Literary Festival of Charlotte, NC, October 3, 2015, Authors Welcome!

We would be honored to have your authors participate in the festival on Saturday, October 3, 2015. There will be a community table set aside authors who are not able to travel, but would like to advertise and promote their works. But, we would also love to have authors who can attend join us for the day and do readings and signings. 
There are accommodations that can be made for authors who may need sponsorship support to purchase a vending table. We also have some scholarship scenarios to assist a few authors if the cost to purchase a space is a challenge. Attached is the latest flyer. All sign ups can be done online. www.charlotteliteraryfestival.org

Please call with questions.
704-906-0668
charlotteliteraryfestival@gmail.com

Rasheedah Hasan, Chair

Netwest Member Susan Snowden’s New Book Launches at Fountainhead Books

              

     

The Fountainhead Bookstore in Hendersonville NC will launch 

Susan Snowden’s new book,A Closet Full of Masks, on Friday, Oct. 2, at 

5 p.m., with refreshments and door prizes. Susan will also give a talk 

and sign books. (Call the store at 828-697-1870 to reserve a ticket.) 

Published by Archer Hill in Columbia, SC, the book is a novella and fifteen short stories, most of which are set in western North Carolina. From the back cover: “Susan Snowden’s wry humor suffuses even the most poignant of these stories, all set in the South—from south Georgia to the southern Appalachians. Thematically, she treats readers to a smorgasbord of tales whose  characters—young, old, affluent, poor—are struggling in various ways. Presented with a rare opportunity, an artist must face his insecurity; an uneducated woman searches for a way to win her son’s respect; a reclusive librarian seeks solace after the death of her father . . .”

            Susan’s been a member of the North Carolina Writers' Network since 1995 when she moved to the mountains from Atlanta. Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies, and her first novel, Southern Fried Lies, won a 2013 IPPY Award for Best Fiction in the Southeast.

            A Closet Full of Masks is available at indie bookstores and from online sellers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

New Pages Added to NCWN West Blog!

Hello readers!

Please make note of the new page links on the North Carolina Writers Network Blog.  Here is the quick link: http://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_22.html.  

You will find a link for an article The Founding of NCWN West, written by Nancy Simpson, with the help of Glenda Beall.  Please take time to read this important history!

Attention Poets: Lena Shull Poetry Book Contest, 2015

The North Carolina Poetry Society announces the 1916  Lena Shull Poetry Book Contest that opened on September 18th, 2015.    
The Lena M. Shull Book Contest is an annual contest for a full-length poetry manuscript (50+ pages) written by a resident of North Carolina. The manuscript must not have been previously published, although individual poems within the collection may have been published elsewhere.

Don't wait. See the website for guidelines and deadline. 

Glenda Council Beall and Karen Paul Holmes to read at the John C. Campbell Folk School, in Brasstown, NC, at 7:00 PM, Thurs., 9/17/2015

Poets and writers Glenda Council Beall and Karen Paul Holmes will read at the John C. Campbell Folk School, in Brasstown, NC, on Thursday, September 17th, at 7:00 PM.  The reading is open to the public.

Glenda Council Beall is the owner and director of 'Writers Circle Around the Table', a studio that provides education for writers. She also teaches writing in the continuing education department at Tri-County Community College in Murphy, NC. Beall also taught memoir writing at the folk school. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals including Wild Goose Poetry Review, Appalachian Heritage, Main Street Rag, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Red Owl Magazine and in the anthologies, Kakalak – Anthology of Carolina Poets, 2009, 2011 Poetry Hickory, FutureCycle, Lights in the Mountains, Women’s Places Women’s Spaces, On Our Own, Widowhood for Smarties, From Freckles to Wrinkles, and Reach of Song published by the Georgia Poetry Society. Her poetry chapbook, Now Might as Well be Then, published by Finishing Line Press, is available at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC, and online from Amazon.

Karen Paul Holmes is a freelance writer and poet. Karen has a full-length poetry collection, Untying the Knot, published through Kelsay Books and available on Amazon. Her poetry credits include Poetry East, Atlanta Review, Main Street Rag, Caesura, and The Sow’s Ear Poetry Review. Poems have also appeared in anthologies such as American Society: What Poets See (FutureCycle Press), and The Southern Poetry Anthology Vol 5: Georgia (Texas Review Press).  In 2012, Karen received an Elizabeth George Foundation emerging writer grant for poetry. She has taught writing at national business conferences, at ICL through Young Harris College, and at the John C. Campbell Folk School.

Nancy Janes, author and member of NCWN-West published new book

Nancy Janes lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with her husband Richard.  Born and bred in the Appalachians, she returned to her beloved mountains after a Michigan career as a clinician in mental health.

From an early age she wrote poetry and placed a few in the Free Methodist publication. Practical material was the focus during her work years; manuals, family programs, and In-service material. Creative time was limited to college courses and snatched hours of writing poems.

In retirement she revisited creative writing as a serious vocation. Novel writing was a byproduct of a short story begun in 2001. Once started, the characters seemed to take over. Soon a novel emerged. She is now the author of two books and another in the planning stage.

She is a Christian writer and the books can be found on Amazon. The Boy Who Walked A Way is a profile of the kingdom of light and Night Rumbles profiles the kingdom of darkness with a humorous twist.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BZZC188

Join me on  Facebook. http://facebook.com/nancyjaneszelman 

Scott Owens & Glenda Beall at Writers' Night Out, Sept 11

Join us for this dynamic duo on Friday evening, September 11 at 7 p.m.

Glenda Beall

Scott Owens

Dinner in The View Grill: please arrive by 6 p.m. or earlier*

Program in the Ballroom: 7 p.m. followed by open mic

Union County Community Center

129 Union County Recreation Center Road (near intersection of 129 and 76)

Blairsville, GA

map (note: the Holiday Inn on the map is now a Comfort Inn)

The readings are free and open to the public. 

Sign up at the door for open mic, limited to 3 minutes per reader. 

*Optional food/refreshments are self-pay. 

SCOTT OWENS, EDITOR OF WILD GOOSE POETRY REVIEW, WILL TEACH IN HAYESVILLE, NC, SEPT. 12TH, 2015

The Stuff of Poetry

This workshop will focus on creativity, originality, and imagery, answering the questions, "Where do we find the stuff for poetry?" "How do we know what to include?" and "How do we make it good?"
 Participants should bring an object of "value" (something kept for years) with them, expect to generate several new ideas for writing, and expect to have their comfort zones challenged.

Scott Owens teaches at Catawba Valley Community College, edits Wild Goose Poetry Review, owns and operates Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse and Gallery and serves as vice-president of the NC Poetry Society. His work has received awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Pushcart Prize Anthology, the Next Generation/Indie Lit Awards, the NC Writers Network, the NC Poetry Society, and the Poetry Society of SC, and his articles about poetry have been featured in Poet’s Market twice. 

For information, please contact Glenda Council Beall at: http://glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com/

Coffee with the Poets and Writers in a new venue, Wed. Sept. 9, 2015, 10:30 AM at Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC

Summer is winding down and there is no finer way to celebrate the beginning of fall than attending Coffee with the Poets and Writers, a monthly event that will be held Wednesday, September 9, 10:30 a.m. at Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC. We will meet in the computer lab. The public is invited and there is no charge. Bring a poem or short prose, 1500 words or less, and read at Open Mic.

Our featured member of NCWN-West this month is Don Long who was born and raised in Sebring, Florida even though his mother’s family hails from Western North Carolina, East Tennessee, and North Georgia. After two years of college Don enlisted in the Army as a Private. He was later commissioned and earned his wings as a helicopter and airplane pilot. This earned him the chance to fly helicopters in Vietnam for two one-year tours. In 1980 he retired as Lieutenant Colonel.

After retiring he worked with the Federal Government as a Safety Professional specializing in Aviation Safety, Firing Range Safety, Office Safety, Explosive Safety, and Tactical Operations Safety in the United States and Germany with short forays into Bosnia, Croatia, and Macedonia.

After retiring a second time in 2000 he began splitting his time between Winter Park FL and Murphy, NC. The two professions allowed him to live in or visit over 20 countries.

Starting in his teen years and all throughout his entire adult life he wrote poetry, mostly for his consumption, but on request, he wrote poems for special occasions. For a short while after retiring from the Army he had a business called “People Poems” wherein he wrote poems for others for a fee after they provided him pertinent information. The business was doing well, Don says, but he obtained a time-consuming position with the government which necessitated closing the business.

Publishing poetry has never been one of his goals. Don’s poems have not been published because he does not submit them for publication, except for some local newspapers. He writes poems for personal reasons and he writes rhyming poetry which many people enjoy. Always quick with humor, Don says he must have missed the poetry “revolution” meaning the time when free-verse poetry became more accepted.

One of his poems, “I’m Glad It’s Mine” has been used during citizenship swearing-in ceremonies in central Florida and for central Florida Flag Day ceremonies. Also, one of his combat stories was published in a compilation called “The Harsh and the Heart” and “Vietnam Helicopter Crew Member Stories, Volume 2”.

He has a BA in Psychology, MS in Personnel Counseling and Human Development, and a Commercial Pilots license for airplanes and helicopters. He is a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators, (ISASI), Order of the Purple Heart, Vietnam Helicopter Pilot Association (VHPA), Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA) and others.

He and his wife, Marti, have been married for 31 years. Their 15 children and grandchildren live in central Florida, California and north Georgia.

Contact NCWN-West Representative, Glenda Beall, at 828-389-4441 or glendabeall@msn.com for more information. North Carolina Writers’ Network-West is a program of the North Carolina Writers’ Network

A Poem by Scott Owens

Reclamation

Having seen the transformation of one
rundown furniture plant into expensive
restaurant, brewery, boutique shops
for clothes and frozen yogurt, and noticing
the ongoing cleaning out of another,
and knowing it had already happened with my life,
education and divorce and writing
redeeming what had once been worthless,
I couldn’t help but wonder how much
could be achieved with any body
nearly worn out, teeth straightened
with invisalign, eyes fixed by laser,
gut restored with probiotics,
foot pain eliminated by the Strassburg Sock,

but then even after rejuvenation,
even among the young, it’s not always
pretty, not always full of grace,
the crude, oil-stained nuts and bolts
of life, the unphotogenic face,
a bad day that keeps getting worse,
walls that don’t line up, some bricks
uneven, some not quite the right size,
and that’s what the mortar’s for,
the gray areas of tolerance,
forgiveness, understanding,
empathetic appreciation of things
being left imperfect, only as good
as we can stand to make them be.

THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT BIG BANG

IN A GALAXY AT THE EDGE OF TOWN

poems by  Scott Owens

Published by Main Street Rag

ISBN: 978-1-59948-548-5, 76 pages, cover price: $14

Projected Release date: December, 2015 

OUR NCWN FALL WRITERS' CONFERENCE - MORE INFO

Are you going to the Writers' Conference in Asheville in the fall? Read about some of the activities and the sponsors of those activities to be held at the  Conference in Asheville, NC on November 20-22.

Check out this article on the website of the North Carolina Writers' Network.


See the NCWN-West members who will be participating in this conference.

Registration opens on August 31.

Highlights of the John C. Campbell Folk School Reading from August 20, 2015

Maren O. Mitchell and Joan Howard read their poetry to a nice-sized audience that included Folk School students, local poets, and friends of poets. Highlighting Joan’s reading were two poems honoring two of her neighbors, and the neighbors were in attendance.

After reading a few poems, Maren turned her presentation into an “audience participation” by explaining she had written 26 poems, one for each letter of the alphabet and asking the group to call out a letter. She then read a poem for each of the several letters called out.

Lucy Cole Gratton ably hosted the program by introducing the featured poets with thoughtful, personal observances about the poet and her work.


Karen Paul Holmes

Tara Lynne Groth, to teach Book Publishing and Marketing class in Hayesville, NC, on Sat., August 22, 2015

In this class, Tara Lynne Groth, will explore different publishing services, basics of a writer's platform, and how to spread awareness of your writing without having to 'sell, sell, sell,' your book.  The class will be offered at the Hayesville Library, Saturday, August 22nd, 2015, at 10:00 AM. Tara Lynne Groth is the founder of Asheville Writers and is a full-time freelance writer. She recently finished instructing a 10-week course on Book Marketing for Duke University's OLLI continuing education program. Before starting her writing business she worked as a marketing manager and director of public relations. She speaks at events around the country on publicity and digital marketing. She is the force behind the popular blog Write Naked, at: www.writenaked.net. Please contact Glenda Council Beall for further information at : http://www.glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com/