Writers Night Out, held at Young Harris College, Wilson Audititorium Friday night couldn't have been better. Nancy Simpson, author of the new poetry collection, Living Above the Frost Line, Carolina Wren, publisher, gave us a decided glimpse into her poetry for the past thirty years. Even though I have read all the poems in this book and many I had read before in her earlier books, Night Student and Across Water, I never tire of hearing her read them.

One of the reasons Nancy's poems have been published for so many years in most all of the best literary journals is because she knows what she is doing. She lives and breathes poetry and has for as long as I've known her and many years before. She has another book when she gets around to publishing it. And most of those poems have been published already.

The open mic portion of Writers Night Out had us laughing with Karen Holmes poetry and Ron Salzer's nutty essay. But the nicest thing was having two readers stand and share their work who had never done that before. I know that feeing of exhileration when you make that jump into standing before an audience for the first time.

Next month Writers Night Out will be held in Hiawassee at a new venue, a coffee shop, which I think will be cozy and bring out more of the community. Don't you think that will be nice?
Can't wait to go.

COFFEE WITH THE POETS IN HAYESVILLE ON NOV. 10, 2010

NC WRITERS NETWORK WEST's featured poets today at Coffee With the Poets at Phillips at Lloyd Book Store were Maren O. Mitchell of Hiawassee  - Young Harris, Georgia and Linda M. Smith of Hayesville, North Carolina.These are popular poets with many publications to their credit.  

Glenda Beall, founder of Coffee With the Poets during the time she was Netwest's Porgram Coordinator, led the program.

During the Open Mic session, a number of Netwest members read poems, including Nancy Simpson who read from her newly published book  LIVING ABOVE TH FROST LINE: New and Selected Poems ( Carolina Wren Press.)  On this, the anniversary of her mother's death, Simpson read the poem, "Argument With My Mother."

Brenda Kay Ledford read a recently published essay written by her mother, Blanche Ledford that was published in a new anthology of poetry and prose TRAVELING TIME  (Old Mountain Press.)

Joan Howard read a vivid autumn poem. A number of other Netwest poet's read in the open mic session including Clarence Newton, Glenda Barrett, and long time member Carolyn Johnson.

WHAT IS NEXT?  Some of these writers: Glenda Beall, Linda Smith, Brenda Kay Ledford, Blanche Ledford, Maren O Mitchell,  and Nancy Simpson will be featured  in a panel discussion  WRITERS TALKING ABOUT WRITING at Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville 2:00 on Saturday, November 20, 2010.  It is said that they will share some of their writing tips and breakthrough moments in their own writing. The program is free and open to the the public.  All netwest members within driving distance are welcome to come and join in the discussion.  

TRAVELING TIME

TRAVELING TIME is the new anthology just released by Old Mountain Press. About 70 authors have poetry and prose in this collection. To order copies, go to: www.OldMountainPress.com. Tom Davis is the editor of this book on traveling.

Brenda Kay Ledford's story, "The Emerald Isle," appeared in the anthology, TRAVELING TIME. Brenda Kay is a member of North Carolina Writers Network-West. Visit her blog at: http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com/ and website: http://www.brendakayledford.com/.

Blanche L. Ledford's story, "The Mystery Trip," and Barbara Ledford Wright's story, "Rail Path," both appeared in the anthology, TRAVELING TIME.

A mentor to many area writers
NANCY SIMPSON TO READ HER POETRY, NOVEMBER 12

Come hear a local favorite this month at Writers’ Night Out. Nancy Simpson will read from her new book, Living Above The Frost Line: New and Selected Poems on Friday, November 12 at 7:00 p.m. in Wilson Lecture Hall at Young Harris College. After the reading, those who’d like to share their own poetry or fiction can participate in the Open Microphone.

Living Above The Frost Line was nominated by NC Poet Laureate Kathryn Stripling Byer as the first book in the new Laureate Series at Carolina Wren Press. Nancy also penned Across Water, a chapbook and Night Student, a full length poetry collection, published at State Street Press. Her poems have appeared in One Hundred Years of North Carolina Poetry; The Poets Guide To The Birds, edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser (2009, Anhinga Press); the 50th Anniversary Issue of Southern Poetry Review: Don’t Leave Hungry (2009 U. of Arkansas Press); and the textbook, Southern Appalachian Poetry, edited by Marita Garin (2008 McFarland). Several literary magazines have also published Nancy’s work.

A well-respected teacher to many local writers, Nancy presently serves as Resident Writer at John C. Campbell Folk School. She is a long-time member of NC Writers’ Network (NCWN) and co-founded the western NC chapter, known as NCWN-West.

Writers’ Night Out takes place the second Friday evening of every month from 7-8:30 p.m. The November reading remains at Young Harris College in Wilson Lecture Hall, which is located in the Goolsby Center on the campus. The evening is free and open to the public, and parking is free. Look for an announcement about a new location in Hiawassee for December.

Those interested in reading at the Open Mic may sign up at the event. Each writer will have three minutes to read. For more information, please contact Writers’ Night Out coordinator, Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com.

LIVING IN MEMORY OF THE NCWN FALL CONFERENCE.

NC Writers Network is holding their 25th Fall Conference this weekend in Charlotte. (2010) I am strongly aware of the event and wish I could have attended.   I feel forced to "live in memory" with a few old photos of  the November 4-6, 2005 NCWN Fall Conference. That was "once upon a time" when NCWN West was included.

Glenda Beall, Janice Townley Moore, Nancy Simpson, Shirley Uhouse and Kathryn Stripling Byer.

Glenda Beall, Rosemary Royston, Janice Townley Moore and Nancy Simpson.

Nancy Purcell is busy in Brevard, NC

We always love to hear what is happening in the Netwest area. Nancy Purcell, NCWN West Representative for Transylvania County, sent an update on her activities.

Instead of teaching an adult education program at Brevard College this semester, I've been volunteering at Brevard Middle School, working with 7th & 8th graders who are "enrichment" students. The 20 student class is an Art/Writing group, working on Life Books. I introduced them to an internet site, Wordle.net, where you paste a story you've written and saved in your documents into the sites "box" and hit GO. The words come out jumbled by size....largest being the words you used most frequently. Poets & Writers touted this site for writers, showing the writer which words they most frequently used in their work. For instance, if you have lots of similes in a story, the word "like" would come up larger than other words.

 What made it so much fun for the class members was doing this with the various fonts and COLOR. The site provides color selections and font selections. As a writer of fiction or non-fiction, it's a quick way to check your chapters or stories for word over-use.

It has been wonderful to see the work these young people produce and to learn they've been writing and drawing "forever", as one student told me. She has written 12 short books and writes every night. She is one among many who want to further their education in the Arts and have the full support of their parents. They speak to me of visiting colleges and selected careers, family discussions of their futures and the need to learn. They have lifted me through their work and their attitudes. Our group is considering a writing competition for 8th graders, offering 1st, 2nd & 3rd place certificate recognition and monetary prizes. This must be approved by the school and submission rules are yet to be written. Transylvania writers are at work!

Thanks, Nancy. The gift of your talents will be long-lasting with these children. Most of us have had mentors who helped us get where we are today with our writing successes. The most generous writers seem to be the most successful.

Nancy has published numerous short stories and essays in magazines and anthologies. She leads a writing group, Wordsmiths, and teaches at Brevard College.

Learning Center Kids in Bay Leaves

We learned that some of The Learning Center's students who submitted poems for the contests of the Poetry Society of North Carolina will have their poems published in Bay Leaves, the annual anthology with the winning poems in the annual contests held by the Poetry Society of NC.

In the Charlotte Young Contest for Elementary School Students Eli Sellers won third place and Jade Shelton received an honorable mention. The other contest was called “Carol Bessent Hayman Contest for Middle School Students” and Sam Davidson received honorable mention for his poem.
The names of the poems are:
Eli Sellers- “Dragon!”
Jade Shelton- “Fat Boy”
Samuel Davidson- “WAR”

The Learning Center in Murphy, NC is a charter school headed by Netwest member, Mary Jo Dyre.

Writing in Brevard/Transylvania County

Brevard Writers/Transylvania Writers Alliance Group meets first and third Tuesday of every month at First Presbyterian Church on Main Street at 3:00 PM. County-wide writers group for writers of all genre

In cooperation with local arts “Writing As Art” continues to be hosted by Wayne Drumheller through February, 2011. They meet at 1:30-3:00 PM on third Tuesday of month in reading room at Quotations. This is for writers of all ages who want to go beyond reading and produce, in the short term, their short stories, essay, memoirs and poetry works using illustrations, art and photography.
Limited to eight to ten members. Contact for more details. Minimal cost.

Wayne Drumheller,Writer, Photographer, Storyteller
260 Frank's Cove Road
Brevard, NC 28712

Phone 704-287-9806 cell
Phone 828-877-5133 home office
Email mystory@citcom.net

NANCY SIMPSON'S BOOK LAUNCH AT CITY LIGHTS

Nancy Simpson's long awaited collection of poems, LIVING ABOVE THE FROST LINE, had its official "launch" last Sunday afternoon at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, North Carolina. Yes, we had champagne, and we toasted Nancy and her book before she began her reading. On hand was her editor Andrea Selch, all the way from Carolina Wren Press in Durham. Spring Street Cafe offered up a great spread of reception food after the reading. Below are assorted photos from the event.

Nancy chats with novelist Sue Ellen Bridgers at the signing table.

Nancy signs a book for Dick Michener.

Andrea Selch and City Lights owner Chris Wilcox confer beside the reception table.

Gary Carden's painting, "Preaching to the Chickens" displayed above one of the reception tables.

Andrea Selch talks with Rosemary Royston.

Nancy brings intensity to her reading! Rose, sitting next to me, remarked that it was the most moving poetry she had heard in a good while.

Andrea and I join Nancy for a photo op. Nancy will be reading at Campbell Folk School on November 4.

Book Launch for Living Above the Frost Line

The book launch party for Nancy Simpson's Living Above the Frost Line, New and Collected Poems, was fun and the audience enjoyed Nancy's reading and her Q & A after. I commented on how well the poems from her first books melded with the new poetry to unfold her life on the page.
We gathered at City Lights Books in Sylva last Sunday afternoon to honor Nancy and to celebrate the book.
I enjoyed talking with Gene Hirsch who was riding with Linda Kane a former Netwest member and poet. Dick Michner and Sandy were present, as was Rosemary Royston. The room was full of people that I didn't get to speak to, but was so happy to see purchasing Nancy's book as I know they will enjoy every word.
I took some pictures I will share.

A long line formed after Nancy read and talked about her writing

Many of our Netwest Poetry Group will remember Linda and her exquisite poetry.

Dr. Gene Hirsch always supports our writers when and where he can. We appreciate him.

Contact Carolina Wren Press to order Living Above the Frost Line or check your local Independent Book Store.

POETS DRINK COFFEE AND READ POEMS AT PHILLIPS AND LLOYD BOOK STORE

Poets gathered at Phillips and Lloyd Book Shop today in the town of Hayesville, North Carolina for COFFEE WITH THE POETS, held monthly and sponsored by NC Writers Network West. Linda M. Smith welcomed all.

Nancy Simpson, the featured poet, read from her new book LIVING ABOVE THE FROST LINE, 
( Carolina Wren Press) and she discussed the meaning of "frost line." She also spoke about the theme behind much of her poetry, that we live "many lives in one life time." Simpson read five poems: "Living Above the Frost Line", "On A Mountain In An Unfinished Cabin, " Lives in One Lifetime", "Green Place", and "Frederick at the Piano". Her book is for sale at Phillips and Lloyd Book Shop, The Book Nook, and John C. Campbell Folk School.

Poet Gene Hirsch, of Pittsburgh, PA and Murphy, NC, a long time Netwest member, attended with students from his John C. Campbell Folk School Poetry Writing class. He read two poems in the open mic session and some of his students read poems.  Bob Grove also read two newly written poems.

Appalachian poet Brenda Kay Ledford of Hayesville read.

 (Brenda Kay Ledford and Blanche Ledford)

Appalachian poet Glenda Barrett of Hiawassee, Georgia read two poems.











Joan Ellen Gage, another Netwest member at large, who lives most of the year in Florida was in the neighborhood and read two poems.

Poet Maren O. Mitchell shared her delicious Nasturtium poem and gave positive energy and encouragement to all.

NC Writers Network West Monthly Prose Writing Group Will Meet

On Oct 12, 2010, at 9:23 AM, Peg Russell wrote:

Thursday at 7PM the NetWest Prose Critique Group will meet at Tri-County Community College, in the Enloe Building small conference room, #108.

 At entrance of Enloe Building, turn right, go through doors, and #108 is on right after the bathroom.

   This is the perfect place for our group:  smaller room with window wall,  large conference table, comfortable chairs. Bring Copies of your work to share.

 Let me know if you will be able to come.  Thanks.   Peg  e mail -  pegrussell@hotmail.com

On Jayne Jaudon Ferrer's Your Daily Poem.com, I clicked on her Poetry News page where I found this article.



Poetry doesn't come out so well on an e-reader, it seems. I finally succumbed and bought a Kindle when they came down to a more reasonable price. So far, I'm not impressed, but then I've done very little with it. Now I read that Billy Collins was less than impressed with the way the e-reader destroyed the forms of his poetry.



"I found that even in a very small font that if the original line is beyond a certain length, they will take the extra word and have it flush left on the screen, so that instead of a three-line stanza you actually have a four-line stanza. And that screws everything up," said Collins, a former U.S. poet laureate whose "Ballistics" came out in February.



Now, I wonder if we want Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains, on Kindle after all. We have excellent poetry from numerous poets in this anthology. How will they feel if their poems are changed due to the inability of the technology to hold the words on the proper lines, keep punctuation in place and keep the integrity of the poem intact?



What do you think? If you are a poet, please let us know by leaving a comment.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/19/BUN21EFS7H.DTL#ixzz126qxVEOz

Review of Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Stories, Essays, and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains

NCWN West appreciates Helen Losse, poetry editor of the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. She has given Echoes Across the Blue Ridge a very positive  review. Click here to read.


Be sure to visit Dead Mule and submit your poetry for the next online issue.
This online journal also accepts essays and fiction. Check them out.