Let me know if you will be able to come. Thanks. Peg e mail - pegrussell@hotmail.com
Writers and poets in the far western mountain area of North Carolina and bordering counties of South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee post announcements, original work and articles on the craft of writing.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
NC Writers Network West Monthly Prose Writing Group Will Meet
Monday, October 11, 2010
Poetry doesn't come out so well on an e-reader, it seems. I finally succumbed and bought a Kindle when they came down to a more reasonable price. So far, I'm not impressed, but then I've done very little with it. Now I read that Billy Collins was less than impressed with the way the e-reader destroyed the forms of his poetry.
"I found that even in a very small font that if the original line is beyond a certain length, they will take the extra word and have it flush left on the screen, so that instead of a three-line stanza you actually have a four-line stanza. And that screws everything up," said Collins, a former U.S. poet laureate whose "Ballistics" came out in February.
Now, I wonder if we want Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains, on Kindle after all. We have excellent poetry from numerous poets in this anthology. How will they feel if their poems are changed due to the inability of the technology to hold the words on the proper lines, keep punctuation in place and keep the integrity of the poem intact?
What do you think? If you are a poet, please let us know by leaving a comment.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/19/BUN21EFS7H.DTL#ixzz126qxVEOz
Friday, October 8, 2010
Review of Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Stories, Essays, and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains
Be sure to visit Dead Mule and submit your poetry for the next online issue.
This online journal also accepts essays and fiction. Check them out.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Carden's plays premiered Highlands Performing Arts Center
Thank you, Gary, for your donation of the excellent play, Birdell.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Mitchell and Newton read poetry October 8
Writers’ Night Out will feature poets Maren O. Mitchell and Clarence Newton followed by an Open Microphone for those who’d like to share their own poetry or fiction.
Clarence Newton, who lives in Hiawassee, GA, puts both humor and wisdom into his writings. Once a guest writer for several newspapers, he has turned his love of writing toward poetry. He has studied under former Poet Laureate of Georgia Bettie Sellers and under poet and resident writer at John C. Campbell Folk School, Nancy Simpson. His work appears in Echoes Across the Blue Ridge. After a long career in aviation, Clarence now finds inspiration in the things of retirement, such as fishing, gardening, and birding.
Writers’ Night Out takes place the second Friday evening of every month from 7-8:30 p.m. Formerly at Mountain Perk Coffee House in Hiawassee, the event now takes place at Young Harris College in Wilson Lecture Hall, which is located in the Goolsby Center on the campus. Parking is free.
For more information, please contact Writers’ Night Out coordinator, Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com.
TWO LAUREATES ON THE LAM
Monday, October 4, 2010 at 7 PM
Wesleyan College, Benson Room
4760 Forsyth Road, Macon, GA 31210
Former North Carolina Poet Laureate and Wesleyan Alumna Kathryn Stripling Byer and current North Carolina Poet Laureate Cathy Smith Bowers, plus Macon native Robert Perry Ivey, will recite original work. This event is sponsored by the Eugenia Dorothy Blount Lamar Lecture Series, dedicated to celebrating Southern culture and recognized as the most important lecture series on Southern history and literature in the United States. Free and open to the public. 478-757-5228
Two Laureates on the Lam
Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 11:15 AM
Wesleyan College, Porter Auditorium
4760 Forsyth Road, Macon, GA 31210
Enjoy poetry readings by Former North Carolina Poet Laureate Kathryn Stripling Byer and current North Carolina Poet Laureate Cathy Smith Bowers. This event is sponsored by the Eugenia Dorothy Blount Lamar Lecture Series, dedicated to celebrating Southern culture and recognized as the most important lecture series on Southern history and literature in the United States. Free and open to the public. 478-757-5228
Poetry in Music
Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Wesleyan College, Benson Room
4760 Forsyth Road, Macon, GA 31210
Hear the beautiful poetry of Former North Carolina Poet Laureate Kathryn Stripling Byer set to music. This event is sponsored by the Eugenia Dorothy Blount Lamar Lecture Series, dedicated to celebrating Southern culture and recognized as the most important lecture series on Southern history and literature in the United States. Free and open to the public. 478-757-5228
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Writing as Art in Brevard
Creating and Writing Your Story Book using StoryBook Creator Plus 3
Tuesday, September 28, 1:30 PM-3:00 PM
Wireless connection for computers
This Workshop is designed for users of Creative Memories digital software or those who might be interested in seeing a demonstration of how this software works to create personal digital books of poetry, memoir writings, children and family books, art prints, photographic designs, etc.
No cost----just a cup of coffee or tea
Please confirm your attendance
Wayne Drumheller, Writer, Photographers, Self-Publishing
260 Frank's Cove Road
Brevard, NC 28712
Phone 704-287-9806 cell Phone 828-877-5133
Thursday, September 23, 2010
NETWEST PICNIC AT WCU
Our annual picnic which took place on Sept. 12 on the picnic grounds at Western Carolina University, brought out some good food and even better words shared by our members and guests. Special guest Cathy Smith Bowers, our current Poet Laureate, read work from her most recent collections. She came with friend Jeff Davis, a poet from Asheville, who was in graduate school with me years ago. His blog is Natures (www.naturespoetry.blogspot.com). Give it a look. Cathy herself is learning her way around cyberspace. She now has a facebook page and is working on a website. Her New and Selected Poems will be out in November from Press 53 in Winston-Salem.
(Cathy and Jeff)
An old friend, George Ellison (www.georgeellison.com), came to visit, along with his wife, the painter Elizabeth Ellison, and treated us to some of the new work in his ongoing Permanent Camp manuscript, including a sonnet by his dog Zeke. George hopes to bring out this manuscript under his Unaka Range imprint soon. Some of you may remember the journal Unaka Range from several decades ago, its attempt to give voice to WNC poets. If so, you can see how George's new work has special resonance.
“If there was a dog heaven … a simulated sonnet,”
There would be mountains and valleys like these.
There would be a swift creek to drink from and wade in.
There would be bear brutes and wild hogs from hell to fight.
There would be lesser critters galore: coons weasels coyotes et al.
There would be a pinkish-white horse and a black barn cat to chase.
There would be a woman to walk with me feed me and fuss at me.
There would be a man who talks with me and writes poems about me.
There would be better company dog-wise than is presently the case.
There would be a dog like Maggie, now dead, who (or whom) I still miss.
There would be a house like this to sleep in and a deck to lie on.
There would be a tree-lined meadow across the swift creek and
a trail alongside the creek that leads into a
dark forest of smells and sounds … if there
was a dog heaven it would be like this.
After several readings by Nancy Simpson, Brenda Kay Ledford, Linda Smith, and others, we broke for food! Need I say more?
After supper Angela Dove read from her recently published book.
Followed by Jayne Jaudon Ferrer, who drove up from South Carolina.
JC Walkup was on hand to share her fiction.
Even Lord Byron was there, charming Netwest member Deanna Klingel. I didn't want to leave him in the house on such a beautiful September afternoon. I am wondering when, or if, he will ever write a sonnet!
Thanks to all who came to this event. We hope you will continue to support Netwest in the months to come.
Echoes Across the Blue Ridge now on Amazon
Plans are to have Echoes Across the Blue Ridge on Kindle very soon.
Click here.
Remember, the anthology can be ordered from local Independent bookstores.
City Lights Books in Sylva will take orders online.
In Brasstown, NC, Carolina Crafting carries Echoes Across the Blue Ridge.
If you live in the area or if you are attending John C. Campbell Folk School, drop by and pick up copies for gifts or for yourself. This popular gift and craft shop is located in the shops of Brasstown.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
BOOK NOOK BOOK SIGNING
Sunday, September 19, 2010
THE LAST LAZY DAYS OF SUMMER
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Glenda Barrett and Nancy Simpson will Read at the John C. Campbell Folk School
Reading begins at 7:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Location: Library, Keith House
Once each month, Poets and Writers Reading Poems and Stories is held at the Folk School in the Keith House Living Room. Two members of North Carolina Writers Network West read their original work for an audience of Folk School students and the community. These writers and poets come from all over the southwestern mountain area of North Carolina, north Georgia and South Carolina. The featured readers for this month's meeting are:
Glenda Barrett
Glenda Barrett, a native of Hiawassee, Georgia is an artist, poet and writer. Her paintings are on display at Fine Art America. Glenda’s writing has appeared in Woman’s World, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Farm & Ranch Living, Rural Heritage, Psychology for Living, Nostalgia, Journal of Kentucky Studies and many others. Her poetry chapbook titled, When the Sap Rises, is for sale on Amazon.com
Nancy Simpson is one of the practicing poets who lives among us. She is the author of three collections of poetry:Across Water, Night Student, and a new book, Living Above the Frost line - Selected and New Poems (Carolina Wren Press, 2010). Nancy earned an M.F.A. in Writing from Warren Wilson College and is Resident Writer at John C. Campbell Folk School. She is a longtime member of NCWN and cofounder of NCWN West. She co-edited Lights in the Mountains and edited Echoes Across the Blue Ridge. Nancy Simpson’s poems have been published in The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, and in anthologies such as 100 Years of N.C. Poetry, The Poets Guide to the Birds, and Southern Poetry Review’s 50th Anniversary Anthology, Don’t Leave Hungry. Seven of her poems were reprinted in the textbook Southern Appalachian Poetry, McFarland Press.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
SEE YOU AT THE BOOK NOOK
The store is located one block south of the Blairsville Square on Hwy. 19/129. Jeff Hansen, owner of the Book Nook recommends calling the store at 706-745-7076 to reserve copies of this popular book.
Bettie Sellers, former Poet Laureate of Georgia,
Carole Thompson, published author and poet, from Blairsville
and Jo Carolyn Beebe of Hiawassee, Georgia, will be there.
Nancy Simpson, who is well-known for her years of teaching poetry and mentoring writers, and Brenda Kay Ledford award-winning poet from Hayesville, NC will be there.
Many people are purchasing the book to leave in their vacation cabin or condo for guests to enjoy. Others like the price of only $16.00 and they buy several for Christmas gifts.
A photo by Philip Sampson of Blairsville was chosen for the cover from a large number of submissions by artists and photographers throughout the southern Appalachians. Inside pictures are by Tipper Pressley of Brasstown and Seth Russell, formerly of Murphy.
Echoes across the Blue Ridge has something for every reader from short stories or non-fiction and poetry with subjects as varied as hunting dogs to reclaiming and restoring rivers.
Other well known writers with work in Echoes across the Blue Ridge are Steven Harvey, essayist and professor at Young Harris College, Kathryn Stripling Byer, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina, Gary Carden, storyteller and legendary playwright, and Thomas Rain Crow who has written and published more than twenty of his own works, including Zorro’s Field.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Coffee with the Poets in Hayesville
Thursday, September 9, 2010
SPIRITUAL WRITING COURSE BY PAUL DONOVAN
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
BOOK SIGNING
SEPTEMBER DATES FOR NCWN WEST MEMBERS - MAKE YOUR PLANS
Robin Behn’s Class Description: “You’ve heard of a sonnet or haiku, but what about ghazal, pantoum, or renku? In this poetry class we will explore poetry forms from around the world and learn to write using these patterns, letting fresh approaches lead us to new ways of speaking and new things to say in poems. New and experienced writers welcome.”
Robin Behn is Professor of English and teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing.Her books of poetry are Paper Bird (Texas Tech University Press), winner of the Associated Writing Programs Award Series in Poetry; The Red Hour (HarperCollins), Horizon Note (University of Wisconsin Press), winner of the Brittingham Prize, Naked Writing (DoubleCross Press), and The Yellow House (Spuyten Duyvil). She is also co-editor of The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets Who Teach (HarperCollins). A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the state arts councils of Illinois and Alabama, and the New England Review narrative poetry prize, her work appears in the Pushcart Prize anthology, Best American Poetry, and many literary journals.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Writing from Lists
If you can't think of anything to write, make a list. Make a list of anything you want - a grocery list, chore list, things you hate, things you love, words that begin with P, places you'd like to visit, names of all the trees you know. List all the houses where you have lived. Choose one and list ten things you remember about it.
Choose one item and expand on it.
Remember:
Write and don't let your hand stop or your pen lift off the paper.
Don't edit yourself. Write what you are thinking and don't stop to judge.
Give yourself permission to write an awful piece knowing you can always go back and revise it at a later date.
Read your work aloud when you are alone.
Now, wasn't this fun?
Written by Glenda C. Beall, writer, poet and teacher, owner/director of Writers Circle.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
NC WRITERS NETWORK 19th Annual Picnic will be held at Western Carolina University Picnic Grounds in Cullowhee, NC.
CAROLINA UNIVERSITY PICNIC GROUNDS BEGINNING AT 3:00 P.M. YOU WILL FIND DIRECTIONS TO THE GROUNDS AND PICNIC SHELTER AT THE LINK BELOW.IF YOU COME IN THE MAIN ENTRANCE, YOU WILL GO AROUND THE TRAFFIC CIRCLE TO THE LEFT, TAKE THE FIRST LEFT AFTER THAT(THE TRACK WILL BE TO YOUR RIGHT) AND KEEP GOING. YOU WILL SEE THE PICNIC GROUNDS. WE WILL HAVE SIGNS UP, OF COURSE. SEE YOU THEN!
Monday, August 30, 2010
More Photos from Party
NCWN West southern region held a celebration for the book, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Sunday, August 29, at Twice Upon a Time used book store on Valley Road in Murphy, NC. These are some photos from the party.