.99

FREE if you participate in the Kindle Unlimited and/or the Kindle Owners' Lending Library: NOTE Amazon Prime members who own a Kindle can choose one book from each month with no due dates.

One of my poems, If, is in this edition along with poems by some of my students, Donna Beal (with one L) and Alan Frutchey. This is Alan's first publication although he has been writing poetry for a long time. I am happy for both of them.  

When I send a poem to an anthology, I usually submit something I have already published in a literary magazine or a publication with a larger readership. But Tom Davis, publisher of Old Mountain Press, has a very wide audience. 

"The OMP Anthology Series consists of 55 volumes with contributions from 287 writers and poets from North America, Europe, and Africa and has sold 6812 copies. I assume that someone has read all or parts of the 6812 copies as the contributors read and gift copies to individuals who read at least parts of the anthologies. Gotta be some kind of a record," Tom tells me.

"Of note is that one person (me:-) does ALL the work (cover design---front, back, spine, interior formatting, author corrections, website design, advertising, sales, distribution of copies, I'm sure I've forgotten something...) except the printing." Tom adds, "Only those who have taken part in putting together an anthology project will appreciate this." :-)

I do appreciate this. A massive job well done by Tom Davis. I helped publish Echoes Across the Blue Ridge an anthology of work by mountain writers, with many NCWN-West members, but I did not do the technical parts as Tom does. My job was organizing sales, creating a marketing plan, and distributing the books to all Netwest county representatives and to retail outlets that sold books in my area. 

Some of our best NC poets publish in OMP anthologies, including former poet laureate, Shelby Stephenson. I know it is likely their way to support Old Mountain Press and many beginning poets, but Brenda Kay Ledford of Clay County, NC is widely published in poetry and other genres. Her work is included in every anthology Tom has published. If you like to read poetry, you will love poems by Carroll S. Taylor, YA novelist, and author of two children's books. She recently published her first poetry book, Facing Toward the East. 

I also enjoy the short prose pieces both fiction and nonfiction such as those by Celia Miles prolific mystery novelist from Asheville, NC.  Sandy Benson journalist is also the author of a memoir My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia. She submitted a short piece that I liked. 

Poetry by NCWN-West members, Mary Ricketson and David Plunkett, grace the pages of The Good Old Days. Many other excellent writers from our western North Carolina and north Georgia region can be found between the covers of this book. 

Only past contributors or someone recommended by a past contributor will be published in the Old Mountain Press. Beware, your work is not edited before it is published. Be sure you have had it edited or have had several pairs of eyes, knowledgeable eyes, on it before you send it to Tom. That is another reason to send something that was accepted elsewhere.

Be generous: If you read a poem or short prose piece that you think is extra good, that you relate to, or feel deserves recognition, take a minute and email or better, write a note to the author. 

It will make their day. We can do so much with so little effort. 

Give Yourself the Write Start in January... with a Folk School class

January 26 Weekend: "Your Write Time" 

all genres & levels of writing experience welcome

taught by Karen Paul Holmes

Come be inspired and productive while having fun in a place of beauty. Whether you’re already writing or looking for a place to begin, give yourself the gift of time in a setting conducive to creativity. Magic—inspiration, encouragement, and laughter—abounds inside the studio. 

Gain editing and publishing tips from the instructor and learn from and support your classmates’ polished and unpolished work. Return home with the motivation to continue your writing and maybe even pursue publication. 

Local residents usually qualify for a discount. 

For more information and to register visit John C. Campbell Folk School: www.folkschool.org

About the instructor:  Karen Paul Holmes won the 2023 Lascaux Poetry Prize and received a Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize anthology. Her two poetry books are No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin Books) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich Press). She's is widely published in literary journals, including Plume, Gargoyle, and Prairie Schooner, and her poems have been read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer's Almanac and by the US Poet Laureate on The Slowdown podcast. Karen founded the Side Door Poets in Atlanta in 2010 and still hosts the group monthly. At about the same time, she started a monthly Writers' Night Out in the N. Georgia Mountains and hosted it until recently. She is also a freelance writer and has taught writing workshops at local and international conferences and various venues. Karen is a member of the North Carolina Writers' Network. www.karenpaulholmes.com

Literary Hour Returns to J.C. Campbell School

  The Literary Hour returns to the J.C. Campbell Folk School March 16 at 7 p.m. with readings by popular local poet and storyteller Brenda Kay Ledford and local novelist David Plunkett.  The Literary Hour will continue every third Thursday of the month through September and is free and open to everyone.
Ledford, a Clay County, NC, native, will read from her poetry which draws on her love for the beauty, heritage, and history of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.  Her poetry collection, “Blanche, Poems of a Blue Ridge Woman,” published by Redhawk Publishing, won the Paul Green Multimedia Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians in 2022.
In addition to her award-winning poetry, she is the recipient of the Children’s Book Award for her picture book “The Singing Convention” and writes the Blue Ridge Poet blog which is dedicated to preserving the culture of Southern Appalachia through poetry, storytelling and writing.
Plunkett, who lives in Young Harris, GA, is the author of the espionage thrillers “Chessboard” and “Poisoned Pawn” published by Kindle Direct Publishing.  Readers have called “Chessboard” “intriguing and captivating,” and a well-researched book about “the shadow workings of our government.”  He will read selections from both novels and talk about his process for writing them.
The Literary Hour is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and will continue every third Thursday of the month through November 16 at 7 p.m.
        The March meeting will be hosted by Murphy, NC, poet Mary Ricketson, who is president of the Ridgeline Literary Alliance and the 2011 winner of the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest national poetry contest.
Ledford, Plunkett and Ricketson are members of the North Carolina Writer's Network-West.  The Literary Hour meets in the Living Room of the Keith House on the J.C. Campbell Folk School campus.  For more information you can contact Glenda Beall at glendabeall@msn.com.
The J.C. Campbell Folk School is located in Brasstown, NC, and offers classes in folk arts and crafts and storytelling.  For information about the school, you can find its webpage and contact information at https://www.folkschool.org/.  Students and faculty of the school are welcome to attend the readings.

Appalachian Naturalist Brent Martin Virtual Reading July 8

Writers' Night Out - July 8, 7 p.m. Reading + Discussion... + Open Mic  Brent Martin, conservationist & multi-genre writer   Charles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain, on Martin's new book: "If I were making a personal top ten list of important Appalachian artists, writers, and musicians, I'd include--along with more well-known names like Doc Watson and Nikki Giovanni--photographer George Masa. Brent Martin's introduction splendidly places Masa and his work in the context of the mountains they both love so much--a perfect match since Martin, like Masa, has spent most of his adult life studying the southern mountains, protecting them, exploring them." NCWN-West invites you to join us via ZOOM (see link below).

Brent Martin's book, George Masa's Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina (Hub City Publishing), has just been released. Martin is also the author of three chapbook collections of poetry and of Hunting for Camellias at Horseshoe Bend, a nonfiction chapbook (Red Bird Press, 2015). His poetry and essays have been published in the North Carolina Literary Review, Pisgah Review, Tar River Poetry, Chattahoochee Review, Eno Journal, New Southerner, Kudzu Literary Journal, Smoky Mountain News, and elsewhere. He has recently completed a two-year term as Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for the West. He is also the author of The Changing Blue Ridge Mountains: Essays on Journeys Past and Present.   Martin a lifelong conservationist and educator, having worked over a decade as Southern Appalachian Regional Director for The Wilderness Society, and prior to that serving as Executive Director for Georgia Forestwatch and Associate Director for the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee. He has led outings for over 20 years for the above organizations, as well as Carolina Mountain Club, NC Bartram Trail Society, the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference, Highland Biological Station, and many, many more. He lives in the Cowee community in Western North Carolina, where he and his wife, Angela Faye Martin, run Alarka Institute.  For the Zoom link and to sign up for Open Mic: click here: glendabeall@msn.com Open mic: 3-4 minute max, poetry or prose (2 poems only, please)

Multi-Talented Carrol Taylor: Zoom Reading June 10, 7 pm

Writers' Night Out - June 10, 7 p.m. Reading + Discussion... + Open Mic  Carroll Taylor, multi-genre writer "When Sissie Stevenson reluctantly begins her fifth grade year at Slippery Branch Elementary School, she has lots of questions that need answers. How can she stop the class bully from picking on her cousin and best friend Spud McKenna?" —Chinaberry Summer, Young Adult Novel by Carroll Taylor NCWN-West invites you to join us via ZOOM (see link below).

Carroll S. Taylor is the author of two young adult novels, Chinaberry Summer and Chinaberry Summer: On the Other Side. Both books emphasize themes of generational storytelling and anti-bullying, interwoven with learning about reptiles and amphibians. Her children’s book, Feannag the Crow, teaches children about making friends and appreciating both their diversity and their unique talents. Her poetry has appeared in the Georgia Poetry Society’s Reach of Song, yourdailypoem.com, the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International online art gallery, Old Mountain Press, and the anthology Poems to Lift You Up and Make You Smile. In November 2021, Taylor and three other local Appalachian authors were honored by their illustrator with a mural featuring animals and characters from their children’s books. The mural was installed on the outside wall of Mountain Regional Library in Young Harris, GA, to encourage children to read. Taylor is also a member of Scribes On Stage, and she co-wrote and directed a one-act play about the history of Clay County, NC; Hayesville; and the Cherokee Trail of Tears. “Beneath the Sky and Waters” was performed onstage at the Peacock Performing Arts Theatre in April 2022. After teaching in high school and university settings for more than forty years, Taylor retired with her husband in Hiawassee, GA. To learn more about her, visit chinaberrysummer.com. Sign up for Open Mic: 3-4 minute max, poetry or prose (2 poems only, please) by emailing glendabeall@msn.com

Writers' Conference, Blue Ridge, GA, April 8-9

Keynote Speaker: Julie Guinn 

"How to Write a NY Times Bestseller"

There's something for writers of every genre with authors Renea Winchester, Rona Simmons, Kim Zackman, and NCWN representative Karen Paul Holmes, who will lead the following poetry workshops:

Poetry That Pops: Unexpected Word Pairings

Each word in a poem counts, as do the words next to it. Adjective-noun and subject-verb pairs that the reader hasn’t seen before can add vitality. Did the rain fall or did it slither down the glass? Each creates a particular image in the mind, but the latter also sets a certain mood. We’ll look at examples from skilled poets and try a fun prompt that helps you dig deeper for the just-right word combination.
  

Publishing in Journals & Anthologies: 

Submitting your poetry can be daunting and discouraging, but then an acceptance arrives and makes your day. We’ll discuss strategy, pitfalls to avoid, choosing which poems to send and where, and what makes a good cover letter. You’ll go home with an arsenal of  submission tips and tools. 

For registration, schedule, class descriptions, and more: https://www.blueridgewritersconference.com/

Writers' Night Returns March 11 with Rosemary Royston on Zoom

Writers' Night Out - March 11, 7 p.m. Reading + Discussion... + Open Mic  Rosemary Royston, poet NCWN-West invites you to join us via ZOOM.  Request Zoom link and sign up for Open Mic by emailing glendabeall@msn.com

Praise for Rosemary's new book, Second Sight: "This collection of Royston’s is honest, timely, and beautiful. It is a love letter to Appalachia and rural people everywhere who often don’t get their stories told in such a powerful and compassionate manner."      - Angela Jackson-Brown, author  Rosemary Royston, author of Second Sight (2021, Kelsay Press) and Splitting the Soil (Finishing Line Press, 2014), resides in the northeast Georgia mountains with her family. Her writing has been published in journals such as POEM, Split Rock Review, Southern Poetry Review, Poetry South, Appalachian Review, and *82 Review. Her photography has been published in A Rose in the World, Bloodroot, and New Southerner. She is an Assistant Professor of English at Young Harris College.  Visit her website  https://theluxuryoftrees.wordpress.com/ Writers' Night Out is a North Carolina Writers' Network-West event on the second Friday of the month. We will continue via Zoom for now.

Zoom Writer's Night Out & Open Mic, August 13

NCWN-West presents
Kanute Rarey
Storyteller, Poet, Writer, Teacher

Writers' Night Out via Zoom

August 13, 7 pm
Reading & Discussion + Open Mic

Kanute Rarey has performed oral and written stories and poetry in North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina and from Texas to Florida; Vermont to Minnesota; and parts in between. His stories range from personal to family, to sacred, to scary, to a tall tale or two. While Rarey has officially been a storyteller since 2015, his family and friends would say, “He has been telling stories all his life.”
 
Rarey’s personal goals are to write and perform stories, to promote the storytelling revival in America, and to work with and support aspiring storytellers, writers, poets, and singer-songwriters to encourage and create opportunities and audiences for the performance of their arts. 
 
He is the founder and producer of a weekly Zoom-based TELL IT LIKE IT IS Story Swap and STORIES ON THE SQUARE, a monthly open mic night at a coffee and wine shop in his hometown in historic Hayesville, NC. He also founded FRESH AIR Stories and Music – a four-concert series at the gazebo on the Courthouse Square in Hayesville. 

Rarey is currently working with a small group of leading prose and poetry writers, authors, storytellers, and singer-songwriters to produce a new, yearlong four-performance series for 2022, SCRIBES ON STAGE, with the regional theater, Peacock Playhouse, in Hayesvile, NC. 
 
He is a member of the Board of Directors of John C. Campbell Folk School and the southeastern regional organization, Southern Order of Storytellers, and a member of the North Carolina Writers' Network. His wife Kathy and he have lived in the mountains, including Georgia, Alaska and North Carolina, for over thirty years. Visit his website for more info. 

Open Mic
3-4 minute maximum of poetry or prose (2 poems only, please)

To sign up for Open Mic, please send Glenda an email (with a sentence she can use to introduce you): glendabeall@msn.com 

Dr. Bill Everett Featured at Writers' Night Out, July 9 ZOOM

NCWN-West presents
Bill Everett
Writer, Woodworker & Former Ethics Professor

Writers' Night Out via Zoom

July 9, 7 pm
Reading & Discussion + Open Mic

With a Yale Divinity School BD and a Harvard PhD, William Johnson Everett taught ethics in theological seminaries and graduate schools for over 30 years. During that time, he published seven books and many articles in English and German on ethical issues in religion and society. His teaching took him to Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Boston as well as Germany, India, and South Africa. In 2001 he turned to literary fiction, poetry, and woodworking.

This fall Everett’s “expository memoir” Making My Way in Ethics, Worship, and Wood is forthcoming. He frames the book around the cultural contexts that have shaped his life. In Red Clay, Blood River (2008), Everett put his inter-continental experience into a wide-ranging historical novel about connections between America’s “Trail of Tears” and South Africa’s “Great Trek.” The book is written from an ecological standpoint, in which Earth is the narrator. Everett’s poetry collection is Turnings: Poems of Transformation (2013). Both his ethics and his poetry explore the ways we give shape and meaning to our thoughts, feelings, and actions within the mysterious powers of creativity and love that undergird our existence. He also co-authored with his friend John de Gruchy, Sawdust and Soul: A Conversation about Woodworking and Spirituality. For more of his writing, you can follow Everett's blog, www.WilliamEverett.com.

Everett also creates furniture for worship settings, focusing on round communion tables that symbolize circle dynamics of reconciliation. Visit www.WisdomsTable.net for more information and to see photos of his work and also the textiles and mosaics of his wife Sylvia, who uses these media to explore spiritual, religious, and feminist themes. He and Sylvia live in Waynesville, NC.  

Zoom Link & Open Mic
3-4 minute maximum of poetry or prose (2 poems only, please)

For the Zoom link, please email Glenda Beall.  To sign up for Open Mic, please send Glenda an email with a sentence she can use to introduce you. glendabeall@msn.com

Writers' Night Out is on the second Friday of every month.

We will continue via Zoom for now. 
 

 Some time in 2021, we hope to continue in person at our new location:

The Ridges Resort on Lake Chatuge 
so please check your email.

 

But don't wait, join the fun and camaraderie on Zoom! 

Upcoming guests:
Aug 13: Kanute Rarey
September 10: Michael Diebert
Oct 8: John Clarke (from England!)

Writers' Night Out - Come ZOOM with us, June 11 at 7 pm

Please join us for 

P.C. Zick
a writer with a passion for sharing
& helping other writers

Writers' Night Out via Zoom

June 11, 7 pm
Reading & Discussion + Open Mic

P.C. Zick’s passion for sharing her stories and helping aspiring writers realize their dreams motivates all her projects. And that’s whether she’s serving as an editor to others or creating her own books that entertain and inform her readers.

 
Zick writes in a variety of genres, including romance, contemporary fiction, and creative nonfiction. She’s had works in each of these genres published and has won various awards for her essays, columns, editorials, articles, and novels.
 
Setting plays a significant role in her fiction, beginning with the three contemporary novels in her Florida fiction series, which explore the people and landscape of the Sunshine State. Her romances transport readers to some of her favorite places from Long Island to Chicago to Florida to the Smoky Mountains. Her four separate romance series explore various social issues as people of all ages navigate the complicated road to romance.
 
Zick has also written a variety of nonfiction books, which include a primer for beginning writers for drafting, writing, and publishing a book. Her book on vegetable gardening combines her husband’s passion for growing food and her love of cooking it. She has also published and annotated the journal of her great-grandfather based on his experiences as a Union soldier during the Civil War.
 
She and her husband split their time between Tallahassee and the Smoky Mountains near Murphy, where they enjoy gardening, kayaking, golfing, and hiking. To learn more, please visit www.pczick.com.
 

Open Mic Sign-up & Zoom Link 

to sign-up and/or get the link to the free event, 
please send an email to glendabeall@msn.com 

For open mic, include a sentence she can use to introduce you. 
3-4 minute maximum of poetry or prose (2 poems only, please)

Writers' Night Out is sponsored by NCWN-West
on the second Friday of every month

May 14th Writer's Night Out ZOOM: Tips for Improving Your Writing, Karen Paul Holmes

James Crews is unable to join us tonight as planned, so here is our new program. 

For the Zoom link and to sign up for open mic,

 please email Glenda Beall: pcncwnwest@gmail.com  

What Can Writers of
Poetry & Prose Learn From 

Song Lyrics?
Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and more, even Gilbert & Sullivan...

Karen Paul Holmes
Reading & Craft Talk
Open Mic 

A longtime lover of words and beautiful writing, Karen Paul Holmes will share favorite song lyrics and point out how we can use similar techniques to improve our writing --  whether fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, or blog posts.  

Karen regularly teaches writing classes at the John C. Campbell Folk School. As a former Vice President-Marketing Communications at a global financial company, and now a freelance writer, Karen has also had articles published in business journals and has led writing workshops at international conferences.

Her poetry has  appeared in about 100 journals and anthologies, and her two books are No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin Books) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich Press). Karen says a dream came true when Garrison Keillor read her poem "Rental Cottage, Maine" on The Writer's Almanac. 

She'd love to hear you read at Open Mic, so if you haven't signed up, there's still time. 

---

Open Mic
3-4 minute maximum of poetry or prose (2 poems only, please)

To sign up,  please send Glenda an email (with a sentence she can use to introduce you)  

pcncwnwest@gmail.com 

Writers' Night Out is Zooming along

 

Please join us for  Sally Stewart Mohney prose & poetry Writers' Night Out via Zoom March 12, 7 pm Reading & Discussion + Open Mic An award-winner writer and NC native, Sally Mohney will read and then discuss poetry's influence on prose and vice versa.    Sally majored in fiction writing at UNC-Chapel Hill and has taken graduate fiction classes at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop as well as the University of Florida. She has published short stories in journals such as the Boston Literary Review, and she is the recipient of the Jesse Rehder Writing Prize from UNC-Chapel Hill. Currently, she is searching for a home for her full-length literary manuscript, Migratory Spirits, set in North Carolina and Cumberland Island. Sally was invited to read an excerpt of Migratory Spirits at the Southern Women Writers Conference.    Her new poetry book is eventide (Kelsay Books) -- see the quote next to the book cover below. Her previous book, Low Country, High Water, (Texas Review Press) won the Southern Poetry Anthology Prize: North Carolina. Other publications include A Piece of Calm (Finishing Line Press) and pale blue mercy, (Main Street Rag, Author’s Choice Series). Sally's poems have appeared in the Broad River Review, Charlotte Observer, Cortland Review, James Dickey Review, North Carolina Literary Review, Poetry Daily, Verse Daily and elsewhere. A North Carolina native, she now lives a thousand feet from the Chattahoochee River in Georgia.   "From the low country to the Appalachians, to the River Thames and the North Sea, Sally Stewart Mohney seeks solace and bears witness to water—from wetlands to dry waterfall during her intriguing journey."  - NC Writers' Network If you are not a member of NCWN, contact Karen Holmes or Glenda Beall and we will  send your invitation to join us on Friday night. Members should have received the link to the Zoom program. Open Mic 3-4 minute maximum of poetry or prose (2 poems only, please) To sign up for Open Mic, please send Glenda an email (with a sentence she can use to introduce you) by clicking here: glendabeall@msn.com  ZOOM Helpful Hints: You can join Writers' Night Out by cell phone, notebook, laptop, or computer and use audio only or audio and video. You can do a test for yourself anytime at zoom.us, where you'll see yourself on video and be able to test your audio too.  The night of WNO, try to get on before 7 pm to make sure everything is working on your end. You will be in a waiting room until the host opens the door. Sign up for Open Mic by clicking here: glendabeall@msn.com

Writers' Night Out is the second Friday of every month. We will continue via Zoom for now.  April 9: Annette Clapsaddle, novelist, Even as We Breathe   The North Carolina Writers' Network is not allowing in-person events right now. Some time In 2021, we hope to continue in person at our new location: The Ridges Resort on Lake Chatuge  but please check your email.   But don't wait, join the fun and camaraderie on Zoom!    Stay well, friends,  - Karen Karen Paul Holmes www.karenpaulholmes.com www.simplycommunicated.com www.facebook.com/karenholmespoetry www.instagram.com/sharing_poems/