NC GOVERNOR VISITS HAYESVILLE

Brenda Kay Ledford, member of NCWN-W, presented a copy of her poetry chapbook, SACRED FIRE, that was published by Finishing Line Press, to North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue who visited Hayesville, NC on July 29, 2010.

ECHOES FEATURED IN SYLVA HERALD

New anthology includes work by Byer, Carden, Crowe By Lynn Hotaling A new anthology of Appalachian writings includes work by several local writers. “Echoes Across the Blue Ridge,” a collection of poems, stories and essays from the southern Appalachians, features poems by former N.C. Poet Laureate Kay Byer of Cullowhee; stories by Gary Carden of Sylva; and an essay by Tuckasegee writer Thomas Crowe. A celebration of the book’s release from Winding Path Publishing is planned this Sunday, Aug. 8, from 5 until 8 p.m. at City Lights Bookstore. The volume was published with sponsorship and support from the N.C. Writers Network West, a chapter of the statewide N.C. Writers Network. “Netwest members conceived this anthology, raised funds and brought it to fruition,” according to Nancy Simpson, the collection’s editor. The anthology’s introduction is by author Robert Morgan, and its cover holds compliments from noted Southern writers Ron Rash and Lee Smith. A new anthology, “Echoes Across the Blue Ridge,” a new poetry and prose collection, includes work by several local writers. A special book celebration is planned at City Lights Bookstore on Sunday, Aug. 8, from 5 until 8 p.m. “Anyone who enjoys Appalachian literature will be delighted by this excellent anthology, particularly because it introduces the reader to a number of our region’s gifted though lesser-known writers,” Rash writes. “Straight from the land of sky, song and story, another dynamite collection – strong and surprising – these mountain writers know how to howl at the moon,” adds Smith. In addition to Byer, Carden and Crowe, local contributors to “Echoes Across the Blue Ridge include James Cox, Carl Iobst and Arnie Nielsen. The remaining writers and poets reside within the nine counties south of Asheville, on the Qualla Boundary and in bordering counties of Georgia and South Carolina. In his introduction, Morgan says the anthology, which places the writing of poet laureates like Byer and former Georgia Poet Laureate Bettie Sellers with the work of newcomers, gives him renewed confidence in the future of Appalachian literature. “Beyond the storytelling, the ballads, the songs, the fiddle music, there is something profoundly poetic about the Southern Appalachian Mountains,” Morgan writes. Byer, Carden and Crowe all said they are pleased with the book and proud to be among its writers. “This anthology is a labor of love by Netwest, especially by Nancy Simpson, the editor,” Byer said. “This project took two years to bring to completion, and the effort was well worth the time. Here we have a diversity of voices ranging from the well known to the relatively unknown. Robert Morgan’s introduction is stellar, and the testimonials by novelists Lee Smith and Ron Rash hit the bull’s eyes, especially Lee’s: ‘These writers know how to howl at the moon.’ I hope Jackson county lovers of the word will come out on Aug. 8 to hear these literary howls echoing across the mountains.” Crowe said he appreciates the anthology’s role in allowing new voices to be heard. “One of the things that this highly inclusive anthology does is bring new voices (and they are many with both natives and ‘new natives’ sharing their stories and talents during a period that can only be seen as a kind of renaissance of writers here in these hills and surrounds) before the general public and to the fore in terms of chronicling the new life of our region as well as delineating the work to be done to preserve and protect the beauty and sustainability of Western North Carolina for future generations,” Crowe said. “Having spent the majority of my life in these mountains, I am very pleased to be counted as one of the members of this writers community who writes passionately about this place.” For his part, Carden termed the book “an impressive collection” and said he intends to invite its writers to read their work at the Liar’s Bench, his monthly storytelling and mountain culture event. In addition to contributing several of his stories to “Echoes Across the Blue Ridge,” Carden donated the proceeds from a special production of his play “Birdell” to NCWN West to help with costs involved in publishing “Echoes.” Carden said he was glad to help. “It’s wonderful when art nurtures art and produces another kind of art,” he said. The anthology is dedicated to the memory of Appalachian ballad poet Byron Herbert Reece (1917-1958) whose poetry collection, “Bow Down in Jericho,” was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1950. “Echoes Across the Blue Ridge” includes several of Reece’s poems. Participating writers will read from “Echoes Across the Blue Ridge: Stories, Essays, and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains” during Sunday’s City Lights event.

Site Contents Copyright © 2010 The Sylva Herald Unless otherwise noted. Usage of site signifies acceptance of disclaimer. Need to report a problem? Comments/Suggestions? Click here.

Order online from Double Eagle Enterprises

NCWN West thanks member, William V. Reynolds, author and publisher, for listing Echoes Across the Blue Ridge on his website,
Double Eagle Enterprises.
This is one more place online to order the anthology which sells for only $16.00. William Reynolds has a listing of his many novels and other products from his online store. Click here.

WRITERS' NIGHT OUT

WRITERS’ NIGHT OUT

Brenda Kay Ledford will read her poetry at Mountain Perk Coffee House in Hiawassee, GA on Friday, August 13.

“Writers’ Night Out” begins at 7:00 p.m. with Ledford’s reading. An open microphone follows for people who wish to read their work.

A native of Clay County, NC, Ledford’s work reflects her Appalachian heritage. She recalls her Hayesville High School English teacher, Mrs. Josephine Thurman, encouraged students to write what they know.

Ledford’s poem, “Lake Chatuge,” received the 2010 honorable mention award from Georgia Poetry Society. Her poem was published in the societies’ anthology, The Reach of Song.

She’s a member of Georgia Poetry Society, Byron Herbert Reece Society, Appalachian Writers’ Association, North Carolina Writers’ Network, North Carolina Poetry Society, and listed with A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers.

Her work has appeared in Our State, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Appalachian Heritage, North Carolina Humanities, Broad River Review (Gardener-Webb University), Chicken Soup For the Soul, Country Extra, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, and other publications.

Ledford received third place from the North Carolina Press Association for Feature Writing in 1999. She also won the Paul Green Award from North Carolina Society of Historians for her three poetry chapbooks, Patchwork Memories, Shewbird Mountain, and Sacred Fire. Her books are available at the John C. Campbell Folk School Craft Shop, Phillips & Lloyd Bookshop and online at: http://www.amazon.com/.

Finally, those interested in participating in the open microphone, may sign up at “Writers’ Night Out.” Each person has three minutes to read prose or poetry. The event is free and open to the public. It also includes musical interludes.

Mountain Perk Coffee House is located at 195 Main Street next to Mull’s Motel in Hiawassee, Georgia. Come early for a light dinner. The café features espresso and other coffee drinks, smoothies, sandwiches, and sweets.

For more information, contact Mountain Perk owner, Mary Lawrence at: (706) 896-9385, or “Writers’ Night Out” coordinator, Karen Paul Holmes at: (404) 316-8466, or kpaulholmes@gmail.com.

NC Writers' Network West Will Celebrate the Publication of Echoes Across the Blue Ridge.

The big publication party will be held at City Lights Book Store,

Sylva, North Carolina,

August 8, 2010, 5:00 pm.

NC Writers Network West Program Coordinator

Kathryn Stripling Byer

will host this event.

My heart wants to celebrate our mountain writers.

I hope to see you there.

--Nancy Simpson

Netwest Has Lost a Loyal and Active Member

Our deepest sympathy goes out to Judy, wife of Richard Speir Argo II, age 66, CWO 3, Coast Guard, Retired, who died July 8, 2010, at home in Murphy,NC of cancer. Richard was a long-time member of Netwest.

Born February 21, 1944, in Tampa FL, the first of two children, to Richard and Ann Argo, he was a gifted athlete and a man of many talents.

Richard joined the Coast Guard in 1962, after high school graduation. His career spanned over twenty years with duty stations up and down the East coast and Gulf region, and Marcus Island. He was trained as a boatswain mate, then rose through the ranks to captain his own ship, The US Coast Guard Cutter Kennebec. He retired in 1983, then attained a BA degree at Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA.

He and his wife, Judy, moved back East, where Richard enjoyed time as a white water raft guide on the Ocoee and Nantahala rivers. In 1994, Richard and Judy hand-built a cord wood house in the Hanging Dog Community in Cherokee County.

A man who believed in keeping fit, Richard entered the sports events in the Senior Games. He cross trained in biking, swimming, tennis, jogging, and kayaking. He won medals in swimming and tennis. On the grueling 700 mile North Carolina Bike Tour, From Murphy to Manteo, Richard rode his 12 speed Huffy amongst the high speed racing bikes of others. Because he had ridden and trained for hours on the mountain roads, he pedaled right past some of those fancy bikes going across Chunky Gal Mountain and beyond.



Richard was an active member of NC Writers Network West. He taught writing locally, read publicly and for many years led The NCWN West Prose Critique group until he had to resign due to his illness. He won awards for his literary work in the Senior Games, published short stories in Moonshine Review, Lights in the Mountains, and the new anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge. Although his poetry was not as well-known as his short stories and essays, an award winning poem was published here on the Netwest Writers site.

Richard loved telling stories. He loved old jokes, making people smile, and all kinds of music. He quietly showed his compassion for others. His passion for environmental concerns revealed a caring for his fellow man, particularly in the sustainable house he built.

He was cremated, and asked that his ashes be scattered on the Outer Banks of NC. Richard did not want a memorial service, but requested that his family and friends plant a tree in his memory.

Richard’s essence seemed captured in the following poem sent by his friend Mary Ricketson during his illness:

I’m calling good vibes
speaking to the trees
asking the sun
and all the earth
to hold my friend close
impart faith and courage
while time is uncertain
to lend wisdom
when time comes
to chart a course.

(Most of this post comes from the obituary for Richard written by Mary Ricketson)


Read Richard's essay on critique .

Our members who wish to send condolences to Judy Argo will find Richard's address on our membership list. If you need further information, please contact glendabeall@msn.com .

ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE: Rosemary Royston

For the next couple of weeks, I will be featuring selected authors from ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE on my Here, Where I Am blog.

The first author is Rosemary Royston. Please drop by and enjoy!

Quest for Publication

Beginning novelists looking to get published, I recommend you follow Pat Meese Davis' blog, http://novelistapproach.blogspot.com/ as she takes the steps you will need to make on your quest for publication. Pat's blog is new, only three posts so far, but that is why I think it is time to start following Pat who is looking for an agent for her Young Adult novel. Comment on your trials and errors in finding an agent. Your remarks may help others.

Pat is a native of Brevard, NC who lives in Pennsylvania where she has earned her PhD. She is a writer who has spent all her time writing, and is now ready to take the next steps.

Comment on your thoughts about what Pat is doing to get her book out there.

Coffee With Poets: Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

On Thursday, July 15, Coffee with the Poets at City Lights in Sylva will feature guest Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin, a business writer and editor by vocation. She writes for a variety of print and online publications on business topics, and has been co-editor or co-author of several business books, including two winners of the Project Management Institute’s literature award. On the avocation side of the ledger, her poetry has been published in The Nomad, the Atlanta Review, and Appalachian Heritage, in the anthologies Tree Magic (SunShine Press, 2004), The Gift of Experience (Atlanta Review, 2005), Immigration, Emigration, Diversity (Chapel Hill Press, 2005), and The Moveable Nest (Helicon Press, 2007). She was a finalist in the Atlanta Review’s poetry competition in 2000 and 2005, and in the 2000 Greensboro Awards. Her chapbook, Patriate, won the Longleaf Press Open Chapbook Competition and was published by Longleaf in 2007. She lives and works in the forks of Blackbird Branch on the eastern slope of Cullowhee Mountain.

All Netwest members are cordially invited to attend. City Lights' Coffee With Poets is held on the third Thursday of each month.

North Carolina Literary Review: NC Appalachian Literature

The new issue of NC Literary Review will be out at the end of this month. Here is a list of contents for our Appalachian feature. A reception will be held at Malaprop's Bookstore on August 14. Please join us.

Margaret Bauer, Editor

http://www.nclr.ecu.edu/

NORTH CAROLINA APPALACHIAN LITERATURE
The Land Breakers, a novel excerpt by John Ehle art by Will Henry Stevens
"wonderfully simple, yet complex": The Mountain Novels of John Ehle, by Terry Roberts art by Will Henry Stevens
\

Love Affairs and Family Feuds in the Smoky Mountains, an Ehle review by Jonathan Yardley

Lion on the Hearth, a novel excerpt by John Ehle

Cry Naked, Purple Hands, Dew, and Listening to Clouds, four poems by Robert Morgan art by Will Henry Stevens

Robert Morgan’s Peripheral Vision: "the point beside the point" in The Hinterlands, by Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt== photography by Horace Kephart

As If She Listened, a poem by Laurence Avery photography by Horace Kephart

"We’re still here": Eddie Swimmer on Cherokee History, Life, and Outdoor Drama in the Appalachian Mountains, an interview by Gina Caison

The Gathering, a poem by Joyce Compton Brown

"what I feel I was put on the planet to do": An interview with Wayne Caldwell, by Jerry Leath Mills

Looking Back into the Undergrowth, a review of Wayne Caldwell’s two novels, by Chris Green

Ron Rash’s Serena and the "blank and pitiless gaze" of Exploitation in Appalachia, by Joyce Compton Brown with Mark Powell photography by Horace Kephart

"Look here, world, look who this woman [is]": Silas House Interviews Pamela Duncan, introduced by Joyce Compton Brown

Drought Days, a poem by Kathryn Stripling Byer art by Noyes Capehart

Hook and Eye, a short story by Kathryn Stripling Byer photography by Rob Amberg

Mountain Tunes and Tartini Violin Concertos, a review of Julia Nunnally Duncan’s new novel, by Mae Miller Claxton
Into a Strange Country, a review of Tony Earley’s Jim sequel, by Tim Edwards art by Will Henry Stevens

Praise Poem for Our Mountains, a poem by doris davenport photography by doris davenport

Resplendent, Ingenious Forms, a review of Fred Chappell’s new poetry collection, by John Lang art by Will Henry Stevens

The Poetry of Southern Appalachia, a review by Jeffrey Franklin photography by Rob Bousa

Sorry, a poem by Michael McFee art by Will Henry Stevens

Controlled Burn, a short story by Charles Dodd White photography by Rob Amberg

A Cozy Conspiracy, a review of Kenneth Butcher’s The Middle of the Air, by Brett Cox photography by Rob Amberg

Breaking Line, creative nonfiction by Christopher Wrenn photography by Rob Amberg

Blind Faith, the 2009 Doris Betts Fiction Prize story, by David McGuirt

Updated Information on Mountain Writers in Waynesville, NC

Mountain Writers meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm at Blue Ridge Books, WaynesvilleNC.

Call 828-235-2003 for more information. MountainWriters@charter.net

http://www.mountainwritersnc.com/Mountain_Writers_of_North_Carolina/Welcome.html



Our next meeting will be a special joint meeting of Mountain Writers of NC and Netwest Mountain Writers and Poets. Don’t miss “Lunch with the Authors” on July 13th. We’ll meet at noon for lunch at the New Happy Garden restaurant in the Waynesville Shopping Plaza close to Staples.
Mark your calendar for the Mountain Writers annual picnic. August 21 is the tentative date. That will take the place of the August meeting.

DO YOU HAVE ANY BAD WRITING HABITS THAT HOLD YOU BACK FROM PUBLISHING?

What are your bad writing habits?

Why is your manuscript still in your computer and not in the hands of an editor or publisher? What keeps you from submitting your work? What stops you from completing that book or story you want to see published?

Some of the bad habits many of us can’t seem to break include the following:

Self Editing – Do you read over each sentence before you write the next one? Do you have to correct any punctuation of spelling errors before you can go on? Break this habit now. Let your thoughts, your creative mind flow like a moving stream. Let it dictate the words you spill out on the page. After your story is on paper there will be plenty of time to go back and edit.

Don’t stop until the story is on the page. -- It has been said there are no great writers only great re-writers. We must revise and that takes time. But don’t revise your work until your authentic voice has disappeared. 1.Write. 2. Put away for a while. 3. Read. 4. Revise or rewrite. 5. Put it away again.
But you have to let your manuscript go, no matter how afraid you are that it is not perfect.

Second-guessing yourself about your story. – I’ve been there and I know. After the story is done, you become afraid that the story is all wrong and is not ready to go just yet. You think you have to change the main character in some way to make him better, or change the direction of the story. Suddenly the whole thing is just too much to fix and the manuscript ends up never seeing the light of day.


Fear of the consequences if you mail your manuscript. – You ask yourself these questions: What if my work is not good enough, if it is really terrible and is rejected and no one will ever want it? Can I stand the embarrassment, the personal rejection I will feel, and will I ever write again? What if I am a complete failure?
Remember, the rejection is only one person’s opinion. Don’t take it personally. The next time you submit your work it could hit on the desk of just the right editor, the one who loves it. But this will never happen if the manuscript stays hidden in a drawer or lost in a file on your computer. Don’t let fear of failure stifle your writing.

Do you have any bad habits that hinder your submitting your writing? Let us hear your thoughts on this subject.

Glenda C. Beall is Director and Instructor of writing classes at Writers Circle in Hayesville, NC. Visit her online here.

Gary Carden, storyteller, in new book

CONGRATULATIONS TO GARY CARDEN
Gary is one of the sixteen storytellers featured in this book:
Southern Appalachian Storytellers
Interviews with Sixteen Keepers of the Oral Tradition
Edited by Saundra Gerrell Kelley
ISBN 978-0-7864-4751-0
photos, bibliography, index softcover 2010
Price: $35.00
To be from Appalachia--to be at home there and to love it passionately--informs the narratives of each of the sixteen storytellers featured in this work. Their stories are rich in the lore of the past, deeply influenced by family, especially their grandparents, and the ancient mountains they saw every day of their lives as they were growing up.

About the Author
Writer and storyteller Saundra Gerrell Kelley has contributed articles to the Jonesborough Herald & Tribune, the Tallahassee Democrat (Florida), and the north Florida environmental anthology, Between Two Rivers. She lives in Jonesborough, Tennessee.

NCWN West Monthly Prose Workshop Will Not Meet in July

Hello NCWN West Prose Critique members,

There will be no Prose Critique Group Thursday July 8, 2010.

Please help let NetWest members know.

August 12 meetings will resume.
Thanks. Peg Russell

Not Your Stereotypical Southern People

In my older brothers’ generation, memorizing poetry was a part of school curriculum. I remember as a child hearing two of them, Max and Ray, chanting out the verses to Gunga Din, by Rudyard Kipling. While milking cows or feeding livestock, my teenage brothers recited poetry or sang together. As you will see below in another post, this is a long poem, but they knew every word and Max can still recite it in his 81st year.

The stereotype of farm boys in the Deep South in the 1940s and ‘50s did not include reading and loving poetry. But in our schools, English teachers enjoyed poetry and made it part of the required reading. Max and Ray often entertained me with The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.

My role models were my sister and my mother. Both were avid readers. Both enjoyed school. Winken, Blinken and Nod, one night, set off in a Wooden Shoe. I begged my big sister, June, to say that poem as she tucked me into bed each night. She pulled the covers up around me and repeated Eugene Fields' words to me in the dark while I traveled out on the night with Winken, Blinken and Nod.

Recently Newt Smith, Treasurer of Netwest, commented at Coffee with the Poets in Sylva, that his mother, as a child, would take a book of poetry with her and read while she milked the cow. In rural America, it was hard to find free time to engage in a pastime such as reading and learning poetry. There was always work to be done.

The stereotype in movies and on television would have you believe southern boys and girls were lazy, ignorant and hardly attended school. I did not know any of those stereotypical children where I grew up in southwest Georgia. My siblings and our neighbors’ kids graduated from high school while also working on the farm with their parents. All four of my brothers, along with my husband, in 1969, built a national manufacturing business which thrived in a tiny little town in Georgia until the company was sold to a California firm in the nineties.

After World War II, my brother who served in the Navy, graduated from college, ,thanks to the GI Bill. After college, he taught school and on Saturday mornings when he was home, he filled the house with the sounds of classical music and Opera. I was a high school student at that time and hardly appreciated his choice of music.

Reciting poetry, as my brothers and sisters did, seems to be a fading art today, except for a few performance poets and the Poetry Slams I read about. Michael Beadle from Haywood County is an exciting performance poet. I also enjoyed Charley Pearson’s recitation at a Netwest Picnic a few years ago. We see this in larger cities, but not in small towns.

Another southern man named Max often drops in to Coffee with the Poets in Hayesville, NC at Phillips and Lloyd bookstore. His brain is stocked with verses he learned while growing up in Georgia. We enjoy hearing him recite a few each time he comes.

Newt suspects memorizing poetry was popular in the early past century because books were hard to come by back then. The only books my brothers had were their school books or a book checked out from the book mobile in summer.

I am happy to say that the children in Hayesville and Murphy schools in North Carolina are exposed to poetry. I know this because I have read their poems in the annual Poetry contests held each year, and each year I am amazed at the work from these kids.

If you are a teacher or a parent of children in school, do you think the schools devote enough time to reading and learning poetry? Should they spend time on poetry? We would love to have your comments. Did you learn to recite poetry as a child?