Writers and poets in the far western mountain area of North Carolina and bordering counties of South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee post announcements, original work and articles on the craft of writing.
Friday, June 23, 2017
Interview with Rosemary Rhodes Royston on Writers Digest by Robert Brewer
Please access this interview with Rosemary Rhodes Royston on Writers Digest by Robert Brewer:
http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/rosemary-rhodes-royston-poet-interview
Rosemary is a long time member of NCWN and NCWN West and served as Program Coordinator a few years back. She holds an MFA in Writing from Spalding University and is a lecturer at Young Harris College, Georgia.
Royston’s poetry has been published in journals such as The Southern Poetry Review, The Comstock Review, Main Street Rag, Coal Hill Review, FutureCycle, STILL, New Southerner, and Alehouse. She has a chapbook, Splitting the Soil, published by Finishing Line Press.
Her essays on writing poetry are included in Women and Poetry: Tips on Writing, Teaching and Publishing by Successful Women Poets, McFarland. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and she was the recipient of the 2010 Literal Latte Food Verse Award. Most recently, she received Honorable Mention in the George Scarbrough Poetry Contest, Mountain Heritage Literary Festival, along with her short fiction being selected as Honorable Mention in the Porter Fleming Literary Awards, 2012. She blogs at The Luxury of Trees.
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Coffee with the Poets and Writers features writers Staci Lynn Bell and Joan M. Howard on June 21, 2017, 10:30 AM, at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC
Coffee with the Poets and
Writers will meet June 21, 2017, 10:30 AM at Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC.
Staci Lynn Bell and Joan Howard will be featured members this month.
Staci Lynn Bell, a Chicago native, has lived in Western North Carolina for
the past 6 years. Having moved many times as a child, her best friends were her
imagination, books and animals. Staci attended University of Wisconsin, Madison
majoring in Communications. She relocated to SW Florida, gaining recognition as
a 25 year radio and television personality and animal advocate. She has
been published in Wild Goose Poetry Review, 234 Journal, Old Mountain Press
Anthologies and in Kakalak 2016. Bell has both a poem and short story in Wolf
Warriors: The National Wolfwatcher Coalition Anthology. Staci is a member of
the NCWN.
Joan M. Howard lives in Hiawassee and in Athens, Georgia. Joan loves to
kayak on Lake Chatuge and take long walks on the Chatuge Dam. She holds a BA
from Indiana University and an MA from the University of Oregon. Her poems
have been widely published in journals and anthologies. She published a
poetry collection recently, Death and Empathy: My Sister Web, which is
in memory of her sister, Webster and her husband Jack.
It has been said that, “Howard’s
poetry will not only make you ache for something or someone lost; it will
stitch together a broken heart.”
The public is invited to attend
Coffee with the Poets and Writers. Everyone is invited to take part in Open Mic
and read a poem or short piece of prose.
This event is sponsored by the
North Carolina Writers’ Network West, a program of the state literary
organization, North Carolina Writers’ Network.
Contact Glenda Beall, 828-389-4441
or glendabeall@msn.com for more
information.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
NCWN to host their first ever Online Open Mic, Wednesday, June 14, 2017, 7:00 PM
Charles Fiore and Ed Southern have had a "crazy idea" and it involves writers of all genres.
On Wednesday,
June 14, at 7:00 pm, the North Carolina Writers' Network will host our
first-ever Online Open Mic! Registrants will be given
five-minute time slots, and all genres are encouraged (fiction, creative
nonfiction, poetry, hybrid, etc.)
Registration is free,
but is limited to 16 participants, first-come, first served.
"Online Open Mic"
When: Wednesday, June 14, 7:00-8:30 pm, EST
Where: Online (internet or phone connection
required)
Cost: Free
This opportunity is
available to anyone with an internet connection and a working microphone
(and/or webcam) on their computer, or readers can participate over the phone.
Registrants will be
sent log-in instructions no less than 24 hours prior to the Open Mic.
Labels:
live event,
NCWN,
Open mic event,
writing
Monday, June 12, 2017
Poets Karen Paul Holmes and Brenda Kay Ledford to read at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, on Thursday, June 15, 2017
JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL
On
Thursday, June 15, 2017 at 7:00 PM, John Campbell Folk School and North Carolina
Writers' Network-West are sponsoring The
Literary Hour, an hour of poetry and prose reading held at Keith House on
the JCFS campus. This event is held regularly on the third Thursday the month. The
reading is free of charge and the public is invited to attend. Poets Karen Paul
Holmes and Brenda Kay Ledford will be the featured readers, both of which are widely
published poets. This should be an excellent program and presents an exceptional
opportunity to hear these two women read their poems, many of which are
centered on the mountain area.
Karen Paul Holmes was selected for Best Emerging Poets, 2015 (Stay Thirsty
Media), and her full-length poetry collection, Untying the Knot,was
published by Aldrich Press in 2014 (available on Amazon.com). Her poems have
appeared in journals, such as Prairie
Schooner, Poet Lore, Poetry East, and Atlanta Review, and
anthologies such as The Southern Poetry Anthology, Vol 5: Georgia. Holmes
serves as the Towns County Representative for the North Carolina Writers'
Network-West, and is a member of the Georgia Poetry Society.
Formerly the VP-Communications at ING, Holmes now
works as a freelance writer and teaches writing classes at John C. Campbell Folk School, Writers
Circle, and elsewhere. She’s inspired by
the Blue Ridge Mountains, Lake Chatuge, and her home in Hiawassee, GA. Holmes
supports writers through a critique group she started in Atlanta, and the
Writers Night Out she founded/hosts in Blairsville on the second Friday of
every month.
Brenda Kay Ledford is a seventh-generational native of
Clay County. She was an honor graduate of Hayesville High School, earned her
Master of Arts in Education from Western Carolina University, and received a
diploma of highest honors in creative writing from Stratford Career Institute.
Ledford’s work has appeared
in many journals including Our State,
Woman’s World, Country Extra, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Angels on Earth, 30
Old Mountain Press anthologies and Blue
Ridge Parkway Silver Anniversary Edition coffee-table book.
Aldrich Press published her
poetry book, Crepe Roses, that won
the 2015 Paul Green Multimedia Award from North Carolina Society of Historians.
Ledford has received this award nine times for her books, collecting oral
history on Southern Appalachian and on her blogs: http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com and http://historicalhayesville.blogspot.com.She also won the North Carolina Press Association’s
Journalism Contest Award for her feature on the John C. Campbell Folk School in
1999.
Ledford is listed with A Directory of American Poets and Fiction
Writers, North Carolina Literary Map,
North Carolina Storytelling Guild, and
Who’s Who in America. She has appeared on the “Common Cup,” talk show on
Windstream Communication’s cable television, and also was interviewed on “The
Blue Sky Show” over WJUL/WJRB Radio Station and gives regional poetry readings.
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Open Mic night in Sylva, June 16, 7 pm
The Jackson branch of NCWN-West will be hosting its monthly Open Mic night at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC, at 7:00 pm on Friday, June 16th. Beverages, desserts, and an incredibly friendly group--come on out!
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Interview with Kathryn Stripling Byer available
For those who knew Kathryn Byer and those who would like to know more about her, an excellent interview with her was done by Jack Prather in his book Six Notable Women of North Carolina. Pictures you have not seen elsewhere are in this book. Find it on Amazon.com
Biography of Late NC Poet Laureate Kathryn Stripling Byer
Appears in Six Notable Women of North Carolina
A biography of the late Kathryn Stripling "Kay" Byer, the first woman and longest-serving (2005-2009) Poet Laureate in the state, is featured in Six Notable Women of North Carolina by Jack J. Prather of Hendersonville, founder of the Young Writers Scholarship at Warren Wilson College. The 43-page biography includes poems selected by the poet who passed away on June 5th, plus photos reflecting her life journey.
Another writer among the subjects in Prather's 2015 sequel to Twelve Notables of North Carolina published in 2012 is Kathy Reichs of Charlotte, a renowned novelist and inspiration for the long-running 'Bones' TV series.
Both books of biographies were nominated for the North Carolina Literary & Historical Association Ragan Award for Non-Fiction, and are available at amazon.com/books.
Jack J. Prather
prathergroup@aol.com
828-808-0660
prathergroup@aol.com
828-808-0660
www.amazon.com/books
Thursday, June 8, 2017
WNO Dedicated to Kathryn Stripling Byer on June 9
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| Kathryn (Kay) Byer |
To honor her memory and contributions to our writing community, please feel free to read a poem of Kay's at open mic (instead of, or in addition to, your own poem or prose).
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| Glenda Beall |
7 pm, Room 201
Union County Community Center
Blairsville, GA
Please Note: The View Grill is under new management and the new menu is getting great reviews. If you plan to eat, please arrive by 6 pm.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
2009, Kathryn Stripling Byer paid a visit to Hayesville and blogged about it
Kathryn Stripling Byer visited Coffee with the Poets in Hayesville in 2009. Revisit that day when our local poets read for the Poet Laureate and she read for us.
http://kathrynstriplingbyer.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-03-15T18:47:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=14&by-date=false
If you were there, leave us a comment about what you remember and how you felt that day.
http://kathrynstriplingbyer.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-03-15T18:47:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=14&by-date=false
If you were there, leave us a comment about what you remember and how you felt that day.
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| Karen Holmes in 2009 |
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Monday, May 29, 2017
Writers Circle around the Table, Hayesville, NC, offers Writing classes the month of June, 2017
Writers Circle around the Table is offering writing classes during the month of June, 2017.
Students can write fiction, personal essays (nonfiction), true stories about their life, or write fictional stories based on your life, write with prompts given in class, or not. Write from your imagination. Create unforgettable characters.
Students will learn what editors will reject and read first. Students will learn to give and get feedback about their stories in a respectful and friendly manner.
Class space is limited to five. With a small class, you get more attention for your work. You can ask questions and discuss your own ideas. Jump start your muse and get back to writing again.
Classes will meet in the afternoon, 2 - 4 PM. for four weeks, on Tuesdays, June 6 - June 27, 2017.
Eight Hours of Classes for $ 35.00
Where: Writers Circle Studio, Hayesville, NC
Directions given upon registration:
http://www.glendacouncilbeall.com/
Email: glendabeall@msn.com
828-389-4441
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