Thursday, April 5, 2018

Loren Leith, Maren O. Mitchell, and Rosemary R. Royston to read at JCCFS, The Literary Hour, Wednesday, April 18, 2018



On Wednesday, April 18, 2018, at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School and NC Writers' Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour. At this event, NCWN-West members will read at the Keith House on the JCCFS campus, in Brasstown, NC. The Literary Hour is held on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise indicated. This reading is free of charge and open to the public. This month's featured readers will be:  Karen Paul Holmes, Maren O. Mitchell, and Rosemary Rhodes Royston.



Loren Leith is the author of MOSQ, by Shepherd Graham (pen name), winner of the Silver Royal Palm Literary Award and the Pascoe Award for Best Thriller of 2011. She is the recipient of the RPLA award for her short, nonfiction story, My Box Top Cat from God. Leith is known for her powerful, poignant, and often humorous nonfiction short stories, soon to be published in book-collection format.

Leith has published numerous professional and scientific articles and authored speeches given to nation-wide psychology-conference audiences.

She is the Founder and Director of Wordsworth Editing, and previously held a position as Literary Judge for the University of Montclair.



Maren O. Mitchell: A prolific writer,Mitchell’s poems appear in POEM, The Comstock Review, Slant, A Journal of Poetry, The Pedestal Magazine, Tar River Poetry, Poetry East, Hotel Amerika, Chiron Review, Iodine Poetry Journal, Appalachian Heritage, The South Carolina Review, Southern Humanities Review, The Lake (UK), Skive (AU), The Classical Outlook, Town Creek Poetry, The Journal of Kentucky Studies, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Pirene’s Fountain, Appalachian Journal, The Arts Journal and Red Clay Reader #4.
Her work is included in The Crafty Poet II: a Portable Workshop; The World Is Charged: Poetic Engagements with Gerard Manley Hopkins; The Southern Poetry Anthologies, V & VII; Stone, River, Sky: An Anthology of Georgia Poems; Sunrise from Blue Thunder; Nurturing Paws; and Echoes across the Blue Ridge.
Poems have been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize by the contributing editors of Pushcart.

Mitchell's nonfiction book, Beat Chronic Pain, An Insider’s Guide, is available on Amazon and through www.lineofsightpress.com.



Rosemary Rhodes Royston: Her chapbook, Splitting the Soil, is currently available through Finishing Line Press and amazon. Her poetry and flash fiction have been published in the following journals: Southern Poetry Review, Appalachian Heritage, NANO Fiction, The Comstock Review, Main Street Rag, The Museum of Americana, Razor Literary Magazine, The Kentucky Review, Town Creek, *82 Review, KUDZU, Coal Hill Review, STILL, Literal Latte, New Southerner, Flycatcher, Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume V: Georgia, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Motif version 3, and Alehouse. 

Two of Royston's essays are included in the anthology Women and Poetry: Tips on Writing, Teaching and Publishing by Successful Women Poets (McFarland). Books reviews have been published in Prairie Schooner and, most recently, Appalachian Heritage

She holds an MFA in Writing from Spalding University. Read an interview with Rosemary at Writer’s Digest. Royston blogs at: https://theluxuryoftrees.wordpress.com/.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Brenda Kay Ledford to read at Coffee with the Poets and Writers, April, 18, 2018, at Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

Brenda Kay Ledford, local poet, will read at Coffee with the Poets and Writers, on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, at the Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC, 28904, at 10:30 AM. Admission is free, and the public is welcome to attend.

A seventh-generational native of Clay County, NC, Brenda Kay Ledford is a retired educator. She received her Master of Arts in Education from Western Carolina University and studied Journalism at the University of Tennessee. Ledford holds a Creative Writing diploma of highest honors from Stratford Career Institute.
She’s listed with A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers, North Carolina Literary Map, and Who’s Who in America. Ledford belongs to North Carolina Writer’s Network, North Carolina Poetry Society, Georgia Poetry Society, and is a charter member of Byron Herbert Reece Society.
Her work has appeared in many journals including Our State, Pembroke Magazine, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Asheville Poetry Review, Town Creek Poetry, Charlotte Poetry Review, Wild Goose Poetry Review, The Broad River Review, and 30 Old Mountain Press anthologies.
Finishing Line Press published her three poetry chapbooks:  Sacred Fire, Shewbird Mountain, and Beckoning. Aldrich Press printed her poetry book, Crepe Roses, that won the 2015 Paul Green Award from North Carolina Society of Historians. Ledford has won the Paul Green Award nine times for her poetry books, collecting oral history on the Southern Appalachian history, and her blogs.
Ledford blogs at:  http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com
http://claycountyyore.blogspot.com


Those who have heard Brenda Kay Ledford read her poetry understand her love for the mountains and the people who live here.

We urge those who plan to read at Open Mic, bring a poem by one of our co-founders, Nancy Simpson or Kathryn Stripling Byer if you can. We are honoring them this month, as it is National Poetry Month.

To participate in the Open Mic session, we request readings be limited to one or two poems or no more than three pages, double-spaced, prose writing. NCWN-West is a program of the North Carolina Writers’ Network, one of the largest state literary organizations in the country.

Contact Glenda C. Beall, glendabeall@msn.com for more information or phone: 828-389-4441.




Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Do You Know Joan Gage?


Getting to Know Each Other in NCWN-West

Joan Ellen Gage
Some of our members have not yet met Joan Ellen Gage in person. She is an author of humor and inspiration written from her own unique perspective. Her recipe for her writing focuses on staying upbeat and laughing at her own foibles. Joan’s photos are the spice in the mix that serves to punctuate the writing and add that special garnish to her creations. Photography is one of her hobbies.
Joan lives in Clay County, North Carolina, with her husband and her beautiful Belgian Tervuren Dog, Magnolia. If you know Joan, you know Maggie. Since I am a dog lover, Joan and I have had that in common since we first met even before she moved here.

Visit Joan’s blogs, Traveling at the Speed of Nowwww.joanellengage.com, and A Redhead Blogs at 60!,  https://joanszoneblogalicious@wordpress.com. See her Facebook page where you hear her read her poems. There you can get better acquainted with Joan.

We are fortunate to have Joan Gage as a member of NCWN-West and as our Tech Administrator. She maintains our blog and website. She keeps our membership page updated with your pictures and bios. We have a Facebook page that she also manages. Joan has a quiet personality, but she is a busy and active member of NCWN-West. She holds a writing contest in Hayesville schools each year. She visits businesses and obtains prizes for the winners. An Awards Night is held in the spring, and the winning students read their work.

Joan volunteered with NCWN-West events including the Festival on the Square, A Day for Writers, our conference last year and the tribute to Kathryn Stripling Byer. She has coordinated the Celebration of Life of Nancy Simpson on May 5 at the John C. Campbell Folk School. She has been most helpful to this writer in many ways including facilitating Coffee with the Poets and Writers the latter part of 2017.

Joan wrote and published five books, Water Running Downhill, Embracing Your Inner Cheerleader!, A Redhead Looks at 60, Trinity’s Adventures in Imagination and a special edition of Water Running Downhill! The Rose Edition as a tribute to her friend Rose Helena Macedo Kull. All of the books are available as eBooks. Joan has given author talks, and had several radio interviews. We have enjoyed her readings at the John C. Campbell Folk School and Coffee with the Poets and Writers.

She may work quietly, but she leaves a large footprint wherever she chooses to be involved.

If you receive this post in your Inbox, please go to www.netwestwriters.blogspot.com and leave your comments for Joan in the comment section below. I hope you will thank her for all she does for us.