Sara Gruen Announced as Featured Author of 2016 Blue Ridge Bookfest, Flat Rock, NC

The 2016 Blue Ridge Bookfest is pleased and excited to announce that Novelist Ms. Sara Gruen, author of the widely acclaimed Water for Elephants, will be the 2016 Blue Ridge Bookfest Featured Author. Sara Gruen is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of At the Water’s Edge, Water for Elephants, Ape House, Riding Lessons, and Flying Changes. Her works have been translated into forty-three languages, and have sold more than ten million copies worldwide. Sara lives in Western North Carolina with her husband and three sons, along with their dogs, cats, horses, birds, and “the world’s fussiest goat.”

The 2016 Blue Ridge Bookfest will take place on Friday and Saturday, April 22 & 23, 2016, at Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock, NC. Ms. Gruen’s participation in the Bookfest will include a ticketed ($25.00) Reception and Book Signing on Friday evening beginning at 5:30 pm; heavy hors-d'oeuvres and adult beverages will be served during the reception. At 6:30 pm, well-known local author and Bookfest co-founder Mr. Bill Ramsey will interview Ms. Gruen, followed by questions and answers. Those not attending the reception may enter the conference hall at no charge at 6:30 pm.


Over 40 Authors and other presenters will offer craft workshops and be available to meet and greet, discuss their work, and sign books. A complete schedule of events and participating authors’ books and bios will be posted soon on this Bookfest website. Writers and Aspiring Writers will be able to meet published authors one-on-one, and attend free workshops and presentations on Friday and Saturday to hone their craft.

http://www.blueridge.edu/blueridgebookfest

Blue Ridge Writers' Conference, Blue Ridge, GA, April 8 & 9, 2016

Please note that registration is now open for the Blue Ridge Writers' Conference, coming up April 8 and 9, 2016, to be held at the Art Center in Blue Ridge, GA.

Submissions for critique at the conference must be received at the Art Center by March 3 to be considered, and there is a discount price for the conference if you register before March 14.



http://www.blueridgewritersconference.com/

Brenda Kay Ledford Published in The Best Angel Stories 2016

Brenda Kay Ledford's story, "Angels Over Iraq," appeared in The Best Angel Stories 2016.Guideposts Books and Inspirational Media published this hardcover anthology.

For information:  www.Guideposts.org.

KAKALAK reading scheduled for Jan. 23, 2016, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC is cancelled due to inclement weather

Due to inclement weather conditions, the KAKALAK reading scheduled for Jan. 23, 2016, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC is cancelled.

City Lights has agreed to work with us in attempting to reschedule the event for April. We'll be posting updates on Facebook from time to time, in addition to email communication.

The next Kakalak Poetry and Art Contests start March 1. We hope to hear from you!

Sincerely,

Richard Allen Taylor

Editor, Kakalak - A Journal of Poetry and Art

Nancy Purcell's poem Ins and Outs appearing on Napalm and Novocain Blog

Nancy Purcell's poem Ins and Outs, appears as the January 14, 2015 entry on A.J. Huffman's Napalm and Novocain Blog. Please read the poem at:
http://napalmandnovocain.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-poem-by-nancy-purcell.html

Nancy Purcell served as a North Carolina Writers Network/Elizabeth Squire Daniels Writer-in-Residence at Peace College, Raleigh, NC, teaches Creative Writing in the Brevard College Community Education program, and mentors aspiring writers. She was the County Representative for the NC Writers' Network-West for 6 years.

Contributors to Kakalak are reading on Jan. 23, 2016, 3:00 PM, City Lights Bookstore, Sylva, NC

Several authors who were published in Kakalak, an anthology of North Carolina poetry and art, will be reading at City Lights Bookstore , 3 Jackson St., Sylva, NC 28779, on Saturday, January 23, at 3:00 PM.

The public is invited to attend and it should be a nice gathering of poets and writers.

Poet Joan M. Howard awarded Honorable Mention in the 2015 Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition, Kathleen McClung Sonnet Prize category.

Joan M.Howard's poem "The Chosen Range" won Honorable Mention in the Shakespearean and Petrarchan Sonnets category on the theme of the "beloved," in the 2015 Soul-Making Keats Literary Competion, Kathleen McClung Sonnet Prize category. This literary competition is part of an extended community arts outreach program of the National League of American Pen Women. http://www.soulmakingcontest.us/

Joan M. Howard's poetry has appeared in the Aurorean, Lucid Rhythms, The Road Not Taken:The Journal of Formal Poetry, The Deronda Review, Victorian Violet Press, Wild Goose Poetry Review, The Reach of Song 2012 poetry anthology (Georgia Poetry Society), POEM, Miller's Pond, Eclectic Muse,The Lyric and other journals.