FALL NEWSLETTER FOR NCWN-WEST

NCWN-WEST IS A PROGRAM OF THE NC WRITERS' NETWORK.

Our members are active and flourishing. We like to get the word out about their writing successes, their coming events and future plans.

Please share this post with others on your email list and you will be helping get the word out as well. If you are a member of NCWN, and you live in one of the nine counties of North Carolina or bordering counties in Georgia that make up NCWN-West, you are also a member of NCWN-West. You get the benefits of both organizations.  

NETWORK WEST ANNOUNCEMENTS:

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We have four new county representatives for NC Writers' Network West. They have excellent ideas for writing events in the coming months. They are enthusiastic about their plans and I believe our members will be excited as well.

We are happy to welcome Natalie Grant as county rep for Cherokee County. She will work with Mary Ricketson, county rep.
Ben Cutler is now representative for Swain County.
Charlie Wilkinson and Megan Lucas are new reps for Henderson County.
Find contact information for the County Reps online at https://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/

We welcome them and hope you will all support them as they work to build community for writers in their areas.

Poet, Maren Mitchell from Towns County, Georgia will be facilitating a new poetry critique group:

 “ROOM FOR POETRY”, A POETRY CRITIQUE GROUP

WHERE: Mountain Regional Public Library, 698 Miller St., Young Harris, GA (706) 379-3732. The Meeting Room to the left in the foyer.

WHEN: First meeting: October 23, 2018, Tuesday. Next 2 meetings: November 20, 2018, December 18, 2018, on Tuesdays. Check with desk in December for schedule into 2019.

TIME: 2:00 – 4:00 pm

MAIN PURPOSE: To provide poets constructive verbal and written feedback from other poets. No fees or membership dues are required to attend this group. The program is sponsored by NC Writers’ Network – West, a program of NCWN, and is open to the public.

ADDITIONAL PURPOSES: To share knowledge and information about poets; submitting: snail mail, email and Submittable; journals; presses; readings; workshops; conferences.

You will be receiving more information about this group, requirements and guidelines, by email.

Karen Holmes, Georgia Representative sent this announcement:

Writers' Night Out in Blairsville, Georgia continues with the these featured readers, followed by open mic:

October 12: Loren Leith and Danielle Hanson

November 9: Glenda Beall and Estelle Rice

The event is free and takes place at the Union County Community Center at 7 pm. For more info, contact Karen Paul Holmes at kpaulholmes@gmail.com

The life and works of Georgia poet, Anya Silver (1968-2018), will be celebrated at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta on October 11 at 7:30 pm. Ilya Kaminsky, David Bottoms, and Karen Paul Holmes are among those who will read Anya's work. For more information, contact Karen Paul Holmes at kpaulholmes@gmail.com or visit https://callanwolde.freshtix.com/events/poetry-reading-7/showings/8a549c3f-f29e-45c6-aaaa-dcf520dfb0a4

NCWN - West sponsored a poetry reading at Murphy's Curiosity Shop Bookstore featuring Shelby Stephenson, NC Poet Laureate and Mary Ricketson, NCWN-West Representative followed by an open mic and discussion. Mr. Stephenson also spoke at an event sponsored by The Learning Center Charter School in Murphy.

Member News:

Megan Lucas of Henderson County said, "I have a couple of new short stories that I'd love to share with the newsletter readers." - My story "Southern Comfort" was published in the Fall 2018 Issue of Attic Door Press. Here's the link: https://issuu.com/atticdoorpress/docs/issue_03_fall_2018

- My story "Stains" is forthcoming in Barren Lit Mag's Issue 2 that's coming out on Thursday. Here the link to them: https://barrenmagazine.com/

Gary Carden will be at City Lights Books  in Sylva, NC on Friday, October 5th at 6:30 p.m.
"Gary Neil Carden has lived with an ear to the ground and this play is the voice that he heard. Birdell is a testament to the gone and the going away, a lonesome whippoorwill song remembered by those who were here, never heard by those who have come."   Celebrate Gary's new DVD.

Charles Fiore sent this note: "Just a quick note to let you know we mentioned your recent feature in our Hats Off! section today and shared it through social media:   https://ncwriters.org/index.php/our-members/hats-off "

Katie Winkler (Henderson County) has recently edited and published the third edition of Teach. Write.: A Writing Teachers' Literary Journal. In this edition read short fiction, poetry, and essays by writers from North Carolina and Virginia to California and South Korea. Teach. Write is open for submissions now through March 1 for the Spring/Summer 2019 edition.  See the journal and submission guidelines at Winkler's blog: Hey Mrs. Winkler: Musings and Mutterings about Higher Education in the South. heymrswinkler.com


Cherokee County Rep, Mary Ricketson's poems, The Plea and The Appeal, have recently been published in Voices, the literary journal of Kentucky River Community Care! in Hazard, KY.  
Another poem, Young in the Mississippi Sun, was published in Fun in the Surf, the latest anthology published by Old Mountain Press.

Nancy Purcell, former representative for NCWN-West in Transylvania County facilitates a writing group there. “My writers group has been together for going on 11 years. We always have a healthy exchange on writing issues: character's need building and how do you do that, how to do readings at a book store with the support of the group, how can we assist someone with their work, their bios, etc. I believe this has been the real corner-stone of our groups longevity.”

Caroll Taylor, new member of Lost Playwrights, sent this:Lost Playwrights met  Saturday, September 22nd, in Kaplan Auditorium of Henderson County Library. Attendees were asked to bring their latest masterpiece.  (Carroll would like to start a play writing group in the Cherokee, Clay, and north Georgia area. If you are interested or know someone who is interested, please let Caroll know.)

Old Mountain Press’ latest anthology Fun in the Surf: A Poetry and Prose Anthology with the theme of anything about rivers, oceans, lakes, water activities, coastal people, the coast, etc. or summer in general was published 1 September 2018 and contains the works of over 50 writers from across the US.     See http://www.oldmp.com/anthology/funinthesurf.htm

One of our most active and most published members has news:

The new craft book, The Practicing Poet, edited by Diane Lockward of Terrapin Books, is now available. It includes a poem by Karen Paul Holmes.

The editor of Lascaux Review selected two poems from Karen's book, No Such Thing as Distance, to feature in the journal.

Karen's book has also been favorably reviewed in publications like the Washington Independent Review of Books, where Grace Cavalieri says, "It’s rare to find a poet who can make you feel you’ve known her your whole life because she embodies the wit of your best friend, the sadness of your other best friend, and the sweetness of your oldest friend. And she might have been the smartest girl in the senior class because she’s gifted with language. ..."

Karen had poems recently published in Emrys Journal, and in Anesthesia (Journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists), which also named her as a finalist for their Letheon Prize.

Earlier this year, Karen had poems in Valparaiso Review and Drunk Monkeys. She was a featured reader at the Georgia Poetry Society and read at the Decatur Book Festival (metro Atlanta).

THE BIND published "Navigating the Personal in Poetry: Glenda Council Beall in Conversation with Karen Paul Holmes."
https://www.thebind.net/blog/holmes-interview


Glenda Council Beall and Estelle Darrow Rice have published a collection of stories, essays, poems and photographs about family pets and other animals. Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins, Family Pets and God's Other Creatures became available on September 20.

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November. 2-4,   Registration is now open for NC Writers' Network Fall Conference at Hilton Charlotte University:  https://ncwiters.org/

Conference includes Master Classes in Fiction, Creative Non Fiction and Poetry, plus workshops on craft and technology, panel discussions, Manuscript Mart and Critique Services, and plenty of opportunity to meet writers from around the state and beyond.  

Keynote Address by 2017 Literary Hall of Fame Inductee Randall Kenan
For more information and to register:  https://ncwriters.org

Are you a member of NCWN?  If not, join now and get 30% off the cost of the conference!  Other benefits include: 

• Exclusive access to contests, jobs, residencies, and other publication and submission opportunities
• The Network's Critiquing and Editing Service (available only to Network members; additional fee)
• Coverage in Book Buzz and Hats Off!, two special website sections highlighting members' achievements and publications
• Access to NCWN's audio/visual resources including readings, tutorials, presentations, and more
• A subscription to the Network's publication, The Writers' Network News, and access to the WNN archives
• Courtesy web links for members' blogs and author websites
• Weekly member e-updates
• Opportunities to market your books at festivals
• Exclusive access to our agent and editor listing
• Discounts on advertising on the website and in NCWN's weekly e-blasts, newsletters, and more

The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to all writers, in all genres, at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.

JCCFS's The Literary Hour to feature poets and writers Glenda Council Beall, Karen Paul Holmes, and Estelle Darrow Rice, on Thursday, September 20, 2018, in the Keith House, Brasstown, NC

On Thursday, September 20, 2018, at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School and 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 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 Glenda Council Beall, Karen Paul Holmes and Estelle Darrow Rice. 

Glenda Council Beall has been writing and publishing poetry, short stories and personal essays since 1995. In 1998, she published a family history book, Profiles and Pedigrees, Descendants of Thomas Charles Council (1858 – 1911). In 2009, her poetry chapbook, Now Might as Well be Then, was published by Finishing Line Press. 

Beall is owner/director of Writers Circle around the Table, a writing studio in Hayesville, NC. She opened the studio in 2010 after her husband passed away. She teaches there and brings in top rated instructors to hold classes at reasonable rates for local writers. Beall also teaches at the Institute of Continuing Learning at Young Harris College and at Tri-County Community College in the Community Enrichment department.

Animal lover Beall, along with writer Estelle Rice, produced their first book together. Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins. Filled with color pictures of family pets and family members, these stories will entertain, and bring a smile or a tear.

Karen Paul Holmes splits her time between Atlanta and the Blue Ridge Mountains. With an MA in music history from the University of Michigan, she eventually made her way to the warm south and became Vice President-Marketing Communications at ING, a global financial services company.

Karen now leads a kinder gentler life as a freelance writer and poet. She finds joy participating in poetry readings and supporting poetry.

A member of the North Carolina Writers' Network, the Atlanta Writers Club, and the Georgia Poetry Society, she has studied with poets: Thomas Lux, Denise Duhamel, Dorianne Laux, Joseph Millar, William Wright, Carol Ann Duffy, and Nancy Simpson (whom she counts as her first poetry mentor).

Karen Paul Holmes has two full-length poetry collections, No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin Books, 2018) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich Press, 2014). In 2012, Karen received an Elizabeth George Foundation emerging writer grant for poetry. She was chosen as a Best Emerging Poet in 2016 by Stay Thirsty Media. Publications include Prairie Schooner, Valparaiso Review, Tar River Poetry, Poet Lore and other journals and anthologies. Holmes hosts a critique group in Atlanta and Writers’ Night Out in Blairsville, which she founded. She also teaches writing classes at the Folk School, Writer’s Circle, and other venues.

 

Estelle Darrow Rice is a poet and writer of short stories and personal essays.  She holds a BA degree in Psychology from Queens University, Charlotte, NC and a MA degree in counseling from the University of South Alabama, Mobile AL. Her work has been published in numerous journals and anthologies.  She published a popular book of spiritual poems, Quiet Times.

She is originally from Charlotte, NC, but she and her late husband, Nevin Rice, lived in Mississippi before retiring to Cherokee County. She has resided in Marble, NC for the past twenty years. Before her husband became ill, Rice taught writing classes for NCWN-West and at Writers Circle around the Table. She was always a favorite instructor.

Estelle is an animal lover and with co-writer Glenda Council Beall, wrote and published a collection of poems and stories about family pets and other non-human species, Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins.

Brent Martin, poet, and Angela Faye Martin, singer-songwriter, to be featured at CWPW, Wednesday, September 19, 2018, at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

On Wednesday, September 19, 2018, at 10:30 AM, the NCWN-West’s Coffee with the Poets and Writers (CWPW) will feature poet Brent Martin. Martin’s wife, Angela Faye Martin, a singer-songwriter and artist will perform after Brent’s reading. CWPW is held at the Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC. The reading and entertainment are free and open to the public, and an open mic will follow the reading and performance.

Brent Martin is the author of three chapbook collections of poetry, Poems from Snow Hill Road (New Native Press, 2007), A Shout in the Woods (Flutter Press, 2010), and Staring the Red Earth Down (Red Bird Press, 2014), and is a co-author of Every Breath Sings Mountains (Voices from the American Land, 2011) with authors Barbara Duncan and Thomas Rain Crowe   He is also the author of Hunting for Camellias at Horseshoe Bend,  a non-fiction chapbook published by Red Bird Press in 2015. 

Brent Martin’s 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 lives in the Cowee community in western North Carolina where he and his wife Angela Faye Martin run Alarka Institute, a nature, literary, and art-based business that offers workshop and field trips.  He has recently completed a two-year term as Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for the West.  

Angela Faye Martin is a singer-songwriter, artist, and naturalist, and has worked for The Wilderness Society, Georgia Forestwatch, Armuchee Alliance, and the Pacific Rivers Council. She has written and recorded two lP's and one EP - One Dark Vine, Anniversary, and Pictures from Home, which was produced by Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse fame. She recently wrote and narrated the documentary, The Sad and Beautiful World of Sparklehorse, which is currently screening internationally at various film festivals and in the US.

When Angela Martin is not leading phenology and nature outings in the wilds of the Great Smoky Mountains, she is drawing 'tree portraits', writing songs, letters and spending time with her sagacious mutt, 'Isabella Queen of France.’

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

KATIE WINKLER, TEACHER AND PUBLISHER CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Katie Winkler is calling for submissions from teachers of writing for Teach.Write.: A Writing Teacher's Literary Journal.

Submissions for the Spring/Summer 2019 issue is now open and will close on March 1, 2019. 


IMPORTANT UPDATE:  Katie says: I have also decided to OPEN UP SUBMISSIONS TO ALL. I realized that writing students (virtually everyone has been a writing student) as well as teachers need to have a voice in Teach. Write. However, I do request that in your required third person bio you include your composition teacher experience, if you have any, or explain the impact writing instruction has had on you. I am open to both positive and negative experiences as long as you don’t blame English teachers for everything that has gone wrong in your life.

Read more here:  https://heymrswinkler.com/teach-write/

Read excellent writing in this Fall/Winter edition of the journal. https://heymrswinkler.com/2018/09/08/teach-write-is-here/