NCWN-West to sponsor a Bookfest for Writers, at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC, on Saturday, March 24, 2018

BOOKFEST:

Saturday, March 24, 2018, Noon to 4 PM,

at the Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC

Sponsored by NCWN-West 
Admission is free!

 Author Speakers include:

Carol Crawford: Author, Poet, Editor

Deanna Klingel: Author, Writer of YA and Children’s’ Lit

Tom Davis: Author of Memoir, Publisher

Polly Davis: Author of Memoir, College Professor

Lisa Turner: Author, Writer of “How to: books

Author/members of NCWN-West, will sign books, talk about publishing & marketing, will give tips & advice, based on their personal experiences.

Drawings for door prizes: will be held throughout the PM, including a free writing class at Writers Circle around the Table in Hayesville, NC and free editing by Carol Crawford of up to thirty pages of your writing.

Left to right: Carol Crawford, Deanna Klingel, Tom & Polly Davis, & Lisa Turner

For more information about the Bookfest , contact Glenda Council Beall, Program Director for NCWN-West, at 828-389-4441, or the Moss Memorial Library at 828-389-8401.

Nancy Simpson's friends are sending their condolences as news slowly reaches across the state

Every day I receive emails from NCWN-West members and friends who share their sadness at the death of Nancy Simpson. This blog has had many people visit and read about Nancy. I pass the emails I receive on to our members and to Nancy's family. She has two sons and a niece, Lynn, who was like a daughter to her. They are all in mourning. 

Through your emails I have learned many things about Nancy. Joseph Bathanti, seventh NC Poet Laureate, 2012 - 2014, said he has known Nancy for thirty-five years, and they were very good friends. He is deeply sad about her passing. He is supportive of NCWN-West, he said. 

Nancy Purcell, author, teacher and a former county rep for NCWN-West in Brevard, NC, gives Nancy Simpson credit for helping her first publish her work. We only knew the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the people who were touched by Nancy.

You are welcome to send your condolences to glendabeall@msn.com and I will share them with those who knew and loved her.

It's Open Mic Night time again!

NCWN-West of Jackson's monthly Open Mic night will be hosted, as always, by City Lights Bookstore of Sylva, on Spring Street, on Friday, March 9th, at 7:00 p.m.  There will be beverages and desserts; those who'd like dinner beforehand can find many good dining venues in Sylva, including City Lights Cafe on the floor below the bookstore (killer crepes.) 

February's Open Mic night enjoyed a full house and record numbers, with over a dozen readings by poets, fiction writers, storytellers, and memoirists, including lively historical fiction, harrowing nonfiction from a Vietnam veteran, profound (I'm not kidding) reflections gained from a life in plumbing, and Gary Carden's always-striking renditions of the region as it once was.  Authors included writers who were veterans, writers who experienced disabilities, younger and older, male and female.  If we enjoy these numbers on Friday, we will ask authors to keep their readings relatively short.

Come on out and meet a supportive local writing community!

Writers Karen Salyer McElmurray and Maryn McKenna to read and lecture at Young Harris College, Young Harris, GA, March 13, and April 5, 2018

Two talented writers who will be on the YHC campus in March and April. Both are free and open to the public.

Karen Salyer McElmurray will deliver the 2018 Heinze Lecture at YHC this year in Wilson Lecture Hall on March 13, 2018 at 6:30 pm. She will read from both her creative nonfiction work and new fiction. McElmurray's work is set in Appalachia and looks critically at the challenges of living in, leaving, and returning to the region as well as the beauty and worth of such journeys. Her language is lyrical and her honesty piercing. You will not be disappointed in spending an hour with her! Please come if you are able! And share with any in our community that might be interested.

Journalist and author Maryn McKenna will give a lecture at YHC on Thursday, April 5th at 7 p.m. in the Hatcher Room, Rollins Campus Center. McKenna's most recent book, Big Chicken, tracks the evolution of poultry farming and discusses the dangers of the industry's use of antibiotics. New York Times columnist Mark Bittman calls the book "A must-read for anyone who cares about the quality of food and the welfare of animals." Big Chicken also has local ties, as nearby Gainesville, Georgia, plays a central role.

Check www.yhc.edu for further details.

Mountain Writers of NC, have a book signing every weekend in March 2018, at Blue Ridge Books in Hazelwood, NC

From Mountain Writers of NC, Waynesville, NC:

Every Saturday 2-4 p.m. this month there will be a book signing by MWNC authors at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville, NC. Drop by & say hi if you can!

March 3: Charley Pearson

March 10: William Everett

March 17: Tom & Polly Davis

March 24: Jacqui Letran

March 31: Darryl Bollinger

http://blueridgebooksnc.com/

(828) 456-6000

428 Hazelwood Ave.
Waynesville, NC 28786

blueridgebooks@ymail.com

 

 

New Post on Network blog about Nancy Simpson

Today on http://www.ncwriters.org/whitecross/ you can find a blog post about Nancy Simpson. Remembrances from Janice Moore and Blanche Farley take us back to the days before there was a NCWN or NCWN-West. See photos of Nancy as a young woman who traveled with others to Atlanta to find a place to read her poetry to an audience.

Karen Holmes, outstanding poet and friend to Nancy, writes about Nancy's poetry. I write about how I met Nancy and what she has meant to me as a writer.

If you like poetry and you don't have Nancy's last book, click on the link below to order it.

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780932112613

Many people are visiting this site to read the interview I did with Nancy in 2003 and to read more recent posts about Nancy. Please leave a comment on this blog or email me, glendabeall@msn.com to express your thoughts.