Photo of Nancy Simpson Gifted to the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

Glenda Council Beall and Mary Fonda

On Tuesday, August 7, 2018, the Moss Memorial Library received a photo of late poet, Nancy Simpson Brantley, given from the North Carolina Writers’ Network (NCWN), in Simpson Brantley’s, honor for her many achievements, most of which were in Western NC. Librarian Mary Fonda received the photo from North Carolina Writers’ Network-West’s (NCWN-West) Program Director, Glenda Council Beall. Simpson Brantley's work was written under her maiden name, Nancy Simpson.

Nancy Simpson Brantley was a poet, teacher, and mother of three children. She taught in Clay County Schools for 28 years, in the Exceptional Children’s programs. She received a Master’s in Fine Arts from Warren Wilson College, and a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Western Carolina University. 

A member of the NCWN, Simpson Brantley served on its executive board, and in 1991 co-founded the NCWN-West, a program of NCWN, to serve writers in the remote NC mountains. She was NCWN-West’s Program Director for over 21 years.

She taught writing at Tri-County Community College, Murphy, NC, The Institute for Continuing Learning at Young Harris College, Georgia, at John C. Campbell Folk School (JCCFS), Brasstown, NC, and was Resident Artist for Writing at JCCFS 1998-2010. 

Simpson Brantley’s poems were widely published in Literary Journals, and she had three published books: Living Above The Frostline, New and Selected Poems, Night Student, and Across Water. Simpson Brantley won first place for her poem, “Night Student,” at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta, GA, in 1978, received the NC Arts Council Writing Fellowship for Poetry in 1991, and a Distinguished Alumni Award from Tri-County Community College in 1998. She was named a SIBA Poetry Award Finalist in 2011. Simpson Brantley co-edited Lights in the Mountains and edited Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, both anthologies with Western NC writers. Simpson Brantley has been included in several editions of Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Education, Who's Who in the South and Southwest, and Who's Who of American Women. In 2018, she was given the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who.

Nancy Simpson Brantley passed away on February 17, 2018. A memorial in her honor was held at the John C. Campbell Folk School on May 5, 2018. You can visit her blog at: http://nancysimpson.blogspot.com/

The Literary Hour on August 22, 2018, at the JCCFS, Brasstown, NC, will feature NCWN-West's writers Catherine Carter, Joan Howard, and Karen Luke Jackson

On Wednesday, August 22, 2018, at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School (JCCFS) and NC Writers' Network-West (NCWN-West) will sponsor The Literary Hour at the JCCFS, Brasstown, NC. The Literary Hour is usually 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 Catherine Carter, Joan Howard, and Karen Luke Jackson.

Catherine Carter lives with her husband in Cullowhee, near Western Carolina University, where she teaches in the English Education and Professional Writing programs. Her full-length collections of poetry include The Swamp Monster at Home (LSU Press, 2012) The Memory of Gills (LSU, 2006), and Larvae of the Nearest Stars (forthcoming from LSU, fall 2019.  The Memory of Gills received the 2007 Roanoke-Chowan Award from the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association; her chapbook Marks of the Witch won Jacar Press’ 2014 chapbook contest; other awards include the 2018 James Applewhite Poetry Award from the North Carolina Literary Review, the 2014 Poet Laureate’s award from the North Carolina Poetry Society, the 2013 poetry award from Still: The Journal, and numerous Pushcart nominations.  Her work has also appeared in Best American Poetry 2009, Orion, Poetry, Asheville Poetry Review, Tar River Review, and Ploughshares, among others.

Carter is assistant poetry editor at Cider Press Review and the Jackson County regional representative for NCWN-West. Carter blogs at: https://catherinecarterpoetry.com/.

Joan M. Howard's poetry has been published in POEM, The Road Not Taken:The Journal of Formal Poetry, the Aurorean, Lucid Rhythms, Victorian Violet, the Wayfarer and other literary journals.  She published the book Death and Empathy: My Sister Web, in 2017, available on Amazon.com.  Her latest book, Jack, Love and the Daily Grail, is available from Kelsay publications and Amazon.com. 

Howard is a former teacher with an MA in German and English literature and member of the North Carolina Writers' Network West and North Carolina Writers Network.  She enjoys birding and kayaking on the beautiful waters of Lake Chatuge near Hiawassee, Georgia.

Karen Luke Jackson’s oral history background and contemplative practices provide a latticework for her writing.  Her poems and stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Kakalak, Alive Now, Ruminate, moonShine review, Emrys, TOWN Magazine, The Great Smokies Review, Broad River Review, Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction, and two anthologies featuring western North Carolina writers. 

Jackson lives in Flat Rock, North Carolina, holds a doctorate in education from North Carolina State University, and is a retreat leader with the Center for Courage & Renewal.