NCWN member, Katherine Scott Crawford, announces MountainTop Writers Retreats, Lake Toxaway, NC for writers

NCWN member Katherine Scott Crawford announces a new creative venture,

MountainTop Writers Retreats, which will be hosted at Earthshine Lodge in Lake Toxaway, N.C. 

Her first retreat, a pure writer's retreat called Fall Mountain Top, will be held November 8-11, 2019. Though there will be coed retreats in the future, Fall MountainTop is for women writers only. There's a discount for those who register by Sept. 30, 2019. 

MountainTop Writers Retreat is a long-weekend retreat crafted to suit writers and creatives at varying stages in their careers and journeys. Hosted at Earthshine Lodge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Fall MountainTop was created with one goal in mind: to give writers space and time in which to write. But perhaps more importantly: to offer the opportunity to create in a place of peace and seclusion — in a natural, awe-inspiring setting.A pure retreat, Fall MountainTop is for women writers simply in need of quiet and time. Perfect for authors on deadline, or other writers who are working on new or continuing projects. Though we will share communal spaces in the Lodge, some meals, and the outdoor campfire, any and all time spent with other writers is by choice.

Here is the link:

 https://earthshinenc.com/mountaintop-writers-retreat/

Circling Home, a creativity workshop with author John Lane, Sunday, September 29, 2019, Alarka Expeditions, Franklin, NC

Would you like to have a deeper connection to home and to the landscape around you? Alarka Expeditions invites you to join author John Lane for an afternoon creativity workshop on place based writing. Lane is the author of Circling Home (University of Georgia Press, 2009), along with many other titles, including several volumes of poetry and essays. We'll explore the role of place in our lives, and how we can live more meaningful lives by paying to attention to where and how we live. This is a one of a kind workshop taught by a one of a kind guy. 

Date and Time

Sun, September 29, 2019
1:00 PM – 5:00 PM EDT

Location

Cowee, North Carolina
Alarka Expeditions
423 E. Palmer St.
Franklin, NC 28734

For more information, go to:

 https://www.alarkaexpeditions.com/upcoming-events

James Dickey Prize Poet Kathy Nelson & Karen Paul Holmes to Read, Sept 13

Please join us for poetry, prose, and prizes

on lucky Friday the 13th

Writers' Night Out

Union Co. Community Center, Blairsville, GA

Kathy Nelson, who lives outside of Asheville, NC, received the 2019 James Dickey Poetry Prize from Five Points journal. She has two poetry chapbooks: Cattails (Main Street Rag, 2013) and Whose Names Have Slipped Away (Finishing Line Press, 2016). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Asheville Poetry Review, The Cortland Review, Tar River Poetry, Broad River Review, Southern Poetry Review, U.S. 1 Worksheets, The Practicing Poet (Terrapin Books, 2018) and other print and online journals. Visit her "poems of life and nature" at kathynelsonpoet.com.

Karen Paul Holmes has two full-length poetry collections, No Such Thing as Distance(Terrapin Books, 2018) and Untying the Knot(Aldrich Press, 2014). She was named a Best Emerging Poet by Stay Thirsty Media, and her publications include Prairie Schooner, Valparaiso Review, Crab Orchard Review, Tar River Poetry, The Pedestal, Poet Lore, and other journals and anthologies. Holmes splits her time between Atlanta, where she founded The Side Door Poets, and Hiawassee. She’s also the founder and host of Writers’ Night Out. Read sample poems at karenpaulholmes.com

Photo Highlights from A Day for Writers, writing event, Sylva, NC, August 24, 2019

Carroll Taylor, co-chair for the event, and Jessica Philyaw, Library staff member

, 

C. Hope Clark and her husband, Gary

Meagan Lucas and Benjamin Cutler (in background)

Catherine Carter, Jackson County Rep for NCWN-West

Pat Vestal, instructor for play writing class

NCWN Executive Director, Ed Southern

Registration

Karen Paul Holmes, instructor for poetry class

Mary Ricketson, Linda Jones, and Janice Moore

Karen Paul Holmes with Glenda Beall

Katie Winkler, instructor for play writing class

Former Poet Laureate of NC, Joseph Bathanti 

Carol Crawford of www.carolcrawfordediting.com

C. Hope Clark opens the event

Bird's eye view of registration

Brent Martin with Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin and Susan Lefler

David Joy

Ed Southern, Glenda Beall, and Chris Wilcox  of City Lights Books

Volunteers Marcia Barnes, Hugh and Carroll Taylor, and Joan Howard

Brent Martin

Carroll Taylor

Charlie Wilkinson

Karen Paul Holmes

Louis Giron

Mary Ricketson

Panel members Karen Paul Holmes, Meagan Lucas, Joseph Bathanti, C. Hope Clark, and Glenda Beall

Kelsay books announces the publication of Mary Peavey Ricketson's new poetry book, Mississippi: The Story of Luke and Marian

Poet Mary P. Ricketson's new full length collection of poems, Mississippi: The Story ofLuke and Marian, was published by Kelsay Books, this July of 2019.

Ricketson says: 

'This is my family's story, from the perspective of racial tensions in troubled Mississippi, 1948-1969, and the parents who found a way through those tedious times.  My series of narrative poems are of memory, conflict, and resolve, experiences of my parents and myself, as they raised children in segregation and still kept their belief in the equality of all people.' 

The Amazon Books info is at https://www.amazon.com/Mississippi-Marian-Mary-Peavey-Ricketson/dp/195046203X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=376RR2LULL3SX&keywords=mary+ricketson&qid=1566229885&s=books&sprefix=mary+ricket%2Caps%2C258&sr=1-1

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. Her chapbook, I Hear the River Call my Name, and two full length poetry collections, Hanging Dog Creek, and Shade and Shelter.

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

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

Mary won first place in the 2011 Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest 75th anniversary national poetry contest.

She 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's next scheduled readings will be at:

Body Sense

2226 Ridgecrest Circle 

Hiawassee, Georgia 30546

Wednesday, September 18, 2019, 5:00 PM  

Taste Full Beans

29 2nd St NW 

Hickory, North Carolina 28601 

Tuesday, November 12, 2019, 7:00 PM 

City Lights Bookstore

 3 E. Jackson Street 

Sylva, North Carolina 28779

Saturday, November 16, 2019, 3:00 PM 

Coffee with the Poets and Writers

Moss Memorial Library

26 Anderson Street

Hayesville, North Carolina 28904

Wednesday, November 20, 2019, 10:30 AM