Coffee with the Poets and Writers in a new venue, Wed. Sept. 9, 2015, 10:30 AM at Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC

Summer is winding down and there is no finer way to celebrate the beginning of fall than attending Coffee with the Poets and Writers, a monthly event that will be held Wednesday, September 9, 10:30 a.m. at Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC. We will meet in the computer lab. The public is invited and there is no charge. Bring a poem or short prose, 1500 words or less, and read at Open Mic.

Our featured member of NCWN-West this month is Don Long who was born and raised in Sebring, Florida even though his mother’s family hails from Western North Carolina, East Tennessee, and North Georgia. After two years of college Don enlisted in the Army as a Private. He was later commissioned and earned his wings as a helicopter and airplane pilot. This earned him the chance to fly helicopters in Vietnam for two one-year tours. In 1980 he retired as Lieutenant Colonel.

After retiring he worked with the Federal Government as a Safety Professional specializing in Aviation Safety, Firing Range Safety, Office Safety, Explosive Safety, and Tactical Operations Safety in the United States and Germany with short forays into Bosnia, Croatia, and Macedonia.

After retiring a second time in 2000 he began splitting his time between Winter Park FL and Murphy, NC. The two professions allowed him to live in or visit over 20 countries.

Starting in his teen years and all throughout his entire adult life he wrote poetry, mostly for his consumption, but on request, he wrote poems for special occasions. For a short while after retiring from the Army he had a business called “People Poems” wherein he wrote poems for others for a fee after they provided him pertinent information. The business was doing well, Don says, but he obtained a time-consuming position with the government which necessitated closing the business.

Publishing poetry has never been one of his goals. Don’s poems have not been published because he does not submit them for publication, except for some local newspapers. He writes poems for personal reasons and he writes rhyming poetry which many people enjoy. Always quick with humor, Don says he must have missed the poetry “revolution” meaning the time when free-verse poetry became more accepted.

One of his poems, “I’m Glad It’s Mine” has been used during citizenship swearing-in ceremonies in central Florida and for central Florida Flag Day ceremonies. Also, one of his combat stories was published in a compilation called “The Harsh and the Heart” and “Vietnam Helicopter Crew Member Stories, Volume 2”.

He has a BA in Psychology, MS in Personnel Counseling and Human Development, and a Commercial Pilots license for airplanes and helicopters. He is a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators, (ISASI), Order of the Purple Heart, Vietnam Helicopter Pilot Association (VHPA), Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA) and others.

He and his wife, Marti, have been married for 31 years. Their 15 children and grandchildren live in central Florida, California and north Georgia.

Contact NCWN-West Representative, Glenda Beall, at 828-389-4441 or glendabeall@msn.com for more information. North Carolina Writers’ Network-West is a program of the North Carolina Writers’ Network

A Poem by Scott Owens

Reclamation

Having seen the transformation of one
rundown furniture plant into expensive
restaurant, brewery, boutique shops
for clothes and frozen yogurt, and noticing
the ongoing cleaning out of another,
and knowing it had already happened with my life,
education and divorce and writing
redeeming what had once been worthless,
I couldn’t help but wonder how much
could be achieved with any body
nearly worn out, teeth straightened
with invisalign, eyes fixed by laser,
gut restored with probiotics,
foot pain eliminated by the Strassburg Sock,

but then even after rejuvenation,
even among the young, it’s not always
pretty, not always full of grace,
the crude, oil-stained nuts and bolts
of life, the unphotogenic face,
a bad day that keeps getting worse,
walls that don’t line up, some bricks
uneven, some not quite the right size,
and that’s what the mortar’s for,
the gray areas of tolerance,
forgiveness, understanding,
empathetic appreciation of things
being left imperfect, only as good
as we can stand to make them be.

THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT BIG BANG

IN A GALAXY AT THE EDGE OF TOWN

poems by  Scott Owens

Published by Main Street Rag

ISBN: 978-1-59948-548-5, 76 pages, cover price: $14

Projected Release date: December, 2015 

OUR NCWN FALL WRITERS' CONFERENCE - MORE INFO

Are you going to the Writers' Conference in Asheville in the fall? Read about some of the activities and the sponsors of those activities to be held at the  Conference in Asheville, NC on November 20-22.

Check out this article on the website of the North Carolina Writers' Network.


See the NCWN-West members who will be participating in this conference.

Registration opens on August 31.

Highlights of the John C. Campbell Folk School Reading from August 20, 2015

Maren O. Mitchell and Joan Howard read their poetry to a nice-sized audience that included Folk School students, local poets, and friends of poets. Highlighting Joan’s reading were two poems honoring two of her neighbors, and the neighbors were in attendance.

After reading a few poems, Maren turned her presentation into an “audience participation” by explaining she had written 26 poems, one for each letter of the alphabet and asking the group to call out a letter. She then read a poem for each of the several letters called out.

Lucy Cole Gratton ably hosted the program by introducing the featured poets with thoughtful, personal observances about the poet and her work.


Karen Paul Holmes

Tara Lynne Groth, to teach Book Publishing and Marketing class in Hayesville, NC, on Sat., August 22, 2015

In this class, Tara Lynne Groth, will explore different publishing services, basics of a writer's platform, and how to spread awareness of your writing without having to 'sell, sell, sell,' your book.  The class will be offered at the Hayesville Library, Saturday, August 22nd, 2015, at 10:00 AM. Tara Lynne Groth is the founder of Asheville Writers and is a full-time freelance writer. She recently finished instructing a 10-week course on Book Marketing for Duke University's OLLI continuing education program. Before starting her writing business she worked as a marketing manager and director of public relations. She speaks at events around the country on publicity and digital marketing. She is the force behind the popular blog Write Naked, at: www.writenaked.net. Please contact Glenda Council Beall for further information at : http://www.glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com/

HENDERSONVILLE
OPEN MIC NIGHT
When: Third Monday of the month, 6:00-7:45 pm
Where: Henderson County Public Library, 301 N. Washington
Register: opmiclit1@gmail.com or Pat Vestal, 828-435-1053

The North Carolina Writers' Network invites writers to share their literary works at Open Mic Night. "Meet and Greet" begins at 5:30. Lidded beverages and non-messy snacks are allowed by the library. The event is free. Poets, fiction writers, playwrights, essayists, and memoirists are welcomed. If writers want to read at the event, they must register (see above). Time limits of 3 minutes for poets and 5 minutes for prose writers are enforced. Sponsored by the North Carolina Writers' Network and hosted by the Henderson County Public Library.

Come Hear a Big Name Poet on Aug 14

Ronald Moran: Widely published award winner from South Carolina to read

 at Writers' Night Out

Dr. Ronald Moran is a retired Clemson University professor and dean.  He has published 12 collections of poetry, the most recent being The Tree in the Mind (Clemson University Press, 2014); two books of criticism (one coauthored); and more than 500 poems, essays, and reviews in many journals, including Connecticut Poetry Review, Emrys Journal, Evening Street Review, Louisiana Review, Northwest Review, South Carolina Review,  Southern Poetry Review, Tar River Poetry, Thomas Wolfe Review, and The Wallace Stevens Journal.  Moran has won several awards and was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  His writings and memorabilia about them are archived in Special Collections of the James B. Duke Library at Furman University.  

 

Please note this change:  

Dinner and refreshments will be available for purchase at The View Grill, next to the ballroom where we normally meet. Due to difficulties in food service in our room, we feel it's best to go back to doing it this way. It is the same reasonably priced menu, and you can bring food or drink into the ballroom or eat at the restaurant. The View Grill has a lovely deck with a great view of the golf course. Please arrive by 6 pm in order to get served before the reading starts in the ballroom at 7 pm. As usual, open mic will follow the reading (limit 3 minutes per poetry or prose reader).

 Here's a map to the Union County Community Center in the heart of Blairsville, GA (Please note that the Holiday Inn on the map is now a Comfort Suites): Map to Writers' Night Out

 

NCWN West member Joan Howard has poem accepted for the November 2015 edition of POEM: Huntsville Literary Association

Joan Howard, NCWN West member, has a poem accepted entitled "Winter Approaches" which has been accepted for the November 2015 edition of POEM: Huntsville Literary Association.

Her poetry has appeared in the Aurorean, Lucid Rhythms, The Road Not Taken: The Journal of Formal Poetry, The Deronda Review, Victorian Violet Press , Wild Goose Poetry Review, The Reach of Song: the 2012 poetry anthology (Georgia Poetry Society) among other journals and anthologies.

Brenda Kay Ledford's Poetry Published in "Poetry Church Magazine"

Brenda Kay Ledford's poetry, "The Messenger," "Altar in the Woods," and "Peace," were published in the Poetry Church Magazine.


This international magazine is published in Yorkshire, England.


For guidelines, contact:  reavill@globalnet.co.uk

JANICE TOWNLEY MOORE TO READ AT COFFEE WITH THE POETS AND WRITERS IN HAYESVILLE, NC, AUGUST 12, 2015 10:30 AM

This month we are happy to have Janice Townley Moore as featured reader at Coffee with the Poets and Writers at Joe’s Coffee House, 82 Main Street, Hayesville, NC. We meet at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, August 12.

Janice facilitates the NCWN-West Poetry Critique group that meets monthly at Tri-County College in Murphy, NC. An Atlanta native, Janice recently retired from Young Harris College in Georgia where she was a professor of English for many years. Moore taught creative writing and poetry at YHC, and her special areas of interest include contemporary poetry and Southern literature.

In addition to her teaching duties, she was chair of the YHC Humanities Division for eight years and served 12 years as poetry editor for the Georgia Journal. Moore claimed first prize in the 2009 Press 53 Open Awards and was awarded first place in the Georgia Poetry Society's annual competition in 2011.

Her work has appeared in more than 60 esteemed journals, anthologies and textbooks, including The Georgia Review, The Southern Poetry Anthology: Contemporary Appalachia, Contemporary Georgia Poets, Women Writing in Appalachia and the Southern Poetry Review.

Janice Moore is author of Teaching the Robins, a poetry chapbook, published by Finishing Line Press in 2005. She is co-author of Like a Summer Peach, a great little book of recipes and poems.

Coffee with the Poets and Writers includes an Open Mic session. This is open to the public and anyone with an original poem or short prose piece is welcome to share it. We ask that prose pieces be no longer than 1500 – 1800 words.

Joe’s Coffee House is known for various kinds of coffee and tea. Water, soft drinks and bagels are available as well. Plan to stay for lunch with us at Angelo’s across the street. We want to get to know you.

Call Glenda Beall 828-389-4441 or glendabeall@msn.com for more information

Glenda Council Beall

Clay County Representative for NCWN West

Mountain resident, Bill Ramsey, selected for NCWN Board of Trustees

We congratulate NCWN West member Bill Ramsey of Hendersonville who has been selected to serve on the NCWN  Board of Trustees.

The North Carolina Writers' Network welcomes three new members to its Board of Trustees: Margaret D. Bauer, Bill Ramsey, and Ward Brian Zimmerman.

"New voices are essential for an effective board," said NCWN Executive Director Ed Southern. "Our new trustees bring with them a wealth of experience and talent, and hail from parts of the state—the coast and the mountains—that too often have been under-represented."

Bill Ramsey is an active supporter of literacy and literature. He serves on the Board of Trustees of Blue Ridge Community College and as an advocate for Blue Ridge Literacy Council and the Henderson County Public Library. In 2008, he helped to organize the Blue Ridge Bookfest and has remained on the leadership team.

In his youth, Bill wrote sports columns for the local newspaper. During his forty-year professional career he wrote technical manuals, magazine articles, and business newsletters. In retirement, writing about real-life issues became his passion. He is the author of four books and maintains a blog. He also writes op-ed columns and book reviews.

A proud and active member of the North Carolina Writers' Network, he lives the happy life of a retiree with his wife of fifty years, Donna.

To read more visit: www.ncwriters.org

Shelby Stephenson, Poet Laureate of NC, to read, Sat., Aug. 8th, with poets Robert S. King and Rosemary Royston at the Murphy, NC, Public Library

Ridgeline Literary Alliance, in cooperation with the NC Poetry Society, invites the public to hear Shelby Stephanson, Poet Laureate of NC, on Saturday, August 8th, at 2:00 PM at the Murphy Public Library, 9 Blumenthal St., Murphy, NC.  Joining Shelby Stephenson in this free reading will be poets Robert S. King and Rosemary Royston.

Shelby Stephenson, the current Poet Laureate of North Carolina, was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame last year. Previously he won the 2001 North Carolina Award in Literature, and his book, Family Matters: Homage to July, the Slave Girl, won the 2008 Bellday Poetry Prize and the 2009 Oscar Arnold Young Award. He taught at UNC Pembroke, and edited an international literary journal for over thirty years. His ten chapbooks have won the 2001 North Carolina Award in Literature, the 2008 Bellday Poetry Prize, the 2009 Oscar Arnold Young Award, as well as the Zoe Kincaid Brockman Memorial Award, North Carolina Network Chapbook Prize, the Bright Hill Chapbook Award, and the Brockman-Campbell Poetry Prize.

Mr. Stephenson will be joined by two other distinguished poets, Robert S. King, and Rosemary Royston.

Robert S. King is the former president of the Georgia Poetry Society, editor-in-chief of the Kentucky Review, who has eight collections of his poetry published will also be reading. King has been nominated several times for the Pushcart Prize and Best of Net award, and is the founder of Ridgeline Literary Alliance. His poems have been published in hundreds of magazines. His latest books are Diary of the Last Person on Earth, 2014, and Developing a Photograph of God, also 2014.

Rosemary Royston, teaches English at Young Harris College where she is also Vice President for Planning and Assessment, is on the Board of Directors for the Byron Herbert Reece Society. She holds an MFA from Spalding University. Her poetry has been published in journals such as Appalachian Heritage, Southern Poetry Review, Main Street Rag, Coal Hill Review, Flycatcher, Town Creek Review, and The Kentucky Review and on her blog The Luxury of Trees. Royston's book, Splitting the Soil, was published last year.

Both King and Royston have led writing workshops locally, and Royston served as 2015 Senior Games/SilverArts judge in the Literary Arts competitions.

Please bring your own poems to read at open mic, time depending, and celebrate poetry in Western North Carolina.

Henderson County Writers Group

WRITERS GROUP ON THE MOVE           

Beginning August 3, the Blue Ridge Writers Group will move to its new home at the Henderson County Parks and Recreation Athletics and Activity Center, 708 S Grove ST, Hendersonville, NC.

The group meets from 2:00 to 4:00 PM on the first and third Monday of each month. The group formerly met at Blue Ridge Community College.

Questions? Call Tom Hooker at 828-696-8430.

Write Your Own Biography with author Jack J. Prather

Write your own biography

program offered by Hendersonville, NC

Author Jack J. Prather

‘Write Your Own Biography’ is a new program offered by Jack J. Prather, author of two books of biographies: Twelve Notables of Western North Carolina (400-pages/134-photos) that was nominated for the NC Literary & Historical Association’s 2012 Ragan Award for Non-Fiction; and Six Notable Women of North Carolina (January 2015/238-pages/ 81-photos).

The new program allows participants to tell their life and career story, reveal their ‘core essence’, and preserve their legacy through a personal and fully edited biography written or co-written by Prather. He also provides advice and direction about getting a completed biography published.

Prather is a multiple award-winning writer and former journalist who authored five of his seven books and numerous freelance magazine articles since moving to Hendersonville from New Jersey via Virginia in 2005.

For details about what he considers a fun writing process, and for the affordable fee schedule, call 828-808-0660, or email prathergroup@aol.com. For more information and insight about Prather’s body of work, visit futurenowpublishing.com 

Jack J. Prather
prathergroup@aol.com
828-808-0660

www.futurenowpublishing.com

Valparaiso Fiction Review accepts story by Nancy Purcell

One of my dear friends and a member of Netwest for many years, is Nancy Purcell. She has been a devoted representative for Transylvania County throughout those years.

Today I am happy that one of her stories was accepted by Valparaiso Fiction Review. 

Nancy said she had submitted this story many, many times to other magazines, but she didn't give up. She believed in her story, The Unwrinkled Heart. It will be in their Winter 2015 issue. "I loved this story and put my heart in it and was determined for it to see print! There's a saying, It takes a lot of eyes before the right ones see your work." 

Guidelines for Valparaiso Fiction Review
Submissions to VFR should be original, unpublished fiction. Submissions should range from 1,000 to 9,000 words with possible exceptions. Please use 12 point font, double-space, and .doc, .docx, or .rtf formats. Please include name and email on the first page of each submission.

Please no novels, poetry (see VPR), or children's fiction unless otherwise noted. Excerpts from novels are acceptable only if selected piece operates as a stand-alone story.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but the author should notify VFR immediately should a submitted piece be accepted elsewhere. Response time for each submission is 3-4 months and will be sent electronically. Only stories submitted through VFR Submissions page will be considered. Please, no paper submissions.

There is no submission deadline. Submissions are considered on a rolling basis.

When VFR accepts a piece of fiction for publication, we are purchasing first-serial publication rights.

To submit fiction, one must setup a user account via Submissions.

For any additional questions, please contact one of the VFR editors, at vfr@valpo.edu.

For more information on submitting poetry, please visit our sister publication – Valparaiso Poetry

Congratulations to Nancy who lives in Brevard. She is a teacher and fiction writer with a number of publications under her belt.