NCWN West Monthly Prose Workshop Will Not Meet in July

Hello NCWN West Prose Critique members,

There will be no Prose Critique Group Thursday July 8, 2010.

Please help let NetWest members know.

August 12 meetings will resume.
Thanks. Peg Russell

Not Your Stereotypical Southern People

In my older brothers’ generation, memorizing poetry was a part of school curriculum. I remember as a child hearing two of them, Max and Ray, chanting out the verses to Gunga Din, by Rudyard Kipling. While milking cows or feeding livestock, my teenage brothers recited poetry or sang together. As you will see below in another post, this is a long poem, but they knew every word and Max can still recite it in his 81st year.

The stereotype of farm boys in the Deep South in the 1940s and ‘50s did not include reading and loving poetry. But in our schools, English teachers enjoyed poetry and made it part of the required reading. Max and Ray often entertained me with The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.

My role models were my sister and my mother. Both were avid readers. Both enjoyed school. Winken, Blinken and Nod, one night, set off in a Wooden Shoe. I begged my big sister, June, to say that poem as she tucked me into bed each night. She pulled the covers up around me and repeated Eugene Fields' words to me in the dark while I traveled out on the night with Winken, Blinken and Nod.

Recently Newt Smith, Treasurer of Netwest, commented at Coffee with the Poets in Sylva, that his mother, as a child, would take a book of poetry with her and read while she milked the cow. In rural America, it was hard to find free time to engage in a pastime such as reading and learning poetry. There was always work to be done.

The stereotype in movies and on television would have you believe southern boys and girls were lazy, ignorant and hardly attended school. I did not know any of those stereotypical children where I grew up in southwest Georgia. My siblings and our neighbors’ kids graduated from high school while also working on the farm with their parents. All four of my brothers, along with my husband, in 1969, built a national manufacturing business which thrived in a tiny little town in Georgia until the company was sold to a California firm in the nineties.

After World War II, my brother who served in the Navy, graduated from college, ,thanks to the GI Bill. After college, he taught school and on Saturday mornings when he was home, he filled the house with the sounds of classical music and Opera. I was a high school student at that time and hardly appreciated his choice of music.

Reciting poetry, as my brothers and sisters did, seems to be a fading art today, except for a few performance poets and the Poetry Slams I read about. Michael Beadle from Haywood County is an exciting performance poet. I also enjoyed Charley Pearson’s recitation at a Netwest Picnic a few years ago. We see this in larger cities, but not in small towns.

Another southern man named Max often drops in to Coffee with the Poets in Hayesville, NC at Phillips and Lloyd bookstore. His brain is stocked with verses he learned while growing up in Georgia. We enjoy hearing him recite a few each time he comes.

Newt suspects memorizing poetry was popular in the early past century because books were hard to come by back then. The only books my brothers had were their school books or a book checked out from the book mobile in summer.

I am happy to say that the children in Hayesville and Murphy schools in North Carolina are exposed to poetry. I know this because I have read their poems in the annual Poetry contests held each year, and each year I am amazed at the work from these kids.

If you are a teacher or a parent of children in school, do you think the schools devote enough time to reading and learning poetry? Should they spend time on poetry? We would love to have your comments. Did you learn to recite poetry as a child?

A Favorite of My Brother Max

"Gunga Din" (1892) is one of Rudyard Kipling's most famous poems, perhaps best known for its often-quoted last stanza, "Tho' I've belted you and flayed you, By the livin' Gawd that made you, You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!" The poem is a rhyming narrative from the point of view of a British soldier, about a native water-bearer (a "bhisti") who saves the soldier's life but dies himself (From Wikipedia. Poem is in public domain)

Gunga Din
You may talk o' gin and beer
When you're quartered safe out 'ere,
An' you're sent to penny-fights an' Aldershot it;
But when it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An' you'll lick the bloomin' boots of 'im that's got it.
Now in Injia's sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time
A-servin' of 'Er Majesty the Queen,
Of all them blackfaced crew
The finest man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din.
He was "Din! Din! Din!
You limpin' lump o' brick-dust, Gunga Din!
Hi! Slippy hitherao!
Water, get it! Panee lao! [Bring water swiftly.]
You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din."

The uniform 'e wore
Was nothin' much before,
An' rather less than 'arf o' that be'ind,
For a piece o' twisty rag
An' a goatskin water-bag
Was all the field-equipment 'e could find.
When the sweatin' troop-train lay
In a sidin' through the day,
Where the 'eat would make your bloomin' eyebrows crawl,
We shouted "Harry By!"
Till our throats were bricky-dry,
Then we wopped 'im 'cause 'e couldn't serve us all.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
You 'eathen, where the mischief 'ave you been?
You put some juldee in it [Be quick.]
Or I'll marrow you this minute [Hit you.]
If you don't fill up my helmet, Gunga Din!"

'E would dot an' carry one
Till the longest day was done;
An' 'e didn't seem to know the use o' fear.
If we charged or broke or cut,
You could bet your bloomin' nut,
'E'd be waitin' fifty paces right flank rear.
With 'is mussick on 'is back, [Water-skin.]
'E would skip with our attack,
An' watch us till the bugles made "Retire",
An' for all 'is dirty 'ide
'E was white, clear white, inside
When 'e went to tend the wounded under fire!
It was "Din! Din! Din!"
With the bullets kickin' dust-spots on the green.
When the cartridges ran out,
You could hear the front-ranks shout,
"Hi! ammunition-mules an' Gunga Din!"

I shan't forgit the night
When I dropped be'ind the fight
With a bullet where my belt-plate should 'a' been.
I was chokin' mad with thirst,
An' the man that spied me first
Was our good old grinnin', gruntin' Gunga Din.
'E lifted up my 'ead,
An' he plugged me where I bled,
An' 'e guv me 'arf-a-pint o' water-green:
It was crawlin' and it stunk,
But of all the drinks I've drunk,
I'm gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
'Ere's a beggar with a bullet through 'is spleen;
'E's chawin' up the ground,
An' 'e's kickin' all around:
For Gawd's sake git the water, Gunga Din!"

'E carried me away
To where a dooli lay,
An' a bullet come an' drilled the beggar clean.
'E put me safe inside,
An' just before 'e died,
"I 'ope you liked your drink", sez Gunga Din.
So I'll meet 'im later on
At the place where 'e is gone --
Where it's always double drill and no canteen.
'E'll be squattin' on the coals
Givin' drink to poor damned souls,
An' I'll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!
Yes, Din! Din! Din!
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!
Though I've belted you and flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you,
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!

THANKS TO NETWEST MEMBERS FROM CANDY FUND

To the members of NetWest who participated in the Candy Fund Book Fair in Asheville on May 15:

On behalf of the Candy Maier Scholarship Fund for Women Writers Board, we want to thank all of you who came from points west--from Waynesville and Murphy and Hiawasee--for this "first as far as we know" book fair featuring local and self-published authors. It was a long way to come for an uncertain outcome; it was a hot day and a crowded venue and your sales may not have been great. We hope, though, that visiting with your fellow writers and meeting new friends helped compensate for your time and effort.

For the Candy Fund, the event was a success. In addition to just plain enjoying seeing so many writers assembled and talking books and publishing, financially the Candy Fund can now award many scholarships in support of women taking courses, classes, workshop involving shared writing experiences.

If you know of any women who might hesitate at the brink of a class or course because of its cost, please refer them to the Candy Fund at http://www.thecandyfund.org/
We want to help and the book fair assisted in our doing so. Thank you. Celia Miles (Treasurer) for the Candy Fund Board:
Cheryl Dietrich, Chair; Gwendie Camp, JC Walkup, Martha McMullen, Jennifer Browning, Whitney George

REVIEW OF: JUST BETWEEN US

REVIEW OF JUST BETWEEN US

Davis, Tom. JUST BETWEEN US. Fayetteville, NC: Old Mountain Press, Inc., 2010. 90 pages, trade paperback. $14.00. http://www.oldmountainpress.com/.

JUST BETWEEN US, compiled by Old Mountain Press, includes poetry and prose by 70 writers. North Carolina Writers’ Network-West members, Janice Townley Moore and Brenda Kay Ledford, have works in this anthology that cover relationships.

Relationships. That’s all there really is. There’s your relationship with the dust that just blew in your face, or with the person who just kicked you end over end…You have to come to terms to some kind of equilibrium, with those people around you, those people who care for you, your environment. –Leslie Marmon Silko.

This book covers a hodgepodge of relationships with: family, friends, the environment, music, math, teachers, students, God, pets, and people.

Works that cover the relationships with the environment include: Shelby Stephenson’s, “The Spring Presses my Suddenness,” and Kerri Mai Habben’s, “Leaves.” Ed Cockrell’s, poem, “Something in the Yard,” addresses beavers building dens on Collins’ Creek: “Big Red barks, and I stand on tip-toes to scan/ the moon-lit bramble. I wonder briefly/ if beavers have returned, eager for revenge.”

The relationships with animals range from Arnie Johanson’s, “A Couple of Mutts,” to C. Pleasants York’s poem, “Oscar.” This rabbit edited, critiqued, York’s work at night while munching on a carrot from his cage. His eyes were large, trusting, and liquid brown as he served as Editor in Chief.

Writers also described the relationships with families in this anthology. Blanche L. Ledford’s, “My Mentor,” tells about the bond with her mother-in-law. “I worked beside Ma as we cooked, canned food, churned buttermilk, kept house, and quilted. Ma taught me many things, and I shared my knowledge with her.”

Another story that covers the relationship with family includes Tom Davis’s, “Who’s in Charge”: “The door burst open, and Polly barreled in from a shopping spree, hugging an armload of pants, jackets, and skirts with little white tags flapping furiously in the air…”

Additionally, the relationship between a teacher and student was addressed in Barbara Ledford Wright’s, “Encouraging Andrew.” Says Wright, “The bug game was the turning point that encouraged Andrew. Between the two of us, a magnificent teacher-student relationship developed.”

Besides relationships with pets and people, Debra Kaufman explores “The Hidden Passion of Mathematicians”: “ Step into the garden of conjectures and see/ my Julia sets are uniformly perfect…”

Also, BJ Gillum refers to earthly bonds and his maker in “Eternal Love”:

When all our words are spoken
And sweet silence fills the air,
When earthly bonds are broken
And our souls ascend the stair

We will embrace and kiss forever
And to our maker we shall go.
Our hearts will then be happy
And with gladness overflow.

Finally, JUST BETWEEN US, covers the theme of relationships. It’s a wonderful anthology and the writers hold outstanding credentials. This book would make a great gift.

To order, JUST BETWEEN US, go to: http://www.oldmountainpress.com/.

Book reviewed by: Brenda Kay Ledford
http://www.brendakayledford.com/
http:blueridgepoet.blogspot.com.

Coffee with the Poets at City Lights in Sylva

I appreciate those who came to hear my reading today.

Coffee with the Poets at City Lights Books in Sylva started with a bang. Newt Smith, Treasurer for Netwest, served as MC for the reading. Kathryn Stripling Byer was not able to attend today.

Cynthia Gallinger, William Everett, Pat Montee

Mary Mike Keller and Rosemary Royston from Young Harris, GA made the trip over the mountains. Both shared poetry with the group which included William Everett, author of Red Clay, Blood River,and Pat Montee, wife of the late Ralph Montee, writer and poet. It was especially nice to see Pat again, in pink above.

From right, Newt Smith, Chris Wilcox, Diana Jurss, Rosemary Royston, Mary Mike Keller.

William and I have been communicating by E-mail for two years, and finally met today. I am very disappointed that both times Bill came to Hayesville I had to be out of town and was unable to see his presentation of his book in which he uses music and a professional actress.
Diana Jurss is the featured reader for the next Coffee with the Poets in Sylva. Her book is forthcoming in August. Cynthia Gallinger was also present today. I look forward to next month's CWP at City Lights. Perhaps other poets and writers will come and share their work at Open Mic.

Chris Wilcox, owner of City Lights, could not have been nicer and more accomodating. We bought books and sold books.

The refreshments were delicious, and we had an informal opportunity to discuss our opinions about poetry, line breaks, reading aloud and reading on the page. After the reading, some of us went downstairs to the Spring Street Restaurant were we had excellent service and excellent food.r more information on Coffee with the Poets in Sylva, contact Newt Smith, smithnewton@gmail.com or Chris at more@citylightsnc.com

How To Give A Good Introduction

Members of Netwest are often asked to introduce other writers at the John C. Campbell Folk School, at Coffee with the Poets, other readings and meetings. Today while listening to a podcast on how to introduce a speaker, I learned some new things. I also learned what I’ve been doing correctly, but plan to be more vigilant when making an introduction.

First the speaker should write his own introduction. It should not contain a resume of the person’s life, all of his publications, his successes and all his awards. The introductory speech of about one or two minutes at the most, should only contain information about the speaker that relates to his subject and to this particular audience. If the person is going to talk about Self-Publishing, the introduction should center on his experience with Self-publishing, not his Senior Games Gold Medal for photography, unless he has published a photography book.

When we introduce someone we should be sure to give the speaker’s full name, his position and the name of his topic or at least indicate the subject of the topic.
Secondly, the person introducing should explain why this person was chosen to speak to this audience on this topic. We want to convince the audience that our guest speaker is qualified. For example, when I introduced Scott Owens, the poet, I talked about the number of books he had published. I mentioned how I first read his poems in an online journal and how impressed I was with his book, Paternity.

When we are asked to introduce a speaker, it is our responsibility to build his credibility with those who will be listening. We want to excite the crowd; make them anxious to hear this man speak. If we can, it is good to give our personal impression of him. Most important of all, we should not appear to read every word right off the page. We might ask the speaker to make a bulleted list of the topics he wants covered in the intro, and then we can put it into our words. Sometimes the speaker wants his intro given word for word as he wrote it. If that is so, we should follow his wishes.

The very last part of the introduction is as important as the beginning. Welcome the speaker to the stage by giving the title of his presentation and then his name, spoken more slowly, so that all will hear it and hopefully remember it. An example is, “Now to speak to us on the New World of Publishing, welcome James T. Gardner.”
Give his name last, unless the topic is more important than the person giving the talk. Then we might say, “Welcome James T. Gardner, who will speak on “The New World of Publishing.”

One last tip. Stay on stage until the speaker comes and begins, then quietly walk off so there is no break in the attention of the audience. We don’t want the audience looking at us walk off stage while the speaker is coming to the lectern. We want the audience to stay focused on the spot where the speaker will be standing.

Do you have any other tips on this subject? Let us know what you think.

Glenda C. Beall is a writer, poet and teacher living in Hayesville, NC. Her poetry book, Now Might as Well be Then, was published by Finishing Line Press, 2009
She is director of Writers Circle, classes on writing held at her studio in Hayesville. She serves as the NCWN West Clay County Representative.

LUNCH AT SPRING STREET CAFE IN SYLVA

From left to right: Nan Watkins, Bill Everett, Wayne Drumheller, K. Byer

I recently had lunch with some Netwest members, as well as one non-member we are trying to talk into joining! Wayne Drumheller of Brevard met with me beforehand to discuss Netwest and the role he would like to play in its future. Fiction writer and poet William Everett of Waynesville drove over to join us for lunch. The non-member? Musician and translator Nan Watkins who lives in Tuckasegee, and who has been a friend of mine and Bill's for many years. We discussed ways that Netwest can grow as a source of news, dialogue, and enrichment for our far western counties. We hope Nan will join us soon! And we invite all Netwest members to share their vision for Netwest's future. You may leave a comment or email me.

JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL READING

Carole Thompson will read at the John C. Campbell Folk School on Thursday, June 17th in the Keith House at 7:00 PM. This event is free and open to the public.

A resident of Blairsville, Georgia, Carole and her husband, Norm, chose this area
as their retirement home in 1990. He was a Lt. Colonel and a pilot in the Air Force and served both in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.

After they moved to Blairsville, a friend invited Carole to a Misty Mountain Quilting Guild meeting. When they had show and tell, Carole decided to learn quilting.

“When you belong to a quilting guild, you have opportunities to try all sorts of techniques and patterns,” says Carole. “Some members are real artists at their craft, and love what they do so much they quilt constantly.

“I made miniature quilts for a couple of years, which can be tedious. I’ve only made one queen-sized, ‘Jacob’s Elevator,’ and it is on our bed. I have enjoyed making quilts for my children and crib quilts for the babies.”

She and her husband have four adult children, two sons and two daughters, with families of their own. They have been blessed with five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Carole recalls her grandmother did a lot of embroidery. She has one recollection of her mother quilting.

“We lived out in the country for a few years when I was a child,” says Carole. “I remember Mother taking me with her to a quilting bee. The ladies sat around a frame suspended from hooks in the ceiling and each worked on an area of quilt, while they enjoyed visiting with each other. After we moved back to my hometown, I don’t remember Mother quilting at all. She worked as a bookkeeper all day, so I guess she relaxed by reading and playing canasta.”

But long before quilting, there was painting in Carole’s life. She inherited some artistic talent from her father, but didn’t take art lessons until she was grown and married.

“When my husband was in the Air Force,” recalls Carole, “we were stationed in Japan for three years. Just before it was time to return to the states, I began oil painting classes. The instructor felt I should work in portraiture. I just plunged in. After that, I took classes when I could while raising my family. I’ve done over 60 portraits for people, but lost interest. I haven’t painted in five years, but expect to start again some day.”

Writing is one of the reasons Carole stopped painting. A friend asked her to attend a creative writing class at Tri-County Community College. Nancy Simpson was the instructor. Carole studied under Simpson, and was published after completing her second class.

A member of North Carolina Writers’ Network West, Carole’s first love is poetry. She’s collecting work to submit for possible publication as a chapbook. She also writes prose and published her short story in a Catholic Magazine with a large circulation.

Her poem, “The House of Cards,” appeared in an anthology, A SENSE OF PLACE, published by the Southeast Writer’s Association. Two of her poems were used in an Old Unicoi Trail Chapter DAR fund raising calendar.

Carole has been a member of the NSDAR 25 years because she believes in their goals of promoting education, historic preservation, and patriotism. “Our Old Unicoi Trail Chapter raises funds for college scholarships for seniors in the tri-county area,” she explains, “and all NSDAR chapters support several schools around the country that educate and provide a loving, safe home for children coming from underprivileged and sometimes unsafe home situations.”

Her essay entitled, “A Common Thread,” won first place and best of show in a Daughter’s of the American Revolution National Literature and Drama Contest. It was placed on display in DAR Continental Hall in Washington, DC during the 1999 Continental Congress.

Additionally, Carole’s heart-warming story, “A Bag of Sugar for Paula,” was first published by THE LIGUORIAN MAGAZINE in the 2000 Christmas issue and illustrated in color. It also appeared in the anthology, CHRISTMAS PRESENCE, by Catawba Press.

Besides writing, Carole and her husband have sung in church choirs all their married life. They attend the First United Methodist Church of Union County in Blairsville.

Finally, Carole Thompson enjoys meeting people and uses her talents to bless others.

Here’s a poem by Carole Thompson:

THE HOUSE OF CARDS
There is a tiny house that sits askew
In silent patience, holding out, holding on.
Winter paints ugliness on its bleak, leaning timbers,
No smoke curl charms the view or adds warmth—
I wonder how it can stand.

Inside, a very old woman waits, rocking
To a song with no words or music, remembering.
Neither joyful or sad, she numbly endures
The repetition of years and seasons.

If she lives til spring, she will emerge
One day, much like her tulips, urged by the warmth.
Her gnarled hands will bring out rusty coffee cans,
Watering every living thing, tearing away dry vines,
Exposing new shoots to sun and rain.

She will be about her garden til autumn frosts
Shrivel the blossoms, and chill her ancient bones.
Then, she will shut the door of her tiny fortress,
Remaining unseen, like the tubers now sleeping
In her garden, caring little for passing strangers
Who gape and wonder—how the little house still stands.
By: Carole Thompson

Brenda Kay Ledford will also read at the John C. Campbell Folk School on June 17th. You may visit her website and blog at: http://www.brendakayledford.com/ and http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com/.

Everyone is cordially invited to attend the John C. Campbell Folk School and hear Carole Thompson and Brenda Kay Ledford read their work on June 17th.

COFFEE WITH THE POETS

Michelle (Mary Mike) Keller did an excellent job as MC at Coffee With the Poets held Wednesday, June 9, at Phillips and Lloyd Book Shop on the square in Hayesville, North Carolina. We had a good attendance and enjoyed hearing the poets share their work during open mic.

Maren Mitchell and Michelle (Mary Mike) Keller were the featured readers at Coffee With the Poets. Glenda Barrett was schedule as featured reader, but was not able to attend. She will be scheduled to share her work at another time.

A special visitor who attended Coffee With the Poets was Mary Fonda, head librarian at Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC. Mary supports our writers at the library. She sponsors an annual Christmas reading and party for the writers.

During Coffee With the Poets, we celebrated the publication of Mary Lou McKillip's book, HARMONY AND TRUE GRIT.

Nancy Simpson wrote a blurb for this book: "Mary Lou McKillip is an Appalachian born author who is also a natural born storyteller. Her historical fiction begins during the Revolutionary War when John Samuel Waddell falls in love with and marries Naomi, the author's ancestor, a full blood Cherokee...These stories (in the book) are filled with conflict, mystery, sadness, and humor."

Mary Lou lives in Marble, North Carolina with her husband, Truman. They have a place near Branson, Missouri and spend time there.

She writes poems and songs. Her work has been published in LIGHTS IN THE MOUNTAINS, MOONSHINE AND BLIND MULES, and upcoming in ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE. Mary Lou wrote a column, "Southern Corn Cob Humor," in the SENTINEL newspapers.

For information about her book, contact Mary Lou at: temck42@hotmail.com

JOHN LANG CELEBRATES THE POETRY OF KATHRYN BYER AND FIVE OTHERS FROM THE MOUNTAIN SOUTH

John Lang Celebrates the Poetry of Kay Byer and Five Others from the Mountain South
Submitted by more@citylights... on Wed, 05/19/2010 - 9:58am.

Start: Fri, 06/11/2010 - 7:00pm
End: Fri, 06/11/2010 - 8:30pm
Timezone: Etc/GMT-4

John Lang and Kay Byer will be at City Lights on Friday, June 11th at 7:00 p.m. for a reading and discussion based on Lang's book, Six Poets from the Mountain South.

In the most extensive work to date on major poets from the mountain South, Lang explores the pervasive religious and spiritual concerns of many of the mountain South’s finest writers, including Fred Chappell, Robert Morgan, Jeff Daniel Marion, Kathryn Stripling Byer, and Charles Wright.

Lang wil touch briefly on all the poets covered in the book but will pay particular attention to his interpretation of Kay Byer's work. Kay will then read from some of her work, and both authors will take questions from the audience.

Location:
City Lights Bookstore
3 E Jackson S
Sylva, North Carolina 28779

NCWN West members attend Blue Ridge Book Fest

Lana Hendershott at Blue Ridge Book Fest with photo of cover of Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, anthology. Lana is a contributor to the book which will be released soon.

Although I didn’t get to go to the Blue Ridge Book Fest this year in Flat Rock, NC, our Netwest Representative for Henderson County, Lana Hendershott set up the Netwest and NCWN table and sent me a report about the two day event. Janet Benway from Brevard and Martha O. Adams from Hendersonville were already at Blue Ridge Community College, venue for the book fest, when Lana arrived at 8:30 a.m. She said Ed Southern, Executive Director of North Carolina Writers’ Network, had already been by and left NCWN literature. Ed, who is also an author, was a presenter at the book fest this year. Karen Holmes, who made it up from Hiawassee, GA on Saturday, had only positive remarks about the entire day.

Lana said the presentations were spread among three buildings at the college. She heard Terry Kay give the keynote address and then enjoyed presentations by Ann B. Ross, author of the Miss Julia series and Joslyn Jackson who wrote the popular novels Gods in Alabama and Between Georgia.


Karen and Lana attended the lunch with Robert Morgan. “The ten dollars was a bargain for lunch and the opportunity to hear Robert Morgan read and answer questions,” Lana said.
Karen agreed. “I enjoyed hearing Robert Morgan read his poetry and talk about writing. He’s an amazingly intelligent man who also comes across as kind and caring.”

Now Karen and Lana know why we are so excited that Robert Morgan wrote the introduction for the Netwest anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living In and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains which will be released within the next three weeks.

Karen, being a poet herself, found Glenis Redmond’s presentation entertaining and inspiring. “I spoke with her afterwards; she seems to be a true friend of poets. I purchased her book of poetry and also bought a poetry collection by Netwest member Martha O. Adams, who was another delightful person to meet.”

Lana liked the way the author tables were set up in the Courtland Room this year and the way the bookstore, Malaprops, displayed all the books up on the stage. However, that meant the speakers were often in three other buildings where the presentations were held.

Karen Holmes, who does an excellent job editing and publishing our Netwest News, said she knew names of many writers she met at the book fest, but this gave her the chance the get to know their faces.
Lana commented, “There was also actual food set up in the hallways and around that main room, too; coffee, muffins, caramel apples, popcorn and Bar BQ for lunch, not just vending machines,” She said. Lana was comparing this year’s food availability with the selection last year. It seems the Blue Ridge Book Fest is indeed growing and getting better and better.

Writing conferences and book fairs are important to our writers here in the mountains, our Netwest members. The volunteers, who put together the Blue Ridge Book Fest, and the Blue Ridge Community College are to be commended for all the work and effort that went into making this another successful event. Mark your calendar, as I am doing, for May 20, 21, 2011 to attend the Blue Ridge Book Fest in Flat Rock, NC.

NCWN West Monthly Prose Workshop Will Meet

Are you writing a book?

NCWN West's monthly prose group will meet at Tri County Community College, located between Murphy and Hayesville, NC on June 10, 2010

at 7:00.

This is the same group that has been meeting under the sponsorship of NCWN West for more than 15 yrs. The first critique sessions were held by N.C.W.N. West's Cherokee County Representative Gene Hirsch for both poets and prose writrs. When the group grew too large and Gene Hirsch moved from the area, the prose writing group, as we now know it, met under the leadership of Mary E. Lynn Drew and for many years under the direction of Richard Argo. The new workshop leader is Peg Russell.

This monthly group has as it's main purpose to help prose writers finish their fiction and nonfiction writing. It is free to NCWN West members within driving distance and open to observers who consider joining. You only need be a member to NCWN to participate. There is no jury process to deside who can join. It is a group of Netwest writers who welcome other writers.

If you write essays, short stories or have novel in progress this could be the right group for you. They meet once a month, bring copies of a number of pages to share with others and get considerate and helpful feedback on their writing. I myself have participated in this monthly prose writing group, and I got genuine help on writing a novel that I am working on.

Peg Russell, the workshop leader sent this message today : "Hope to see everyone McSwain Building, room 127, 7PM."

Poet Maren O. Mitchell will Read at Coffee With the Poets

Coffee With the Poets, a monthly program of NC Writers Network West, will feature poet Maren O. Mitchell reading her original poems at Phillips and Lloyd Book Store on the town square in Hayesville June 9th, 2010 at 10:30.

After the featured poet reads, there will be an open mic reading, so come and bring one of your poems to read. Coffee, tea and morning sweets are offered by The Dessertery for $2.50.

Maren O. Mitchell's poems have been widley published in American literary magazines including Red Clay Reader, Appalachian Journal, The Journal of Kentucky Studies and a new poem is forthcoming in Southern Humanities Review. She also has a poem forthcoming in Echoes Across the Blue Ridge -

Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

Maren taught poetry writing at Blue Ridge Community College, Flat Rock, NC and she catalogued at the Carl Sandburg Home.

Want more information about poetry? www.nancysimpson.blogspot.com

STUDENT POET OF THE DAY: LINDSEY DODGE

Lindsey Dodge, a sixth grader at Macon Middle School in Franklin, has written a touching poem about the loss of her grandmother.

EVERYTHING

Everything is the same

Her clothes still hang in the closet

Pictures sit there gathering dust

There's still her place on their bed

Pawpaw doesn't disturb

by Lindsey Dodge

Lindsey's parents are Beth Simons and Paul Dodge of Franklin, North Carolina.

STUDENT POET OF THE DAY:LIA WALDRUM

(Blue Bottle in my kitchen window)

Lia Waldrum is a 5th grader at Cullowhee Valley School. The title of her poem asks, "What Is Blue?" She answers with a run of images that are a delight to read and visualize. Any of these lines could be the first line of a new poem, don't you think?

WHAT IS BLUE?

Blue is the sky on a winter evening.

Blue is a cut of sapphire sparkling on a ring.

Blue is slow and tired.

Blue is the ocean where the turtle glides.

Blue is the night, bright with glittery stars.

Blue is a mountain peeking up at the sky.

Blue is the little butterflies that flutter in the Spring.

Blue is a marker sliding silently on the board.

Blue is a leather belt.

Blue is a beautiful bead on an Indian vest.

Blue is a pair of jeans, cozy and worn.

Blue is a Spring nightgown.

Blue is a child's stuffed animal.

Blue is the wild wind whipping around the house.

Blue are the little curtains in the parlor.

Blue are the shutters on a window.

Blue is an icicle--drip, drip, dripping.

Blue is a tasty blueberry.

Blue is a humpback whale, yawning in the deep.

Blue is the sugar icing on a cake.

Blue is the wrapping on a birthday present.

Blue is paint on a wall.

Blue is a blank TV screen.

Blue is nail polish.

Blue is holding your breath too long.

Blue is a stained glass picture.

Blue are the lines on notebook paper.

Blue is a pioneer bonnet.

Blue is a carefully knitted scarf.

Blue is a sucker.

And blue is a parakeet.

by Lia Waldrum

5th Grade

Cullowhee Valley School

Lia's parents are Joe and Nelia Waldrum in Sylva, North Carolina.

CONVERSATIONS: William Everett

I'm trying a new feature on the blog today, one tentatively called Conversations, in which a writer's offering is posted for comments and responses. These need not be "critiques," as such, though I think most writers would welcome intelligent suggestions. Rather, this is to be a way for authors here in the mountains and elsewhere to engage each other in lively discussions of their work. The first feature is a poem by William Everett, novelist, essayist, scholar and poet. His website is www.williameverett.com. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS. LET'S SEE IF WE CAN GET A CONVERSATION GOING ACROSS THESE RIDGES!

She is ready,

purse packed,

hands pocketed in resolution,

standing by her charge.

Will she fly through puffball clouds,

piercing azure heavens like a needle?

Or will she cruise majestically across the land,

blowing tumbleweeds and sagebrush in her wake?

Perhaps the sea shall feel the power of her legs,

the undulations of her mermaid form.

For she is ready,

her glowing hair pinned sleekly back,

the keys clutched in her hand.

She is the girl with the ’55 Plymouth fins.

---William Everett

COFFEE WITH THE POETS AT CITY LIGHTS, FEATURING GLENDA BEALL

COFFEE WITH THE POETS AT CITY LIGHTS, FEATURING GLENDA BEALL


City Lights Bookstore is pleased to announce a program for readers and writers
on the third Thursday of each month, beginning June 17. Coffee with the Poets
will feature a guest poet each month, including an informal discussion and
reading. The program will begin at 10:30, with coffee and snacks provided.
Spring Street Cafe welcomes all attendees to come downstairs for lunch
afterward.

The inaugural event will feature Glenda Council Beall of Hayesville. Glenda
has published poetry, personal essays, memoir, and fiction, and she is former
Program Coordinator for the North Carolina Writers’ Network West (NetWest).
Her background is in education and she continues to teach adults through
community services at Tri-County Community College and at the John C.
Campbell Folk School in Brasstown.

Glenda's book of poetry, Now Might as Well be Then, was recently published by
Finishing Line Press. Her blog, Writing Life Stories, at
http://profilesandpedigrees.blogspot.com shares some of her own stories and
suggestions for writing your own.



City Lights Bookstore
828-586-9499
3 East Jackson Street
Sylva, NC 28779
more@citylightsnc.com
Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays
Browse and shop online at http://www.citylightsnc.com

From "My Laureate's Lasso" Poet of the Week:

Glenda Council Beall's new chapbook, Now Might As Well Be Then, from Finishing Line Press (http://www.finishinglinepress.com/) deserves many readers. I was honored to write a blurb for it. Glenda has worked wonders for NETWEST as Program Director and deserves our thanks for supporting the literary arts in Western North Carolina. Her new book would make a wonderful Christmas gift for family members. Several in my family will have this chapbook in their stockings!

Often those "supporters" are so busy making sure other writers find what they need to become better at the writer's craft that they don't have time for their own work. That's why I'm so pleased to honor Glenda as Poet of the Week. She's a great SW Georgia girl, and, naturally, I believe those girls have a leg up when it comes to writing poetry!

Here are a few of my favorite poems from her new chapbook.

Woman in the Mirror

What happened to seventeen,

when I rode my mare

free as the river flows,

jumped over downed trees

splashed through narrow streams?

What happened to twenty

when I danced in the moonlight,

my slender form dressed in a gown

white and shimmery as pearl?

What happened to thirty

when I rode my Yamaha

down fire roads, mountain trails,

long black hair flying free?

What happened to those days

I ask the woman in the mirror.

Gone, she says, all gone, unless

you remember it.

In The Dark

Lying in bed, my cheek against your shoulder,

I remember a night, long ago, on your boat.

I was afraid. I felt too much, too fast.

But love crept over us that summer

like silver fog, silent on the lake.

We were never again the same.

We stepped like children through that door that led

to long passages unknown, holding hands, wide-eyed, but brave.

Here I am years later, listening to your soft breath

and feeling your warm smooth skin.

In the dark, now might as well be then.

My Father's Horse

Stickers tear my legs, bare and tan

from South Georgia sun. Long black braids

fly behind me as I sprint like a Derby winner

down the path.

Harnessed with hames, bridle

and blinders, Charlie plods down

the farm road. Tired and wet from sweat,

he is perfume to my nostrils.

My father swings me up. I bury

my hands in tangled mane. My thighs

stick to leather and damp white hair

high above the ground.

I want to sing in glorious joy,

but only croon a child's nonsensical

words, grinning for a hundred yards

between field and barn.

My father's arms are strong.

His hands are gentle. The horse

is all we ever share. For he has sons

and I am just a daughter.

A Long Lost Year

Music making was his talent

taken for granted like water

gushing from our well until

the surgeon’s knife nicked a nerve.

The purple wreath of grief hung

over us until one day above the strum

of his guitar, his notes rang true ?

a lovely instrument restored.

We wept with joy.

His voice is who he is,

has

always been.

He sings to me again, that same

rich baritone that won me on that first

day we met. I listen with a new ear,

and like a Sinatra fan,

I mellow out.

Summer Writing Residency ARE YOU INTERESTED?

>From July 23–25, the North Carolina Writers’ Network will offer the 2010 Squire Summer Writing Residency, a full weekend of intensive workshops at Peace College in downtown Raleigh. The Residency is an intimate, affordable alternative to large conferences, and a rare opportunity to create bonds within the writing community.

Sam Ragan Award-winner David Rigsbee, a prolific and erudite NC poet and professor who has been mentored by such luminaries as Carolyn Kizer and U.S. poet laureate Joseph Brodsky, will work with poetry registrants on the problems of “Passion and Restraint in the First-Person Poem,” using examples of persona, authenticity, form, and authority from contemporary poets. This workshop gives registrants the time and focus to pay attention to the details in their work and to stay concrete and clear with language.

Past attendees have said the following about the Residency:

"The entire group brought a sense of community to my writing that I hadn't had before."—Ivy Rutledge

"I found an open, welcoming community of people who immediately accept anyone who has a desire to write."—Karen Price

More information about the Squire Summer Writing Residency can be found at www.ncwriters.org or by calling 336-293-8844.

--
Virginia Freedman
Administrative Director, NC Writers' Network
PO Box 954, Carrboro, NC 27510
(919) 251-9140

Student Poet of the Day: Abrianna Berry

Last fall the Great Smoky Mountains Bookfair sponsored a Poetry Contest for K-12 students in Macon, Haywood, Jackson, and Swain Counties. The winners were posted on my NC Laureate blog in November. Going through the rest of the poems submitted, I was struck by how many were just plain good, worthy of being enjoyed by readers of this blog. For the next two weeks I will be featuring one of these young poets daily. Each one will receive a small "thank you" from me. Please stop by everyday to read their work.

This first poem is by Abrianna Berry, who lives in Franklin, NC, and is in the sixth grade at Macon Middle School.

Squirrel Hunting With My Dad

We went up the mountain where

My dad hunted when he was little.

It was cold the wind

Whipping up the holler, trees shaking.

Me and Daddy went to the top of the mountain.

We sat down and waited and had

A silent talk.

*******

by Abrianna Berry,

daughter of Mark and Stephanie Berry

Franklin, North Carolina

Someone teaching in the 6th grade at Macon Middle School is doing a wonderful job encouraging students to write from their most cherished experiences. This young poet presents a moving and thoroughly believable scene; the wind whipping up the holler uses sound to make us feel the effects of the cold and the climb to the top of the mountain. The "silent talk" shows a depth and maturity beyond a sixth grader's years. Abrianna is already a poet, and I hope she continues to read poetry and to write it.