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.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Liar's Bench Updates
The April Liars Bench will deal with the hanging of Jack Lambert in Bryson City (then called Charleston) with descendants of both Jack Lambert and the murder victim, Dick Wilson in the audience. Jack was innocent and we hope to celebrate this story with appropriate music, poetry and storytelling.
My play, "Outlander" will audition next month with a premiere planned for June at the Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville. (I would have preferred the Peacock Theater, but it didn't work out.) The play will have original music by Frank Lee of Bryson City and there is a possibility that the play will tour this fall.
I will be conducting a workshop at the Carolina Literary Festival on April 13-14 at Wadesboro. The topic is, how stories become "theater."
--Gary Carden
My play, "Mother Jones" will premiere at the Unitarian Church in Franklin on April 7th with Lara Chew in the role of Mother Jones.
Friday, March 9, 2012
How Many Mistakes Will You Accept
Leave a comment and give us your opinion on this matter. It is not hard to do. If you don't want to leave an email address, just click on anonymous.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Upcoming Events in Hiawassee/Murphy Area
Thursday, March 1, 2012
COFFEE WITH THE POETS AND WRITERS IN HAYESVILLE
Robert is a new member of NCWN West. He had been active in the Georgia Poetry Society while living in the Atlanta area. Now living in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia, Robert said he was pleasantly surprised to find such a large writing community here. He joined Netwest and continues as a member of the Georgia Poetry group as well.
He will be teaching a workshop at Writers Circle in Hayesville, March 17, and will be speaking at the Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference in Blue Ridge, Georgia on March 31.
His poems have appeared in hundreds of magazines, including California Quarterly, Chariton Review, Hollins Critic, Kenyon Review, Lullwater Review, Main Street Rag, Midwest Quarterly, Negative Capability, Southern Poetry Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, and Writers' Forum.
He has published three chapbooks (When Stars Fall Down as Snow, Garland Press 1976; Dream of the Electric Eel, Wolfsong Publications 1982; and The Traveler’s Tale, Whistle Press 1998). His full-length collections are The Hunted River and The Gravedigger’s Roots, both from Shared Roads Press, 2009.
He recently stepped down as Director of FutureCycle Press in order to devote more time to his own writing. He continues to serve the press as Poetry Co-Editor.
The public is invited to come and meet Robert, hear him read his poetry, and to read their original poems or short prose at open mike.
Café Touche, 82 Main Street, serves the best coffee in town and no one wants to leave without having a delicious muffin.
Contact Glenda Beall 828-389-4441 for more information.
This event is free and is sponsored by NCWN West also known as Netwest, a chapter of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
NCWN West Has Lost a Member
ARRANGEMENTS: Funeral at 11:00 Tuesday Feb. 28, 2012 at McConnell Baptist Church in Hiawassee, Georgia.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Blogging and posting your work on the Internet
According to Blogher.com, a woman from Thailand copied recipes and photos of another food blogger and put them into an e-book, which she sold on Kindle. The food blogger would never have known except for a reader who informed her of the plagiarism.
To read the entire article click on the link below.
www.blogher.com/prominent-food-blogger-discovers-plagiarized-ebook
Today a Netwest member asked if he posted his writing on his blog, would that hinder his chances of having this work published later. This is a question I've heard over and over. I’d like to hear what your experience has been? Have you posted your poems or prose on your blog and later submitted this work to a publisher? Was the publisher averse to publishing writing that had been on your blog?
Give us your opinion. Click on comments at the end of this post. Write your comment in the box provided. If you want to make it really easy, just click on Anonymous and you don't have to give your email address or URL.
(Remember, your comments won't appear immediately. An administrator of this blog has to first read your comment and then post it to this site.)
Friday, February 17, 2012
MOUNTAIN WOMAN: TSUGA, BY ADAM BIGELOW
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Coffee with the Poets: Pat Riviere-Seel
A snowy evening last winter. |
Winner of the Roanoke Chowan Poetry Award from the NC Literary and Historical Association
I. About the Daughter
The serial killer's daughter hangs damp sheets on the line.
She likes the yeasty way the wind fills the cloth and how the sun sweetens the
threads.
When she holds the clothespins between her teeth, she tastes bread and salted butter.
She no longer worries about trying to hold on to the brass pole of the carousel.
The serial killer's daughter can hold anything - or anyone - she pleases.
Preferring familiar company, she surrounds herself with dahlias and lavender.
She always rides the wooden tiger because there is no bear.
Why are the animals always one step ahead of the humans?
The serial killer's daughter knows how frightening a creature walking upright can be, so
she always walks as if she were about to waltz.
Her hands write a language only she can read.
She's not a figment of anyone's imagination.
She is sunlight striping murky swamp water.
II. More About the Serial Killer's Daughter
The serial killer's daughter wears tight curls made of cypress roots and washes them in
buttermilk from the moon.
When mud oozes between her toes she no longer worries about wiping her feet before
stepping through the door.
She likes to touch people she loves on the nape of the neck and feel the rocky landscapes
of their spines.
Her heart measures her intentions and stretches them in a chain around her wrist so she
will not forget.
The serial killer's daughter waits for no one.
It never matters if she is on time. Whose time?
Time is irrelevant, like memories she saves and forgets.
Because her life needs seasoning she grows spearmint, basil, and lemon balm.
The serial killer's daughter is always leaving Robeson County.
For her, the stone covered with moss and mica that she carries in
her pocket contains a galaxy.
(Available from Main Street Rag Press )
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Updates on events, Murphy/Hiawassee Area
WRITERS’ NIGHT OUT UPDATE - Writers’ Night Out will be held at the Center for Appalachian Studies and Community Engagement [across parking lot from Young Harris Family Restaurant in Young Harris. It is a tall green house with white trim and a big front patio with 2 rocking chairs.). It will NOT have a guest reader but will be Open Mike for Poetry and Prose. It starts at 7:00 PM this Friday night, February 10th.
JOHN CAMPBELL - Glenda Barrett will not be able to read at John Campbell next week, but Glenda Beall will take her place. So come on out and support Glenda Beall and Mary Ricketson at John Campbell next Thursday, February 16th, 7 pm, Keith House.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Liars Bench Benefit
Thursday, February 2, 2012
JC Campbell Folk School Readings
Feb 16 - Mary Ricketson, Glenda Barrett
March 15 - JC Walkup, Glenda Beall
April - Nancy Simpson, Maren Mitchell
May 17 - Robert King, Jayne Jaudon Ferrer
June 21 - Brenda Kay Ledford, Linda Smith
August 16 -Nancy Purcell, Karen Paul Holmes
Sept 20 - Carole Thompson, Bob Grove
October 18- Jo Carolyn Bebee, Lucy Cole Gratton
Nov 15- Joan Howard, Rosemary Royston
Atlanta Poet at Writers' Night Out
Atlanta poet Rupert Fike will be the featured reader at Writers’ Night Out at Mountain Perk Coffee House in Hiawassee on Friday, February 10 at 7 p.m. Audience members can also participate in an open microphone if they’d like to share their own poetry or prose. This is a free monthly event for people who love the written and spoken word.
Fike’s collection, Lotus Buffet (Brick Road Poetry Press), has earned him a nomination for Georgia Author of the Year 2011 in poetry. Two of the poems in the book have also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Writer Barbara Hamby says, “What happens when you cross a Southern raconteur with a Buddhist monk? You get Rupert Fike’s exhilarating poems.” His work has been published in Rosebud, The Georgetown Review, Natural Bridge, The Atlanta Review, The Cortland Review, storySouth, The Blue Fifth Review and others. He has a poem inscribed in a downtown Atlanta plaza, and his non-fiction work, Voices from The Farm, accounts of life on a spiritual community in the 1970s, is now available in paperback.
Writers’ Night Out takes place on the second Friday of each month and is open to the public. The event draws approximately 30 people from four counties. Mountain Perk Coffee House is located at 1390 Highway 76 East in Chatuge Harbor Plaza across from Towns County High School. Food, gourmet coffees and other refreshments are available for purchase. Each open microphone reader can sign up at the door and has two-and-a-half minutes to read.
For more information, please contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com, or call Mountain Perk at (706) 896-0504.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
NEW PROSE CRITIQUE GROUP
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
ROYCE RAY POETRY AWARD
Her poem was published in the January, 2012 issue of "Aires: A Journal of Art and Literature." She also received a monetary prize.
The Royce Ray family of Columbus, NC, has given lifelong support and contribution to the literary arts in North Carolina.
For information about the Royce Ray Poetry Award, contact: aparker@sccnc.edu.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Mary Michelle Keller to Read at Writers' Night Out
Writers’ Night Out is a free monthly event for people who love the written and spoken word. On Friday, January 13 at 7 p.m. at Mountain Perk Coffee House in Hiawassee, Mary Michelle Keller will read her entertaining and heartfelt work. Audience members can also participate in an open microphone if they’d like to share their own poetry or prose.
Keller lives in Hiawassee, Georgia, is active in the North Carolina Writers’ Network and has taught at Writers Circle in Hayesville. In her writing, she draws inspiration from something she has seen or an incident that intrigues her — a casually spoken phrase becomes the cornerstone of an essay, short story or poem. Her poetry appears in several anthologies including Echoes Across the Blue Ridge. Keller also plays the piano, guitar and dulcimer and paints in oil, water color and pastels.
Writers’ Night Out takes place on the second Friday of each month and is open to the public. The event draws approximately 30 people from four counties. Mountain Perk Coffee House is located at 1390 Highway 76 East in Chatuge Harbor Plaza across from Towns County High School. Food, gourmet coffees and other refreshments are available for purchase. Each open microphone reader can sign up at the door and has two-and-a-half minutes to read.
For more information, please contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com, or call Mountain Perk at (706) 896-0504.
NCWN Annual Competitons Open!
January 17 marks the deadline for the Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition, which encourages the creation of lasting nonfiction work that is outside the realm of conventional journalism and has relevance to North Carolinians. 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. The winning entry will be considered for publication by Southern Cultures magazine. Award-winning author Anne Clinard Barnhill will be the final judge.
January 30 is the deadline for the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize honoring internationally celebrated North Carolina novelist Thomas Wolfe. The winner receives $1,000 and possible publication in The Thomas Wolfe Review. The competition is open to all writers regardless of geographical location or prior publication. Acclaimed author Josephine Humphreys will serve as the final judge.
Finally, as of January 1, the Network is accepting submissions for the Doris Betts Fiction Prize. This competition honors acclaimed author and North Carolina native Doris Betts. The prize awards the first-place winner $250 and publication in the North Carolina Literary Review. Finalists will also be considered for publication in NCLR. The postmark deadline is February 15.
For more information on all three contests, including submission guidelines. visit www.ncwriters.org.
Children's Literature Symposium, Chapel Hill
On Friday afternoon at the UNC-CH Wilson Library five faculty and curatorial staff members will present opportunities for us to see, hear, and learn about rare children's books (including textbooks controversies) from the Southern Historical, North Carolina, and Special Collections. Friday evening offers a special opportunity for "An Evening with Children's Book Authors
Stephen Messer and Allan Wolf" at Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill's newer independent bookstore at
752 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
On Saturday, the Symposium continues with 12:30 p.m. Registration and nine Experts and Authors on panels, followed by fellowship, booksignings, refreshments, and Writing Workshops. Presnters include Brian Sturm, Karin Michel, Susie Wilde, Sarah Carr, Stephen Messer,
Jane Baskerville Murphy, Jacqueline K. Ogburn, Barbara Younger, and Allan Wolf.
This Symposium is offered to the community without charge, presented through a generous grant from Province IV, Province of Sewanee, and sponsored by the Environmental
Stewardship Committee of Chapel of the Cross, Episcopal, 304 East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill.
For information about Block-rate hotel accommodations, parking and program specifics, please E-mail childrensliterature@aol.com or telephone (919) 286-2565 or (919) 929-2193. You are most welcome to join us for this happy occasion.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Poetry Contest
Once again, the Byron Herbert Reece Society will hold a poetry contest in order to support the mission of the Reece Society. Similar to last year, poets in NC, KY, GA, TN, VA, and WV are encouraged to submit up to three poems for the fee of $15. Deadline for entry is Friday, May 4, 2012. There is no theme for contest. Val Nieman, author of Blood Clay, is the final judge. The winner of the contest will receive $300, and the winning poem will be published on the new and improved Byron Herbert Reece Society website. For more information and a link to the entry form, visit the website.