NCWN-West to be Represented at Appalachian Studies Association Conference

-Rosemary Royston

Greetings! I'm pleased to say that the NCWN-West will have a presence at the Appalachian Studies Association Conference which is being held at Eastern Kentucky University (March 11-13, 2011). Your program director (myself) will be presenting a paper entitled, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Echoes of Emerson. My paper examines the poetry of the following included in our anthology: Glenda Barrett, Mary Ricketson, Eileen Lampe, and Brenda Kay Ledford. The works of these poets echo the Transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson -- especially in regard to his 1846 essay, "Nature." In short, these poets and Emerson see nature as not a separate entity, but as part of the self. Nature heals, nature informs, and nature is to be revered, not destroyed. If you would like to read my paper, shoot me an email at rosemary28rr@gmail.com and I will send you a copy. I will be taking copies of the anthology with me.

In the meantime, happy writing!

A MESSAGE FROM NC POET AND WRITING INSTRUCTOR NANCY SIMPSON

Hello Fellow Writers and Students of Poetry Writing,

It’s becoming one of my busiest teaching years for me after all.  Choose a class, or at least please pass the info on to others who may be interested.

Thank you, Nancy Simpson

(1) Write Poems Your Reader Can "See"

at John C. Campbell Folk School. This probably will be my last week long poetry class at the folk school. It is intense for sure.  If you can afford to give yourself a week for writing and organizing your poetry, this is the class most likely to change your writing life.

April 10-16, 2011

Instructor: Nancy Simpson

Tuition: $546.00 (half price for local students)

Pre register now.  (828)837-2775 or 1-800 FOLK-SCH

(Class description)

Write Poems Your Reader Can "See"

Time to stop asking your reader to play a guessing game. Learn to put your poem on the page so that the reader gets the picture and says, "Yes, I see." Instruction covers how to encapsulate truth, emotion, and music in poems. Learn the two rules of poetry that cannot be omitted - not even in writing free-verse. Share your work and get helpful feedback; we'll also discuss publication. All levels welcome.

(Nancy Simpson with former student Monica Henson)


Note: This class only. TO MY FORMER POETRY STUDENTS,  I’m OFFERING YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH MY GUIDENCE DURING THE WEEK ASSEMBLING YOUR POETRY MANUSCRIPT.

(2)        POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP 
Beginning May 9th, 2011.

INSTITUTE FOR CONTINUING LEARNING AT YOUNG HARRIS COLLEGE

(Description) Workshop method

The focus will be on your poems. If you are a practicing poet and want to share your writing with other poets and get constructive comments, sign up. Each week you will bring copies of one of your poems to be read and discussed.  There will be instruction as we discuss your writing but no lecture. We will talk about the publication process. A  list of markets will be given. Poetry Writing Workshop will meet at Young Harris College, Institute for Continuing Learning   1:00-3:00 four weeks, for two hours each meeting.  May 9, May 16, May 23, June 6  (no class on Memorial Day.) Fee. $13.00

(3) A FREE POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP

 You are Invited to the second annual Blue Ridge Bookfest featuring forty authors.  When is the event? Friday May 20 and Saturday June 21 , 2011.

POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP WILL BE TAUGHT BY POET NANCY SIMPSON

 at 1:00 - 3:00 Friday May 20,  2011.

Other workshops and events will be held also.

Where is it held  in East Flat Rock near Hendersonville, NC just off I-26 on the campus of our hosts, Blue Ridge Community College. The space is abundant as is the parking. Map-It on website.   www.BlueRidgeBookfest.org WS(see

More info on classes taught by Nancy Simpson in fall, 2011 will be announced. One to one coaching will be available. Stay tuned.

Coffee with the Poets and Estelle Rice

Coffee with the Poets

--Glenda Beall

As spring begins, so does our new season for Coffee with the Poets at Phillips and Lloyd Bookstore on the square in historical Hayesville, NC. Come and enjoy a couple of hours with writers and poets, eat some goodies and have coffee or tea, and read your own original poem at open mic.

Members of Netwest will want to come and hear our dear friend and long time member, Estelle Rice, read her poetry. Estelle has been home-bound for a long time with an ailing husband, so we don't have the opportunity to hear her beautiful work very often. Hope to see you all there on Wednesday.

Estelle Darrow Rice, writer and poet from Marble, NC is the featured reader at Coffee with the Poets at Phillips and Lloyd Books in Hayesville, NC Wednesday, March 9, 10:30 AM. Rice is the author of a book of spiritual poetry, Quiet Times, available at Phillips and Lloyd books and from the author. The book is in its second printing.

The anthologies, Lights in the Mountains and Echoes across the Blue Ridge included work by Estelle Rice. Her short stories have been published in a number of magazines and journals. She says she writes light and often humorous fiction, but her poems contain more serious insight and meditations on life.

The public is welcome to this reading and there is no charge except for coffee and delicacies from Crumpett’s Dessertery offered at each gathering. Anyone who wants to bring an original poem is invited to sign up and read during the open microphone period.

The purpose of this event is to support poets and writers, to give them a forum to express themselves in verse, and to provide a pleasant and comfortable place to meet and share with others. It is also for anyone who enjoys poetry and wants to come and listen.

Coffee with the Poets is sponsored by NC Writers Network West. www.netwestwriters.blogspot.com.

Contact Glenda Beall, glendabeall@msn.com for more information.

Writers' Night Out

NEW DATES FOR WRITERS’ NIGHT OUT: March 18 and April 15--Karen Holmes

March 1, 2011 – Writers’ Night Out is becoming the place to be on a Friday night in Hiawassee! In February, 31 people filled Green To Bean Coffee House for fun, literature and music. Normally on the second Friday of the month, Writers’ Night Out will take place on the third Fridays in March and April at 7 p.m.
On March 18, the program features Janice Townley Moore, award-winning poet and Young Harris College professor. The April 15 event features prose writer, Ron Salzer of Hayesville, NC. Beginning on May 13, Writers’ Night Out will resume on the second Friday of each month.

Those who’d like to share their own poetry or fiction can participate in the Open Microphone portion of the program, which follows the featured writer’s presentation. Those interested in reading at the Open Mic may sign up at the event. Each writer will have three minutes to read.

Writers’ Night Out takes place at Green To Bean Coffee House at 538 Bell Creek Road in Hiawassee, next to the Humane Society Thrift Shop and across from McDonald’s. Come early to get a seat: The February event had standing-room only. The evening is free and open to the public. Light snacks and refreshments, including coffees from freshly roasted beans, are available for purchase.

For more information, please contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com, or call Green To Bean at (706) 896-4524.

# # #

Contest from Poetry Council of North Carolina

The annual Poetry Council of North Carolina contest is now open through May 31, 2011, for adult and student poets with a North Carolina connection. Rules for the 2011 competition are posted at http://www.poetrycouncilofnc.wordpress.com/.

Adult and student poets, as age appropriate, may enter the following categories: 1) Oscar Arnold Young Contest for a Book of Poetry;
2) Charles Shull Traditional Poetry;
3) James Larkin Pearson for Free Verse;
4) Ellen T. Johnson-Hale Light Verse;
5) Performance Poem to be judged during a live performance on Poetry Day, October 1st , at Catawba College;
6) Charlotte Young for Elementary School Students;
7) Carol Bessent Hayman for Middle School Students; and
8) Sam Ragan North Carolina Connection for High School Students; and Gladys Owings Hughes Family Heritage Contest for Free Verse. Questions about the contest and PCNC may be e-mailed to edcockrell@hotmail.com, or call Ed Cockrell, president of PCNC, at 919.967.5834.

Rosemary Royston's Award Winning Poem

Read Rosemary Royston's award winning poem HERE

Congratulations, Rosemary.

Writers Night Out Reminder

For the Hiawassee/Blairsville/Hayesville area: A reminder that our next Writers' Night Out will NOT be the second Friday in March, but will be the THIRD Friday, March 18. Featured reader is Janice Moore, award-winning poet and a professor at Young Harris College.

We had standing room only in February, so plan to arrive early to get your seats and drinks before we start. We will have more chairs due to our great turnout last month!

April's event will also be the third Friday, April 15, featuring Ron Salzer. In May, we'll be back to our usual second Friday -- May 13 with Robert Kimsey.

Thanks for your enthusiasm and support. This is becoming the "happening" place to be on Friday night in the mountains.

Writing Advice from Stephen King

--Rosemary Royston, Program Coordinator

A Netwest member recently loaned me her copy of Stephen King’s On Writing. Even though I’m not a fiction writer, I’m always ready to learn, and I’m also a huge Stephen King fan. In a nutshell, the book blew me away. It is a “memoir” of the craft of writing, and King makes no bones about how he feels about anything. Not only does the reader learn about King’s life as a child and what shaped him as a writer, but she also learns specifics on what makes a good sentence, good dialogue, and a strong character. The advice in this book is simply excellent, and because of King’s tone, I found myself laughing quite a bit. He is brutal, honest, and wastes no words (in fact, he detests adverbs). One tidbit I found most interesting, not being a fiction writer, is that King is not a fan of “plot.” In fact, he warns writers against having a plot from the beginning and instead encourages them to have a situation, and then let the characters take the situation to its next level. For me, this was quite surprising, as I had the idea that most fiction writers thought of a plot first, and then shaped the characters around it. Not so, at least for King. Whether you are a poet, memoirist, or fiction writer, you will learn invaluable advice from this book. Borrow it, beg for it, check it out of your local library. You will not regret it.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Guidelines for submitting articles and photos for CLAY COUNTY PROGRESS "Sesquicentennial Souvenir Edition:

Use word document program.

E-mail: publisher@claycountyprogress.com

If you submit a photo, note at top of the article: "Photo attached." Also identify the photo with a cutline.

Include your name at the top of the article.

If the article has been published before, include the title of the publication in italics at the end of the story.

Length of article: 500 to 1,000 words.

Do not submit fictional stories. Articles should reflect on the county's history anytime throughtout the 15 decades.

A page will be devoted to poems about Clay County depending upon the number received.

Note in the subject line: 150th anniversary edition.

Photos should be sent in jpegs.

Stories will cover the following subjects: medical history, business community, railroad and transportation, agriculture, faith community, education/athletics, family life, government, organizations and service clubs, culture of Clay County such as the Peacock Playhouse and the John C. Campbell Folk School.

The Clay County Progress Sesquicentennial Sovenir Edition will be printed in August, 2011.

For more information, contact Becky Long, publisher, CLAY COUNTY PROGRESS at: 828-389-8431,

Mark Your Calendar Now

Quick Update-- Mark your calendar for NCWN's Spring Conference, Saturday, April 30, at UNC Greensboro. The fall 2011 conference date has not yet been set, but will be held in the Asheville area. As Program Coordinator, I plan on attending both events, and will put out a call for anyone who'd like to travel together to do so. Happy spring and may your pens fly across the page!

Submissions for Anthology of Love (in all its shapes and sizes)

(Photo by Catherine Beyler)

Jacar Press is calling for submissions for its poetry anthology on LOVE. What a large focus! Surely Netwest members can help Richard Krawiec out by submitting some poems. Go to the Jacar site, http://jacarpress.com/submit.html, to find out more about the submissions guideline.

At this very moment I love looking out

my window and seeing sunlight

on winterized rhododendron leaves.

Snow melting on brown grass,

weary winter trees readying themselves

for the bustin' out, the bursting forth,

the flourishing, the glorious full

in your face SPRING!

Meet Janice Moore, teacher and poet

by Paula Canup

The area in which we live is blessed, not only with natural beauty, but with a wealth of literary, musical, and artistic talent. Music has always been a part of these mountains. Now writers and artists come here to find inspiration and solitude for their work.

Janice Moore is one of those writers who moved here from Atlanta many years ago. She is now a full-time English professor at Young Harris College. In her spare time, she writes poems inspired by family, childhood, and life in the mountains. Her work has appeared in such prestigious publications as The Georgia Review, Shenandoah, and The Prairie Schooner. Her poetry chapbook, Teaching the Robins, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2005.

Janice began writing poetry as an English major in college. Friends and fellow writers offered support for her work. She also attended workshops at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta where guest poets offered helpful advice.

Her greatest challenge as a writer is finding time to write! Her job at YHC keeps her busy, but she often finds inspiration for a poem in the classroom.

What is Janice’s best advice for aspiring writers? “Do not get discouraged by rejection slips!” Every writer experiences them. She says that writers should just keep sending and sending to various publications, and eventually they will find one that will publish their work.

Today, Janice finds encouragement as a member of the North Carolina Writers Network west, better known as Netwest. This group sponsors monthly critique groups for both poetry and prose. Janice finds that the critique group, which she facilitates, motivates her to have at least one new poem ready each month to share with the group.

Recently, Janice’s poetry was included in a Netwest anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains, edited by Nancy Simpson and published by Winding Path Publishing.

CONGRATULATIONS TO NANCY SIMPSON

LIVING ABOVE THE FROST LINE New and Selected Poems by Nancy Simpson has been nominated for a 2010 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Poetry Award.

LIVING ABOVE THE FROST LINE New and Selected Poems by Nancy Simpson has been nominated for The Weatherford Poetry Award 2010.

A Big Thank You to Our Echoes Distributors



Lana Hendershott

I want to thank some members of Netwest who have been exemplary volunteers the past year. Our representatives in each county acted as distributors and marketers for Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, the anthology we published in 2010. They called on bookshops and gift shops throughout western North Carolina, South Carolina and North Georgia. They manned tables and signed books at festivals. We could not have already sold nearly 1000 books without the hard work and diligent record-keeping of these people. Each Representative originally received 100 books delivered to their homes.

Nancy Purcell from Brevard, NC sold out of her first shipment quickly and requested more books. She and the others also found each contributor in their county and gave them a promised free book. We sent out a list of people who donated money to Netwest for the printing of the book. Each of them received a free book.

Lana Hendershott is our Netwest Rep in Henderson County. She has done a remarkable job keeping book stores stocked and selling to members and others who wanted a copy of Echoes. If you live in Henderson County contact Lana if you know of any place that would like to carry Echoes Across the Blue Ridge.

Nancy Purcell

JC Walkup of Haywood County did a terrific job of selling Echoes. She brought copies to meetings of Mountain Writers, she sold books at the Farmers Market, and she keeps Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville supplied. She has also sold books in Asheville and filled orders for Malaprop’s.

These three Netwest members held readings in libraries, put articles in newspapers and did all they could possibly do to get our book out there. And they were successful. We can't thank them enough for giving of their time and making the extra effort required to make Echoes Across the Blue Ridge a big seller this past year.

JC Walkup from Canton, NC

The Power of Memorization

--Rosemary Royston

As your Program Coordinator, I challenge you this month to do some memorization. Like diagramming sentences, I believe memorization is becoming a lost art….(am I the only one who actually enjoyed diagramming sentences?). However, keeping our brains active throughout our entire lives is healthy, and I’m prompted to share this challenge with you in light of our upcoming poetry month (April). Wouldn’t it be wonderful to “testify” to the power of poetry by quoting a poem to your family and friends? I can still quote from memory the first poem that ever moved me – “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost (you may read it here: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19977). Frost’s poem was in the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and it was a very appropriate poem for the subject matter of the book – young men whose golden youth slipped away too fast and too violently.

If you recall your own days of primary and elementary school, there were other great pieces of literature or history that you likely memorized. Ms. Burton of Elbert County Elementary School (Georgia) made our entire fourth grade class memorize and recite Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. I can still recall the scent of the ink and the dampness of the paper from the mimeograph machine (where all the ink was purple, not black). I was overwhelmed and fearful of learning such a long and important speech, but the skills I gained from memorizing and then reciting to my classroom peers are skills I still use today. I’ve also found that when I get a line to a poem it helps for me to let it simmer. While I always carry a journal to jot things down, sometimes I force myself to memorize and hold onto the poem before doing so. I once wrote a poem in my head driving from Atlanta to Blairsville. I memorized it before putting it down on paper, and it’s one of my best poems.

So give your mind a workout. Memorize a poem or your favorite section of a prose piece. Share it with someone you care about. A good place to begin: Shakespeare’s sonnets. There’s a reason poems were written in rhyme…they were easier to memorize. Pick a sonnet (or write your own) for your Valentine and recite it – definitely a unique and touching gift!

GATHERING OF POETS IN WINSTON-SALEM

On April 9, Press 53 and Jacar Press (in Durham) are sponsoring a day-long gathering of poets, featuring workshops with Fred Chappell, Val Nieman, Alex Grant, among others, and a faculty reading in the afternoon, including Isabel Zuber. I will also be doing a workshop. This sounds like a lot of fun, so please visit http://www.press53.com/GatheringofPoets2011.html to view the schedule and sign up to participate in this collaborative effort for the cause of poetry in our state!

Read About What You Missed at AWP

If, like me, you did not make it to the AWP Conference in Washington D. C. this weekend, you might enjoy this site where a writer is sharing her experience there on her blog.
She is writing about the sessions she attends each day and I found her posts very interesting. Today she found that creative non-fiction is still a mystery to most writers.

Meet Glenda Beall

--by Paula Canup

Glenda Beall cannot remember a time when she didn’t love to write. “As a child, I loved getting school supplies so I could write on my fresh new paper,” she says. She began her writing career with stories about horses.

Now she writes poems, essays, and fiction inspired by family and neighbors. Her writing often revolves around themes of deep pain, loss, and injustice. In 2009, Finishing Line Press published her first poetry chapbook, entitled Now Might as Well Be Then. She has had personal essays, memoirs, and a short story published in various magazines. In addition, she writes newspaper articles and especially enjoys writing about unique people.

Glenda also maintains three different blogs online. Her many projects keep her busy, writing several hours each day. “The most difficult thing about being a writer,” she says, “is having the self-discipline to complete a project – to go back day after day and work on the same thing. Writing is fun, but rewriting is often not so much fun.” Another difficult aspect of being a writer is having to market her work – the business end of writing. Many excellent writers are never published because they don’t want to go the trouble of submitting their work.

Glenda is an active member of North Carolina Writers Network – west (Netwest). She helps with publicity for the organization and sometimes does articles about other writers in the group. Her best advice for aspiring writers is to get involved in such groups and participate in as many conferences and workshops as possible. Writers can learn a great deal from networking with other writers.

One of Glenda’s greatest accomplishments as a writer is teaching others to write. She holds classes in her home studio. Glenda especially loves encouraging older people to discover their writing ability. She believes all of us are continually changing throughout life, and we should never be afraid of new challenges. It’s never too late to make dreams come true!

Glenda contributed to Netwest’s latest anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains, edited by Nancy Simpson and published by Winding Path Publishing The book is available at local bookstores and on-line at www.ncwriters.org and at www.amazon.com.

Asheville Poet to Read in Hiawassee

This month, Writers’ Night Out features poet Tracey Schmidt in an evening of literary and musical entertainment. The event takes place at Green to Bean Coffee House in Hiawassee on Friday, February 11 at 7:00 p.m. Those who’d like to share their own poetry or fiction can participate in the Open Microphone portion of the program which follows Schmidt’s reading. Music will be provided by hammered dulcimer player Mary Sparks.

Schmidt’s first book of poetry, I Have Fallen in Love with the World, has just been released. She has taught creativity at Julia Cameron’s (author of The Artist's Way) Taos Creativity Camp and continues to teach in the Asheville area, where she now lives. Schmidt attended college in Atlanta, studying literature and photography. At the age of 19, she moved to Japan to live in a Buddhist monastery. Her spiritual practices there awakened a desire to return to the U.S. in search of a tradition that was as authentic and indigenous here as Buddhism has been in Japan. Her photography exhibit, The Awakening of Turtle Island: Portraits of Native Americans was the result. It opened in Atlanta for the Olympics and has toured over 16 museums in the southeast, including the Cherokee Museum of the American Indian. It will begin a national tour in 2012.

Writers’ Night Out takes place the second Friday evening of each month. Green to Bean Coffee House is located at 538 Bell Creek Road in Hiawassee, next to the Humane Society Thrift Shop and across from McDonald’s. Come early to get a seat: The event has been well attended by enthusiastic audiences. The evening is free and open to the public. Light snacks and refreshments, including coffees from freshly roasted beans, are available for purchase.

Those interested in reading at the Open Mic may sign up at the event. Each writer will have three minutes to read. For more information, please contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com, or call Green to Bean at 706-896-4524.