GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS BOOKFAIR

(City Lights Bookstore, along with The Friends of the Jackson County Library and numerous other volunteers, helped make the Bookfair a reality.)

This year's Great Smoky Mountains Bookfair was a smash hit! We had more people come to visit than ever before, and our authors on display were busier than I've ever seen them. I can vouch for that! I hardly had time to look at the book displays or to visit with friends like Kerry Madden, Pam Duncan, Vicki Lane, Allan Wolf, Fred Chappell--well, the list could go on. The event was held once again at the First United Methodist Church in Sylva, an ideal facility that feels both welcoming and capacious enough for a bunch of writers and readers to hang out for a day, indulging their love of books. We appreciate the church for opening its lovely downstairs rooms to us.

Alas, I forgot to bring new batteries for my camera, so I don't have photos of my own to share, but I do have one, taken in my kitchen, of the beautiful wall sconce, with an ear of corn on it (of course!), by my dear friend Gayle Woody, the one who created the gorgeous corn batik that I featured a few weeks back. Gayle teaches art at Smoky Mountain High School now, and her energy and spirit always makes me feel more alive.

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(Sconce hand-made by artist and friend Gayle Woody)

I wrote a lot of poems for both children and adults, including a couple for babies named Eason and Sean Adam. I had a lot of fun writing one for a woman who rescues St. Bernard's, the breed of dog I've always wanted! With four "mutts" living with me these days, I'm glad I don't have the dog of my dreams, though a keg of brandy around his neck would be welcome on cold nights.
The highlight of my day was Allan Wolf's Poetry Alive performance and the readings by our student poetry contest winners. More about that tomorrow. They were fabulous. What poise they all had! I could never had stood up to read my own poem when I was in the second grade. Or the twelfth!

(Photo from Allan's website, http://www.allanwolf.com. )

And yes, I bought books, so many that my friends Harold and Jane Schiffman had to help me carry them out to the car!

Then we joined Fred and Susan Chappell for a glass of wine at Mill and Main, http://www.historicdowntownsylva.com/rest.html, basking in the afternoon light on the restaurant deck.

All in all, a great day for writers, readers, and our region.

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS BOOKFAIR

ARCHITECT'S RENDERINGS OF THE NEW JACKSON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY:



TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY, SO PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR! I'M HOPING NETWEST MEMBERS WILL COME OVER TO SYLVA TO ENJOY THE LITERARY FELLOWSHIP AND BUY BOOKS. (WWW.gsmbookfair.org) THE HOLIDAY SEASON IS ALMOST HERE, SO THINK ABOUT YOUR GIFT LISTS AND REMEMBER THAT BOOKS MAKE THE BEST GIFTS, ESPECIALLY THOSE PURCHASED FROM INDIE BOOKSTORES LIKE CITY LIGHTS. AND IF YOU BUY BOOKS AT THE BOOKFAIR, A PORTION OF THE PROCEEDS WILL GO TOWARD BUILDING THE NEW LIBRARY IN SYLVA, A FACILITY THAT WILL SERVE NOT ONLY JACKSON COUNTY BUT THE REGION, AS WELL. IT'S GOING TO BE BEAUTIFUL, SET ATOP COURTHOUSE HILL.

CLICK ON THE POST LINK TO GO TO SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS'S FEATURE THIS WEEK ON THE FAIR.

CLOTHES LINES - BOOK SIGNING AT HIGHLAND BOOKS

From left: Betsy Craig; Peggy Bresnahan; Janet Sloane Benway; Nancy Purcell, Transylvania Rep for Netwest;Alexandra Burroughs;

Celia Miles, editor, seated.

 
These writers signed the anthology, Clothes Lines, edited by Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham, at Highlands Books. From Birkenstocks to bras, red shoes to pink pants suits, prom dresses to funeral gown, our garments, our mother's closet, 75 women writers from western NC reflect in poetry, memoir, story, and essay on their fascination and feeling for the clothes they wear, remember, revere, or reject.

MEOW POETRY

Brenda Kay Ledford's poem, "Sonja," appeared in the anthology, MEOW POETRY. She is a member of North Carolina Writers' Network-West. http://www.brendakayledford.com/; http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com/.

Winkle, Jeffrey. MEOW POETRY. Denver, CO: Outskirts Press, Inc., 2009. 74 pages, trade paperback. $11.95. http://www.outskirtspress.com/.

MEOW POETRY is a collection of fun, fabulous, feline verse by 51 poets. Some of the poems are written by established poets such as Larry Thomas, the 2008 Texas Poet Laureate; Lana Hechtman Ayers, poetry editor of Crab Creek Review; Judith Kerman, publisher of Mayapple Press; and Dr. John Achorn, associate professor of English at New England College. Other contributors are regular folk, who have published for the first time. There is authenticity throughout the book.

In this excellent anthology, you’ll be entertained and gain insight into cats. They are a mysterious lot. Fur-covered enigmas. They are quirky. The delightful, mercurial nature of cats makes them difficult to describe—a challenge for poets.

You’ll find all kinds of cats in this collection: cunning cats, curious cats, cuddly cats, cute cats, clean cats, confrontational cats, companionable cats, courageous cats, and country cats. A patchwork of cats cross your path in this book: Persian, Abyssinian, Himalayan, Tabby, Siamese, Calico; all kinds with magical glowing eyes; fluffy and short tails Pur-r-r-r-r for affection.

Finally, MEOW POETRY is the perfect, present for every member on your Christmas list who loves felines. This anthology also would make a great gift for your veterinarian. To order: ww.outskirtspress.com; http://www.amazon.com/.

Book reviewed by: Brenda Kay Ledford, author of, Sacred Fire, 2009 Paul Green Award recipient.

SALE OF FABRIC ART BENEFITS SCHOLARSHIP FUND

About the Candy Maier Scholarship Fund for Women Writers

The Candy Maier Scholarship Fund for Women Writers supports participation in shared writing experiences. It provides scholarship assistance to women living in Western North Carolina for workshops, classes, program and retreats located in Western North Carolina or in nearby areas of contiguous states.

Writing friends of Candy Maier established The Candy Fund (TCF) in 2006, after her unexpected death in November of 2005, to honor her life and the kind of writing experiences she found fun and meaningful.

In TCF’s first three award years, more than fifty women received scholarships. These women are already giving back to the community of writers. Awards are made each month, year-round, as funds permit.

Sales of the fabric art will be important in our current funding, and we invite you to consider a purchase of one of these beautiful pieces. Please contact Cheryl Dietrich, 828-277-1757, cheryldietrich@bellsouth.net, for further information or to see the any of the fabric art.

About the Fabric Art
The one-of-a-kind pieces marry traditional quilting techniques with layers of landscape, figures and words. The varied and vibrant colors originate from hand preparation/dying of the fabrics.

“Park Scene II”

From a drawing by Kimberly at the Morikami Japanese museum.

13” x 15”

$ 80

“Plentissa—Kitchen Goddess”

24 ½” x 25 ½”

$ 350

“Sweet Abundance”

Candy and sweets (and soft photos of Kimberly as a child)

50” x 69”

$ 900

“Homage to Monet”

Water lilies

52” x 70”

$ 900

Words, Words, Words

Inspired by, and containing words

51” x 51”

$ 750



About the Artist, Kimberly Childs



Kimberly Childs is nationally known for her quilted fabric art and garments. Her themes range from personal serendipity to Florida (“Park Scene II”) and the Southwest. After many years as a fabric artist, health challenges now prevent her from executing further pieces. She now uses her writing and watercolor painting to express herself.

Kimberly lives in Asheville where she is an active member of the community of women writers. Her donation of fabric art for the support of the scholarship program has been greatly appreciated by The Candy Fund Board.

For more information on Kimberly, please see her web site: http://www.kimberlychilds.net/

CREATIVE NONFICTION CONTEST

THE ROSE POST CREATIVE NONFICTION CONTEST

DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 18, 2009

The Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition encourages the creation of lasting nonfiction work that is outside the realm of conventional journalism. Subjects may include traditional categories such as reviews, travel articles, profiles or interviews, place/history pieces, or culture criticism.

The first-, second- and third-place winners will receive $300, $200 and $100, respectively. Additionally, Southern Cultures magazine will consider the winner for publication. The final judge is Pushcart Prize-winner Virginia Holman, author of Rescuing Patty Hearst.

Questions may be directed to Virginia Freedman at mail@ncwriters.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

                           Eligibility and Guidelines

The competition is open to any writer who is a legal resident of North Carolina or a member of NCWN.

Submit two copies of an original and previously unpublished manuscript of no more than 2,000 words, typed (12-point font) and double-spaced.

• The author's name should not appear on the manuscript.
• Multiple submissions accepted, one manuscript per entry fee:
•  $10/NCWN members,
• $15/nonmembers. (You may pay member entry fee if you join NCWN with your submission.)

• Entries will not be returned.
• Include a SASE for a list of winners.
• Send submissions, indicating name of competition, to:

Ed Southern, Executive Director
PO Box 21591
Winston Salem, NC 27120-1591

Moss Library and NCWN West hold holiday readings

Photos made in December 2006. Carole Thompson, has a story in the anthology edited by Celia Miles, Clothes Lines. (Center)Nancy Gadsby, facilitor of Writing for Children group. Estelle Rice has published numerous short stories, essays and poems. She also has a poetry chapbook published.

Estelle Rice

Dorothea Spiegel

Carole Thompson, Georgia Representative for Netwest

This year, Thursday evening, December 17, at 7:00 p.m. our readers will be Glenda Barrett, Estelle Rice, and Carole Thompson. All stories must have a holiday theme. Open mic is held after the readings and refreshments are served.

THE SOUL TREE: POEMS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS

Published and printed in Asheville, North Carolina by Grateful Steps Publishing.

The poet and photographer will be at the Great Smoky Mountains Book fair. The Soul Tree would make a perfect Christmas Gift. Or several.

To say that Laura Hope-Gill and John Fletcher, Jr. have put together one of the most beautiful books I've ever seen would be an understatement. Here is a collaboration that expands the definition of that word. It's a seamlessly interwoven collection of words and images that invite and inspire, in the the original meaning of that over-used term. Laura's poems show the depths of her poetic "inseeing, " Rilke calls it, and Fletcher's photographs open up the landscape that Laura sings into being with her words. The Soul Tree speaks to the landscapes of internal and exterior reality. In this collection those two landscapes have found harmony through two artists working together in celebration of what they love.


Laura Hope-Gill is in the process of being certified as a Certified Applied Poetry Facilitator by the National Federation for Poetry Therapy, working under the mentorship of poet and psychotherapist Perie Longo. The Director of Asheville Wordfest, a free poetry festival which presents poetry as Citizen Journalism, she consciously pursues ways of revealing poetry’s relevance to every-day life and not merely an “art form” whose only use is to beautiful. The Soul Tree: Poems and Photographs of the Southern Appalachians (Grateful Steps, Asheville) is a collaboration with local photographer John Fletcher, Jr. and is an application of her vision of poetry as a conversation between inner and outer worlds.



Renowned photographer John Fletcher has this to say about the beginnings of their collaboration.

"After visiting my landscapes website in the spring of 2008, Laura replied with an email containing an attachment titled, 'The Soul Tree.' I was stunned after reading the poem, then I noticed that there were 35 more pages to the document. My jaw dropped a little lower each time I scrolled to the next poem…36 in all. I was speechless.Not only was her writing beautiful and poignant, but her poetry brought new life to the photographs. I was also quite overwhelmed by her choice of photos…not the pretty sunset pictures that most people like. She was inspired by the photos that were my favorites…the mysterious and more abstract images that I feel personify my experience and observations.



Today I continue this pursuit by working as a staff
photographer for the Asheville Citizen-Times, shooting
weddings, and freelancing for regional and national
clients including, USA Today, The Associated Press,
MSNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and
the Asheville Chamber of Commerce."

Images and poems from The Soul Tree may be found at http://www.thsoultree.com/, along with ordering information and more about the two artists who have brought this lovely book into existence.

Here are two pages from the book.

COLLOQUY IN BLACK AND WHITE by NANCY DILLINGHAM

Nancy Dillingham has a new book of poetry out from Catawba Publishers (www.catawbapublishing.com) titled Colloquy in Black and White. The poems are sometimes stark, always accessible. Nancy is a 6th generation Dillinghamm from Big Ivy in western North Carolina. She has published several books of poetry, as well as essays and articles. She lives in Asheville with her cat named Serendipity.

Nancy has been growing by leaps and bounds as a poet, and this new collection shows ample evidence of her growth. She is becoming a fearless poet, taking on subjects that might daunt others. She's a mountain woman who knows her landscape and its dark places well.

She can confront them, all the while singing the light and the love of place. She reads widely, she listens, she challenges herself, without losing the moorings that keep her steady as a poet and an inhabitant of these mountains. She will be at the Great Smoky Mountains Book Fair, and I hope that other festivals and reading series across the state will begin to take notice of her work.

Suite on Love

Sitting here
fifty years later
as you whisper me
happy birthday
and our younguns
sing around us
grown
with children of their own

I want to say
it is you
not the candles
on the cake
that takes my breath away

Too late coming to love
I made the usual blunders

A blush away from a baby
it was a tom-fool thing
for me to do
bringing you
country ham
cured sweet as honey
biscuits and gravy
stack cake

How could
I lie
with you
after you left me
for a roll
in the hay
with the first hussy
that gave you the eye?

Spitfire
you called me later
bleeding
like a stuck pig
where I struck
you with a piece
of stove wood
and you slapped me

Sitting here
as I think of all the pain
yours is the only music I hear
and I want to tell you
everything still seems the same
like the first time
clear as a bell

right as rain

Legacy

My aunt sat on her front porch
in a chair bottomed with strips of tires
slinging her crossed leg, dipping snuff

Your great-grandmother ruled
with an iron hand
and Grandpa was a rounder, she said

Double Dillinghams they were
cousins marrying cousins
Elbert and Mary

Owned land as far as the eye could see
all the way up to the Coleman Boundary

They say he courted her by bringing armfuls of flowers
picked by the roadside or out of other people's yards
traded his mule for a chestnut mare

Carried her around in a hand basket after they married
all the while making time with the hired help

The house stood right over there on the hill
where the graveyard is today--they gave the land

A smile threatened the corners of my aunt's wrinkled mouth
and a small rivulet of snuff ran down one side

After he died
Grandma didn't take to widow's weeds
said they didn't become her

She'd sit on the porch cooling Sunday afternoons in the summer
after cooking cut-off corn and baking soft butter biscuits
She'd throw back her head and cackle

I ought to have taken me a young lover
just to bedevil Elbert, she'd say

But he'd have dragged chains up and down the stairs at night
and, after my laying out, danced on my grave for spite

My aunt's face softened
A long time passed before she spoke again

We grandchildren would play on the porch
run the length of it back and forth
like fighting fire

or stand under the arbor eating pink grapes
clear as glass and sweet as honey
bees buzzing a halo over our heads

Sometimes when I look really hard
I can just see Grandma
coming over the ridge

her bright apron glowing
waving like a flag
calling me home

Signs

“Whenever you go looking for what’s lost, everything is a sign.”
Eudora Welty


I have not bled
this month, Mother
and I am afraid

Just yesterday
a bird flew into the living room
losing its way

I didn’t sleep a wink last night
A dog howled outside my window
and the clock didn’t strike

Must have been midnight
I saw Will’s first wife plain as day
standing over my bed

glistening with sweat
crying with no sound
holding her dead baby

all the while
Will sleeping quietly
beside me

I felt the same fear
I saw in her face
this time last year

You remember, don’t you, Mother?
You asked me to help with the birthing
It was my first time

You cut cotton strips
and bound her wrists
to the bedposts

I placed the small, round stick
you handed me
into her mouth

bathed her face
as you commanded her
to bear down

I remember most the silence
as I watched you wrap the baby—stillborn
in the same soft cloth

And I can never forget the look
in Will’s eyes at the funeral
when he finally raised them

and gazed at me
as if seeing me
for the first time

Tiny shivers
ran up and down my spine
and my whole body shook

as he took a sprig of white lilac
from his wife’s casket
and handed it to me

He’s out there now
on the front porch
drinking his coffee

staring over the valley
looking at rows and rows
of newly-planted fields

seeing the cattle
grazing on the hill
below the graveyard

the headstone visible still
in its rising up
and shining in the light



Daddy’s Girl


With a wink and a leer
her daddy holds
the cold open can of beer
tantalizingly near

tickling her nose
Through bow-like lips
eager as a baby bird
she sates her thirst

with a single sip
laughs a giggly
hiccupping laugh
then burps

Putting up one perfect hand
she catches a trickle of froth
as it bursts like broth
from her soft pink mouth

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS BOOK FAIR SPECIAL EVENT

Come Meet Minnesota Prose Poet Louis Jenkins

Minnesota Poet To Bring His Wit and Words to Greenville

Prose poet Louis Jenkins will tell you right up front, "A lot of poetry is boring, and stupid—self-indulgent." If he could do one thing to help improve poetry’s image and reputation, it would be to help both “audiences and poets to know the difference between good poetry and bad.” Because good poetry, poetry that enlightens, surprises, clarifies, empathizes, or delights—five elements Jenkins lists as essential characteristics—is pure pleasure. And “if it's not pleasure, it's not worth reading," declares this Minnesota man of words who looks a bit like Santa Claus and whose work has been described as "where scripture meets K-mart."

Louis Jenkins, favorite literary son of Duluth, Minnesota, will be bringing his poetic insights, wit, and wisdom to upstate South Carolina in a couple of weeks, courtesy of the Greenville County Library System and a grant from the Southern Arts Federation. A free reading on Friday night, November 6th, will be open to the general public, and a limited number of spaces are available in a workshop on Saturday, November 7th, to those who preregister. Jenkins will also be doing workshops with high school students at Greenville's public fine arts high school and with adult students at the Greenville Literacy Association while he’s in town.

Like more than a few before him, Jenkins admits that when he first became interested in writing in high school, he envisioned fame and wealth and lots of women. “It never happened,” he says. “There’s no money in [poetry], no fame, no beautiful women.” And as if poetry weren’t already the redheaded stepchild of literary genres, Jenkins' preference for writing prose poetry set him even further away from the mainstream. But apparently, there are a lot of us drawn to those outer edges of poetic tastes; reviewers use words such as “luminous,” “delightful,” “teasing,” and “like candy” to describe this man’s poetic paragraphs, which typically focus on everyday life and familiar events. And Jenkins can’t really claim he’s earned no fame: his books (number thirteen will be released any day now) are consistent award-winners, he is readily identified and revered as the current master of the prose poem form, and there’s even an off-Broadway play in the works for next year, based on his book, Nice Fish.

A favorite of Garrison Keillor, who has featured Jenkins' work more than thirty times on his public radio program, "The Writers Almanac," Jenkins has been telling stories in “brief, rectangular paragraphs” for more than thirty years. "Form isn't that important to me," he explains, adding that there really are no rules about what defines a prose poem. Though he also writes "line poetry," as he calls it, he is drawn to the prose poetry format because "it's handy and user friendly. The main thing about prose is its flexibility; it allows me to use the language I would use in everyday conversation. Or not."

Prose poetry has been around since the 1800s; some would argue since Biblical days. It fell out of favor, enjoyed a resurgence in the 1950s, and interest seems to be increasing once again. Jenkins, who finds even free verse somewhat restrictive, is unfazed. "If you know nothing about poetry and you want to know the difference between poetry, prose poetry, and prose, then you should do some reading,” he suggests. “If after much reading you still cannot tell the difference, then it isn’t important.”

What is important for poetry is that it be compelling enough to be read. “There’s a lot going on linguistically,” in a poem, Jenkins concedes, but you “don’t want that to be obvious. I want the language to sound as though someone were telling a story. All poetry, I think, comes down to storytelling. But to make it readable, the poem has to enlist the reader, so that the reader actually participates and shares in the emotion.” Passion makes poetry interesting, as does atmosphere, recognition of familiar experiences and, most importantly, brevity. “Writing loses some of its punch if it goes on too long,” Jenkins cautions.

Jenkins asserts that, regardless of how fads and forms come and go, poetry will always be with us. “It satisfies, momentarily, some longing in us that cannot be satisfied elsewhere, and I believe people will always read and write poetry.”

To that end, the Greenville County Library invites you to come meet Jenkins and enjoy his wit and wisdom on November 6th and 7th. In case you aren't familiar with the work of this acclaimed poet, here's a classic example:

THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY

There might be some change on top of the dresser at the back, and we should check the washer and the dryer. Checkunder the floor mats of the car. The couch cushions. I have some books and CDs I could sell, and there are a couple bigbags of aluminum cans in the basement, only trouble is thatthere isn’t enough gas in the car to get around the block. I’mexpecting a check sometime next week, which, if we are careful,will get us through to payday. In the meantime with your one—dollar rebate check and a few coins we have enough to walk to the store and buy a quart of milk and a newspaper. On secondthought, forget the newspaper.

From Sea Smoke (Holy Cow! Press)

###
Netwest member Jayne Jaudon Ferrer is the author of four books

and host of the website www.YourDailyPoem.com.

NCETA STUDENT LAUREATES: MIDDLE SCHOOL

MIDDLE SCHOOL DIVISION

First Place

C. J. Murphy

West Lincoln Middle School

Where I Come From

I come from the smell of
Fresh cut grass on an old dirt road, off
a two-lane black top.
Old lawn mowers shade the yard.
A squirrel dashes up an oak tree
in a stream of smoke and lead.
Grandma with a basket full of eggs,
Grandpa and Dad working,
Sharing a spit cup, working
In the old tin building,
Uncle Mike tuning his Camero,
Cousin Hannah, drinking a Nehi,
watching the chickens picking the ground.

My cousin Johnnie and me in the tree stand
in the old pasture by the creek,
watching the field like a hawk
through the scope of an ought-two-seventy.
(But when Mom yells “Supper’s ready!” we
Hop in the pickup with chicken and
blackberry pies on our minds.)
I walk in with mud on my boots
And Mom says, “What? Were you raised in a barn?”
(But after lunch, dressed up and armed
With Bibles, we hop in the truck
And head for evening service.)

Second Place

Falecia Metcalf

North Buncombe Middle School

The Rain

It starts out quietly,
slow and steady
each beat round and perfect.
Then ever so quickly
it becomes harsh and cold,
hitting faster and harder each time.
In the midst of it all
a shrill cry can be heard.
Where did it come from?
No one knows.
It haunts the night
and threatens to disappear,
although it never does.
I love the rain.
It brings out a dark side in me.
It makes me love scary stories
and ghosts.
It brings me peace, though,
in the worst of my nights.
It slowly sings me to sleep
with its majestic lullaby.
It doesn’t bring me anger or fear—
it soothes me.
There is something about it,
I would never guess,
That draws me to it
without ever uttering a word.
It carries me off to ride in the dark,
A person without a care,
yet it haunts me;
it loves me still.


Honorable Mention

Allie Sekulich

Neuse Charter Middle School

On the Ice

Deep lungfuls of the icy cold air
Step on to glowing white ice
On gleaming metal blades
Gliding like a swan
Cold wind brushes my face
Like soft satin feathers
Lilting to the music
I spin like a top
Never wanting to stop
Watching the world whirl
Jumping like a dolphin
Into the air for joy
Floating, as if I could stay up forever
Hit the ice, steady my blades
Dancing from one end to another
Turning, twisting, prancing
Power and Grace
My energy is endless, endless in joy and love
Never wanting to leave
This is my true passion
Fiercer, more alive than anything
It burns like a blazing fire
My second home is the rink
On two metal blades and the beautiful ice
Here I will be
Forevermore skating
I am a Figure Skater.

(Sasha Cohen's skates. Sasha is Allie's favorite figure skater.)

STUDENT POETRY CONTEST--GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS BOOKFAIR

STUDENT POETRY CONTEST AT SMOKY MOUNTAINS BOOK FAIR

Students who love to write poetry have a chance to win prizes and recognition in a contest sponsored by the 5th Great Smoky Mountains Book Fair. The contest is open to students in grades 1-12 in Jackson, Haywood, Macon and Swain counties, including home-schooled students and students on the Qualla Boundary.

The poetry contest was an idea proposed by Kay Byer, North Carolina Poet Laureate and one of the planners for the Book Fair, which is sponsored by City Lights Bookstore, the Friends of the Jackson County Main Library, and the Jackson County Public Library. “The love of books and reading begins early, and the earlier the better,” Byer said. “Poetry is a great way to nurture that love, beginning in kindergarten and all the way through to high school. Our student poetry contest will encourage our children to develop a love of language that will enrich their lives.”

“We are urging teachers and parents to encourage their students to submit a poem as a way of drawing attention to the Book Fair, which is a promotional event to raise money for the new Jackson County Public Library Complex,” said June Smith, president of the Friends of Jackson County Main Library. “Students who write poems now will one day soon have a new library in Jackson County filled with books and poems.”

First and second prizes will be awarded in three categories: Elementary—Grades 1-5, Middle School—Grades 6-8, and High School—Grades 9-12. Students may submit only one poem, not longer than 40 lines. Each submission must include the student’s name, parents' names, grade level, school attended (if home-schooled, please specify), address and telephone number. Include email address, if available. Poems must be received by October 31.

First prizewinners in each category will receive $50, and the second prizewinners will receive $25. Judges for the contest are Jeannette Cabinis-Brewin, Dr. Mary Adams, and Dr. Newton Smith.

Allan Wolf, author, poet, performer and educator will read the winning poems at the Great Smoky Mountains Book Fair. The Fair will be held November 14 at the United Methodist Church in downtown Sylva. Wolf’s books include Immersed In Verse: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent & Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poet’s Life, The Blood-Hungry Spleen and Other Poems About Our Parts, and New Found Land: Lewis and Clark’s Voyage of Discovery.
Prizewinning poems and honorable mentions will be published in the Smoky Mountain News. The winning poems will be published in the Poet Laureate’s blog, http://ncpoetlaureate.blogspot.com.

Students can submit by email to more@citylightsnc.com (Student Poetry Contest in subject line) or by mail to Student Poetry Contest, City Lights Bookstore, 3 E Jackson St., Sylva, NC 28779-5668. Deadline is Oct. 31, 2009. For more information contact either Kathryn Byer at nclaureate@aol.com or 293-5695 or City Lights Books at 586-9499 or more@citylightsnc.com.

ASPIRING WRITERS: GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS BOOK FAIR

Aspiring writers can find advice at November’s benefit book fair
(from The Sylva Herald)

Writers who are as yet unpublished can obtain some expert advice next month, and they won’t have to leave the area to do so.

As part of the Great Smoky Mountains Book Fair, which will be in Sylva on Saturday, Nov. 14, Edmund Schubert will offer a free writers’ workshop devoted to how to get published in any genre.

The program will be held at Sylva First United Methodist Church from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. While there is no charge to attend, pre-registration is required. Please call City Lights Bookstore at 586-9499 by Tuesday, Nov. 10, to reserve a place at the workshop.

The book fair appearance will mark Schubert’s return to Sylva to offer this program for a second time. He came to City Lights in February and had a full-capacity crowd for the workshop, which covers everything from the difference between a query letter and a cover letter to selling novels, non-fiction books and articles, and short stories.

Schubert is the author of a novel, titled “Dreaming Creek,” and is also the fiction editor of Orson Scott Card’s (author of “Ender’s Game”) online science-fiction magazine, Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show. An anthology from the magazine was recently published as a book, with Schubert as editor.

To register for Schubert’s free workshop, or for more information, call City Lights at 586-9499.

The Great Smoky Mountains Book Fair is a fund-raiser for the new Jackson County Library. In addition to Schubert’s writing workshop, it will include entertainment and book appraisal opportunities.

The all-day event draws some 50 regional authors to Sylva Methodist to sell and autograph their books, with 20 percent of sales going to the new library.

For complete book fair information, visit online at www.gsmbookfair.org

YOU GOTTA LOVE 'EM

Book Review of YOU GOTTA LOVE ‘EM

Davis, Tom. YOU GOTTA LOVE ‘EM. Fayetteville, NC: Old Mountain Press, Inc., 2009. 87 pages, trade paperback. $14.00. http://www.oldmountainpress.com/.

YOU GOTTA LOVE ‘EM, compiled by Old Mountain Press, includes poetry and prose by 65 writers. Members of North Carolina Writers’ Network-West published in this book include: Linda Smith, Dorothea Spiegel, and Brenda Kay Ledford. This anthology describes the children who try our patience and make life so worth living.

Pollyanna Dunn photographed the cover and Tom Davis designed it. A darling picture of Lewis “The Frogman” Dunn, the publisher’s (AKA Pa Pa Trouble) grandson on his first birthday graces the book and begs you to read it.

This beautiful toddler gains knowledge of his cupcake through his senses. During the sensorimotor period, from 1 to 3 years of age, children spend much of their time playing and experimenting with various actions and movements. For instance, Al Manning describes his grandson, Alex, exploring the world through movement: jumping, leaping, crawling, creeping, bounding, bouncing…

Another major development during toddlerhood involves learning language. Marian Kaplun Shapiro writes about her granddaughter collecting new words, staples for her cupboard. She acquires meaning for the new word: “Hat!”

At this age, children also enjoy listening to simple songs, nursery rhymes, and stories. Shelby Stephenson alludes to “Blue Boy” and “the bear licks gold porridge” in his poem, “The Orchard Boy.” Additionally, Dorothea Spiegel writes about a little girl wanting to hear “A Child’s Story.”

During early childhood, children learn there are certain standards of behavior. Joseph J. Youngblood’s poem, “You Gotta Love Them,” describes this time of discovery, learning the Golden Rule, and how it’s not easy to be a young kid.

Tom Davis, publisher of this anthology, also tells about a boy learning standards of behavior in, “Demon Rum.” It’s a humorous story at Vienna’s First Baptist Church. During the revival, Rip, exposes where his daddy hides the rum bottle.

Additionally, Barbara Ledford Wright addresses her son learning patriotism at an early age. In “God Bless America,” John enjoyed playing with his toy soldiers. He could recite the Pledge of Allegiance at age 3 and sang, “God Bless America,” with only one mispronounced word.

Besides patriotism, the theme of “school” was covered by authors. Ruth Moose pens a magnificent story about a colorful principal who tap, tap, tappity, tap, taps, down the hall, and with her pointed red nail, motions children out of the classroom to discipline them. You’ll also read “School, the Early Years,” by Ehelena Jackson Brown. Blanche L. Ledford’s poem stresses the “ABC’s” and Brenda Kay Ledford recalls “The Lunchroom” at Hayesville Elementary School in her funny vignette.

This anthology includes work by 10-year-old Dylan Fox Atkins. His poem, “When Wind Never Fell,” won first place in a contest at Harnett Middle School.

Finally, YOU GOTTA LOVE ‘EM, introduces us to the wonderful, wooshing, warking, wewing, wantastic, world of children. (My spell check went wild when I typed these nonsense words on the computer). This anthology is one of the best books Old Mountain Press has ever published . It could even be incorporated into the Early Childhood curriculum at universities. For information about upcoming anthologies by OMP, or to order books, go to: http://www.oldmountainpress.com/.

Book reviewed by: Brenda Kay Ledford. Ms. Ledford holds a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education from Western Carolina University. She’s a North Carolina certified teacher and retired elementary school teacher.

Visit her blog at: http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com/ and website: www.brendakayledford.com.

COPIES OF FIRST LIGHT AVAILABLE FOR TEACHERS

If any English/writing teachers in the public schools in our area want copies of FIRST LIGHT: NC Student Laureate Awards, please let me know at nclaureate@aol.com. You can use them in the classroom or just have them as a reminder to submit your best student work in next spring's contest. Thanks! And check ncpoetlaureate.blogspot.com, where I will be posting all the winning work. The post on the NC English Teachers Association Conference went up today, with photos and commentary. Check it out!

CATHY SMITH BOWERS READS AT CITY LIGHTS IN SYLVA

Photo credit: Jeff Davis. This photo of Cathy was snapped at the studios of WPVM when she appeared earlier this year on WordPlay, the station's program by, about, etc., "writers, their craft and ideas."
Cathy Smith Bowers will be reading at City Lights Bookstore, http://www.citylightsnc.com/, this Friday night (Oct. 16) at 7:00 p.m. Please plan to attend this reading, signing, and reception in Sylva, NC.

Anyone who has read Cathy Smith Bowers knows what I'm about to say, that she is one of the finest poets writing today, that her work fuses narrative with exquisite lyricism, as well as wit and vulnerability. Her new book, The Candle I Hold Up to See You, is just out from Iris Press.

ISBN-10: 1604542020ISBN-13: 9781604542028 Published: Iris Press, 05/01/2009 Pages: 96

Cathy Smith Bowers is a native of South Carolina. She was a winner of the 1990 General Electric Award for Younger Writers and a South Carolina Poetry Fellowship. Her poems have appeared widely in publications such as The Altantic Monthly, The Georgia Review, Poetry, Shenandoah, The Southern Poetry Review, The Southern Review, Kenyon Review, and many others.
Cathy’s first book, The Love That Ended Yesterday in Texas, was published in 1992 as the first winner of the Texas Tech University Press First-book Competition in their Poetry Award Series, subsequently named for Walt McDonald. Iris Press republished The Love That Ended Yesterday in Texas in 1997. Iris Press published Cathy’s second book, Traveling in Time of Danger, in 1999. Iris Press published Cathy’s third book, A Book of Minutes, in 2004. Cathy teaches in the MFA program in Creative Writing at Queens University of Charlotte.


To view a portfolio of Cathy's work over her past several books, please go to http://www.irisbooks.com/bowers/bowers_port.htm.

Here are two poems from her new collection.




Cool Radio

When she calls and asks
f I will drive her to the mall,
our city’s newest labyrinth

of glittering stuff, I know my sister
has come back to me, back
from November’s shock of blood,

the exams, the x-rays, the surgeon’s
winnowing blade. She is one week
out of the hospital, chemo bag

draped casually across her shoulder,
spilling its slow promise
into her veins. Odd how stylish

in the mall’s fluorescent lights,
a Gucci or von Furstenburg,
its pale blue plastic shiny

as the toy shoes and purses
we used to play grownup in.
I loop my left arm through her

frail right, her tired gait lanky,
almost chic, steady her against
the teenage throng, tattooed

and pierced and spiked, past
racks of skirts and dresses, tier
upon tier of stiletto heels

like the ones our dead mother
in her younger years
suffered in so beautifully.

At the base of the escalator,
beyond The Limited and The Gap,
a girl too young for fashion’s

fleeting realm spies the apparatus
around my sister’s neck. “Cool
radio,” she whispers to no one

as we all step on together.


Solace




Each morning in my mailbox
or tucked into a quiet cove
of my front porch, another
burden of solace
reminding me again
my husband is dead.

Last week, an oval cardboard box
decoupaged in stars, inside, its nested
offering—a cache of still-warm eggs
gleaned from my neighbor’s henhouse.

Yesterday, a Peruvian prayer shawl,
the warp and weft of its holy weave
climbing, like girders of a bridge,
its sturdy warmth.

And today this handmade flute,
turned and hollowed and carved
by Laughing Crow, enigmatic
shaman of some distant plain.

See its little row of holes
lined up like perfect planets,
as if having not yet learned
the universe had collapsed.

See my lips pressed to the tiny
breathless gape of its own mouth.
As if my lungs could conjure anything.
As if it were the one needing to be saved.

LEDFORD RECEIVES PAUL GREEN AWARD

Brenda Kay Ledford received the 2009 Paul Green Multimedia Award for her poetry book, SACRED FIRE, from North Carolina Society of Historians at the History Place in Morehead City, NC, during their award’s ceremony in October.

This is the fourth time Ledford has received the prestigious Paul Green Award. She got the 2005 award for her poetry book, PATCHWORK MEMORIES; the 2006 award for collecting oral history on Velma Beam Moore; and in 2007, for SHEW BIRD MOUNTAIN.

A native of Clay County, NC, Ledford was an honor graduate of Hayesville High School. She earned her Master of Arts in Education from Western Carolina University and studied Journalism at the University of Tennessee. She’s former Creative Writing Editor of “Tri-County Communicator,” at Tri-County Community College.

Ledford is a member of North Carolina Writers’ Network, North Carolina Poetry Society, Georgia Poetry Society, Byron Herbert Reece Society, North Carolina Storytelling Guild, and listed with “A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers.” She’s appeared on “A Common Cup,” over Windstream Communication channel 4 television and read her poetry.

Her work has appeared in “Our State,” “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” “A Journal of Kentucky Studies,” “Appalachian Heritage,” and many other journals. Finishing Line Press published her poetry books, SHEW BIRD MOUNTAIN and SACRED FIRE.

For details about the Paul Green Award, go to: http://www.ncsocietyofhistorians.org/; http://www.brendakayledford.com/; http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com.

FASHIONS FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT

Recently I acquired a copy of Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham's new anthology, Clothes Lines, a book filled with stories and poems about, what else, clothes.


Among the writers I know in this book are Nancy Sales Cash, author of three novels and she is working on number four. Nancy is a native of Murphy, NC and spends much time in the Cherokee and Clay county areas. We met at the Daily Grind and Curiosity Shop Bookstore, had a cup of coffee and discussed readings of Clothes Lines and my poetry book Now Might As Well Be Then.



Some of the writers in the far southwest area of North Carolina and north Georgia who have work in Clothes Lines are Kathryn Stripling Byer, Joyce Foster, Nancy Sales Cash, Karen Paul Holmes, Carole R. Thompson, Glenda Barrett, Jo Carolyn Beebe, Janice Townley Moore, Blanche Ledford and Brenda Kay Ledford, and Peg Russell.

A number of our Netwest members throughout the region also appear in this interesting book by 75 western North Carolina Women.

Celia and Nancy published Christmas Presence last year through Catawba Press and used the same press for Clothes Lines. The book is made more interesting by the use of a few black and white pictures all done by Mary Alice Ramsey.
Be on the lookout for readings from this anthology in your town.

A Reflection on the Summer of 1968 - Remember?

Recently Lana Hendershott submitted the following to her hometown newspaper when the editor asked for glimpses of life in the summer of 1968. Many of us remember that summer. Where were you and what were you doing then?


A Girl's Take on Summer of '68
by Lana Hendershott

I was in love with a boy I dated during my freshman year at Northwestern, and I was not excited about returning to Enid, Oklahoma. Going home meant trading an active social life for monastic mores and gainful employment.

The employment angle didn’t pan out. Boys harvested wheat, mowed grass or had paper routes. Their jobs paid well and left time for swimming at Champlin’s pool. My choices were babysitting, waitressing, or car hopping in miniskirts and roller skates at the A&W.

Babysitting paid fifty cents an hour and entailed caring for a neighbor’s three children all under the age of seven. I’m talking ten hours a day, Monday through Friday, with laundry service and ironing thrown in as freebies for Mrs. T. I actually slaved away at that job the previous summer and decided surrogate motherhood was not my gig.

I was eager to carhop or wait tables. Those jobs offered shorter hours and paid three times better than babysitting even if customers didn’t tip. I began fantasizing about my soon-to-be-earned wealth. Managers, however, expected experience, and I had zero. They questioned whether a ninety-eight pound novice, regardless of enthusiasm and robust health, was a good fit for transporting weighty platters of food and drinks. My mother ended my job search by declaring, “She’s worth more than $1.50 an hour to me.” I suspect she didn’t like the miniskirt idea.

Plan B was attending summer school at Phillips University and helping Mom with errands, meals, and housework. I enrolled in General Psychology taught by Dr. Jordan, Biblical Religion with Dr. Simpson, and U.S. Government, a requirement. I don’t remember anything about government—not the teacher, not classmates, not one discussion. I had no interest in politics. Dr. King was murdered in Memphis, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in California, and the evening news was all about Viet Nam. The violence appalled me, but the broadcasts were like watching movies or events happening in a parallel universe leaving me uninvolved.

Psychology class started at seven o’clock A.M. Sipping coffee, I watched the sky lighten as I drove east on Broadway with the windows rolled down. I listened to Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” on WKY and looked forward to watching Dark Shadows in the afternoon.

An earlier version was printed in the Enid News and Eagle on Sunday, July 13th, 2008.

Lana Hendershott represents NCWN West in Henderson County. Anyone who lives there can contact her for information about Netwest and writing events in that area.