Brenda Kay Ledford to read at Coffee with the Poets and Writers, April, 18, 2018, at Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

Brenda Kay Ledford, local poet, will read at Coffee with the Poets and Writers, on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, at the Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC, 28904, at 10:30 AM. Admission is free, and the public is welcome to attend.

A seventh-generational native of Clay County, NC, Brenda Kay Ledford is a retired educator. She received her Master of Arts in Education from Western Carolina University and studied Journalism at the University of Tennessee. Ledford holds a Creative Writing diploma of highest honors from Stratford Career Institute.

She’s listed with A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers, North Carolina Literary Map, and Who’s Who in America. Ledford belongs to North Carolina Writer’s Network, North Carolina Poetry Society, Georgia Poetry Society, and is a charter member of Byron Herbert Reece Society.

Her work has appeared in many journals including Our State, Pembroke Magazine, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Asheville Poetry Review, Town Creek Poetry, Charlotte Poetry Review, Wild Goose Poetry Review, The Broad River Review, and 30 Old Mountain Press anthologies.

Finishing Line Press published her three poetry chapbooks:  Sacred Fire, Shewbird Mountain, and Beckoning. Aldrich Press printed her poetry book, Crepe Roses, that won the 2015 Paul Green Award from North Carolina Society of Historians. Ledford has won the Paul Green Award nine times for her poetry books, collecting oral history on the Southern Appalachian history, and her blogs.

Ledford blogs at:  http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com

http://historicalhayesville.blogspot.com

http://claycountyyore.blogspot.com

Those who have heard Brenda Kay Ledford read her poetry understand her love for the mountains and the people who live here.

We urge those who plan to read at Open Mic, bring a poem by one of our co-founders, Nancy Simpson or Kathryn Stripling Byer if you can. We are honoring them this month, as it is National Poetry Month.

To participate in the Open Mic session, we request readings be limited to one or two poems or no more than three pages, double-spaced, prose writing. NCWN-West is a program of the North Carolina Writers’ Network, one of the largest state literary organizations in the country.

Contact Glenda C. Beall, glendabeall@msn.com for more information or phone: 828-389-4441.

Mary A. Ricketson's new Poetry book, Shade and Shelter, has been published by Kelsay Books

Mary A. Ricketson's new poetry book, Shade and Shelter, is available through Kelsay Books, and at The Curiosity Shop bookstore in Murphy, NC. 

Please join her at her readings planned so far, May 4, 2018 at the Curiosity Bookstore in Murphy, NC, at 3:30 pm, along with Shelby Stephenson, NC Poet Laureate, and on May 17, 2018, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, at 7 pm, for The Literary Hour.  

Additionally, this book debuts her journey to merge the poet  with the therapist in her.  It's for 'the broken and the healing,' and she is seeking ways to work with groups for empowerment and growth.

  Mary Ricketson of Murphy NC, has been writing poetry for 20 years; to satisfy a hunger, to taste life down to the very last drop. She is inspired by nature and her work as a mental health counselor. Her poetry has been published in Wild Goose Poetry Review, Future Cycle Press, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Lights in the Mountains, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Freeing Jonah, and her chapbook I Hear the River Call my Name. Mary's second poetry book is Hanging Dog Creek. Ricketson's third book, Shade and Shelter, is newly released from Kelsay Books.

Ricketson is  Cherokee County's Representative for the North Carolina Writers Network-West, and is the president of Ridgeline Literary Alliance.

Ricketson writes a monthly column, "Women to Women", for The Cherokee Scout, Murphy's newspaper. She is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor, an organic blueberry farmer, and is currently working on a new collection of poetry.