Poets Catherine Carter and Mary Ricketson to read at CWPW, August 15, 2018, at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

On Wednesday, August 15, 2018, at 10:30 AM, Western North Carolina poets Catherine Carter and Mary Ricketson will read at Coffee with the Poets and Writers at the Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC. The reading is free and open to the public, and an open mic will follow the reading.

Born on the eastern shore of Maryland and raised there by wolves and vultures, Catherine Carter lives with her husband in Cullowhee, near Western Carolina University, where she teaches in the English Education and Professional Writing programs. Her full-length collections of poetry include The Swamp Monster at Home (LSU Press, 2012) The Memory of Gills (LSU, 2006), and Larvae of the Nearest Stars (forthcoming from LSU, fall 2019.  The Memory of Gills received the 2007 Roanoke-Chowan Award from the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association; her chapbook Marks of the Witch won Jacar Press’ 2014 chapbook contest; other awards include the 2018 James Applewhite Poetry Award from the North Carolina Literary Review, the 2014 Poet Laureate’s award from the North Carolina Poetry Society, the 2013 poetry award from Still: The Journal, and numerous Pushcart nominations.  Her work has also appeared in Best American Poetry 2009, Orion, Poetry, Asheville Poetry Review, Tar River Review, and Ploughshares, among others; she is assistant poetry editor at Cider Press Review and the Jackson County regional representative for NCWN-West.Her website is:

 https://catherinecarterpoetry.com/

Mary Ricketson, Murphy NC, has been writing poetry 20 years. 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, Red Fox Run, It’s All Relative, Old Mountain Press, and Whispers. Poetry books include, her chapbook, I Hear the River Call my Name, and two full length poetry collections, Hanging Dog Creek, and Shade and Shelter. Mary won first place in the 2011 Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest 75th anniversary national poetry contest.

Currently Ricketson is using her own poetry to present empowerment workshops, combining roles as writer and her helping role as a therapist. Her poems and activities relate with nature, facilitate talk about a personal path and focus on growth in ordinary and unusual times.

Mary writes a monthly column, Women to Women, for The Cherokee Scout.  She is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor and an organic blueberry farmer.

Ricketson is Cherokee County representative to North Carolina Writers Network West, and president of Ridgeline Literary Alliance. 

CWPW is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West, which is a program of the North Carolina Writers’ Network. For more information, please contact Glenda Beall at: 828-389-4447.

Local Poets will read their work that witnesses to “The Magic of These Mountains,” Friday July 6, 2018, at the Towns County Library, Hiawassee, GA

Friday, July 6, 2018, poets Glenda Barrett, Joan Howard and Mary Ricketson will read their poetry that witnesses to the magic of the mountains surrounding us. The event will be held at the Towns County Library, in Hiawassee, GA, from 3 to 5 PM. 

Glenda Barrett, a native of Hiawassee, Georgia, is an artist, poet, and writer. Her work has been widely published since her first writing class in 1997 and has appeared in: Woman's World, Farm & Ranch Living, Country Woman, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Journal of Kentucky Living, Nantahala Review, Rural Heritage, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Kaleidoscope Magazine and many more.

Barrett is the author of two poetry books, When the Sap Rises, from Finishing Line Press, and The Beauty of Silence, from Kelsay Books. Both books are available on Amazon.com. Barrett is a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.

Mary A.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, and Freeing Jonah. 

Ricketson has three published books, I Hear the River Call my Name, from Finishingline Press, Hanging Dog Creek, from FutureCycle Press, and Shade and Shelter, from Kelsay Books. All books are available on Amazon.com. Ricketson is Cherokee County's Representative for the NCWN-West, and is the president of Ridgeline Literary Alliance.

Joan M. Howard’s poetry has been published in POEM, The Road Not Taken: The Journal of Formal Poetry, the Aurorean, Lucid Rhythms, Victorian Violet, the Wayfarer and other literary journals. She has two books, Death and Empathy: My Sister Web, available on Amazon.com and  Jack, Love and the Daily Grail,  available from Kelsay Books and Amazon.com.   

Howard is a former teacher with an MA in German and English literature and member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.

Light refreshments will be available, and the public is invited to this free event. The Town's County Library address is: 99 South Berrong Street, Hiawassee, GA 30546; their phone is:  706-896-6169.

Popular NC poets to read on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, at the JCCFS, Brasstown, NC

At 7:00 PM on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, the John C. Campbell Folk School and the NC Writers' Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour. At this event, NCWN-West members will read at the Keith House on the JCCFS campus, in Brasstown, NC. The Literary Hour is usually held on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise indicated. This reading is free of charge and open to the public. This month's featured readers will be Linda Grayson Jones, Brenda Kay Ledford, and Maura Payne Way.

Linda Grayson Jones

Linda Grayson Jones has read and written poetry since childhood and recalls reading The Highwayman to her 3rd grade classmates. She has a B.S. in Biology from Stetson University, an M.A. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Pathology from Vanderbilt University. Her career path has been primarily in academic biomedical research, but in 2009 she returned to her first love—teaching. 

Jones is currently an Associate Professor of Biology and Dean of Math and Science at Young Harris College. She remains a reader and writer of poetry and is a member of North Carolina Writer’s Network.  She credits Nancy Simpson for encouraging her to use Grayson Jones as her published poet’s name.

Brenda Kay Ledford

Brenda Kay Ledford is a seventh-generational native of Clay County, NC.  She was an honor graduate of Hayesville High School, earned her Master of Arts in Education from Western Carolina University, and received a diploma of highest honors in Creative Writing from Stratford Career Institute. 

Her work has appeared in many journals.  Her latest poetry collection, "Crepe Roses," won the 2015 Paul Green Multimedia Award from NC Society of Historians.  She's won this award 10 times for her books, blogs, and collecting oral history of Southern Appalachia.

Her life-experience essay, "The Front Porch," won first place in the 2018 Cherokee/Clay County Senior Games Silver Arts Literary Contest.  She qualified for the State Finals that will be held this fall in Raleigh.

Maura Payne Way: Originally from Washington, D.C, Maura now makes her home in Greensboro, NC. Her debut collection, Another Bungalow, was released by Press 53 in 2017. Her work has appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, O. Henry Magazine, Verse, DIAGRAM, and The Chattahoochee Review.

Payne studied poetry at Mary Washington College and Boise State University. In addition to her being a poet, Maura teaches 9th and 10th grade English at New Garden Friends School. She has been a teacher for twenty years.