NC English Teachers Association Writing Awards

(At the annual NCETA convention in Winston-Salem last October: the three High School Poet Laureate Winners: from left Anuja Acharya, Katherine Indermaur, and Sarah Bruce.)


The North Carolina English Teachers Association sponsors three writing awards for students. The deadline for entries is April 15, so it's time for teachers to begin encouraging students to polish the poems, prose, and short fiction they've already written--or write something new!--that their schools may enter for these awards. To find out more about the awards, please go to ncenglishteacher.org and click on the student awards link for entry forms and contest guidelines. The guidelines for the Student Poet Laureate Awards may be found on the side bar of my ncpoetlaureate blog.



(JOHN YORK, former English Teacher of the Year, at the NCETA banquet)

In the fall of 2007, my family and I helped endow a new award through the NC English Teachers Association, the North Carolina Student Poet Laureate Awards for both high school and middle school students. I felt that poetry needed a special award to take its place beside the Wade Edwards Fiction Award and the essay awards handed out every year at the NCETA annual convention. The current state Poet Laureate will serve each year as final judge in the two categories, selecting the students who will serve as our Student Poetry Ambassadors until the following year. Students are invited to submit, through their teachers, their poems, which a member of NCETA will read, in order to make final recommendations to the current Laureate. This past year my preliminary reader was John York, whose splendid poem, "Naming the Constellations," won the 2008 NC Poetry Society's Poet Laureate award and was featured on this blog. He will again serve as preliminary reader, offering his recommendations to me.

John and I were delighted to be able to give the 2008 Laureate award to "Downtown After Dark" by Katherine Indermaur, Honorable Mention to "Death by Chocolate," by Anuja Acharya, and a Special Commendation to "yellow" by Sarah Bruce. All three students were nominated by Priscilla Chappell at Enloe High School in Raleigh and all three spoke of how much Ms. Chappell had opened up the world of poetry to them. We at NCETA and the Arts Council are excited about this new award and the excellent poetry these three young women have given us. We did not have enough entries for middle schoolers last year to have a real competition in that category. THIS YEAR we hope to have many more submissions from both levels.



(Our first NC Student Poet Laureate, Katherine Indermaur, with her mother, after the NCETA Awards banquet.)



(Our Honorable Mention winner, Anuja Acharya with her parents.)



(Judges Special Commendation winner Sarah Bruce with her parents.)

POEMS BY OUR 2008 WINNERS WILL BE POSTED ON TOMORROW'S BLOG.

Michael Beadle performs his poetry at John Campbell Folk School March 19

One of the brightest poets on the horizon is Michael Beadle who lives in Canton, NC. He is a performance poet, and he teaches poetry workshops across North Carolina, mostly with students but also with adults.

We are delighted Michael sent a few poems for the Netwest blog. He tells about them in the following words.
"A Town Too Small For Maps" describes the small town in Eastern NorthCarolina where I grew up. "Morning at Fontana Lake" is an imagist poem about an unforgettable early morning scene I once beheld while staying at a mountain cabin near Fontana Lake. "A Town Too Small For Maps" won 1st place in a writing contest last year at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. It was also chosen by Kay Byer for the "Poet of the Week" feature on http://www.ncarts.com/ .

A Town Too Small For Maps

Folks used to call her Sauls’ Crossroads,
but the postal service said the name was too long.
So, somebody thought on it, yelled “Eureka!”
Eureka, that ancient exclamation of inspiration.
The name stuck long enough to celebrate
her centennial. They say Sherman marched through
once, stopped for a drink, Atlanta ash still on his boots.

There’s time to think on a lot of things here.
The stoplight stays red long enough for drivers
to look both ways at boarded up storefronts.
Post office doubles as a town hall. Over there
used to be Sauls’ General Store. After school,
we’d meet for 3-cent gum and a 12-ounce coke,
maybe a run at Gallaga or Ms. Pac-Man.
In the pine-draped house a quarter mile down
lived Miss Nancy, a state representative.
I once sat in her house, a spell of dark wood.
Thick, bronzed plaques lined her walls. They say
she could match wits with the best in Raleigh.
The only grocery in town shut down last year.
A few gas stations keep a steady business
for the families and farms that remain.
The elementary school closed after consolidation.
Weeds spike through faded lines in the parking lot.

Outside town long rows of tobacco
lined the highways. How I’d pray
the harvester would get to the end.
Reach down, curl a hand around
the stalk, break off three, four leaves
from the bottom, dump it in the tray again
and again. Hands and forearms turned gummy black.
‘Baccer dew wet our shirts, dried stiff as blood.
Early mornings we’d top and sucker,
break off flower tops, pinch out buds,
flick fat, green worms from the leaves.
We’d stop mid-morning when the boss man
or the boss man’s son brought us
Little Debbies and a coke bottle I’d tilt sideways
to suck down faster, feel the burn in my cheeks.
By August, we’d be at the bulk barns, sifting
through crispy, golden leaf, toss out what’s burnt.
Burlap bundled plump, knotted, bound for market.
Stack ‘em high in the big trucks, boys!
Leaves littered the sides of highways,
like money spilled out of a stolen bank truck.
And the best brand of flue-cured that season
paid for school clothes and car payments.

Now those fields yield cotton, far as the eye
wants to see, rows that end in dark woods.
The sharecropper shacks and tin barns lean
like old men waiting to fall, ready to die.
Fields stretch on for miles to other crossroads —
Patetown, Nahunta, Faro, Black Creek.
When a lady asks me where home is,
I pause a moment to give her an approximation,
knowing she won’t stray too far to find
what lies in a town too small for maps.
Near Goldsboro, I say, about an hour east of Raleigh.



— Michael Beadle


Morning at Fontana Lake


ghost gods of fog
float in the coves
shade a vague horizon

dawn blooms
gauzy sun
scratches of gray

stars burrow
back into
their holes

a motorboat
unzips the flesh of lake
with its wake

things stir between trees
jazzy bees
bushy-tailed thieves
birds the size of fruit
perch on the deck
jerk their necks

silver creeks
mint stone coins
plenty for skipping


— Michael Beadle

FREELANCE WRITERS NEEDED FOR MOUNTAIN MAGAZINE

Smoky Mountain Living is looking for freelance writers, especially from the far corner of the state and north Ga.
The magazine's website is http://www.smliv.com/
You will find guidelines there for submitting stories. Please send sample stories of your work and a cover letter to...

Scott McLeod, editor-in-chief
Smoky Mountain Living
P.O. Box 629
Waynesville, NC 28786

Payment ranges from $150-$450 per story (depending on the length of the story) and comes after publication. Contributing writers get a free copy of the magazine. The publication goes all over the country, but is mainly found in NC, SC, GA and FL. Currently, they publish four issues a year, but next year, they're planning to come out every other month.

Poets, Simpson and Moore, will read at Coffee with the Poets

Janice Townley Moore




Nancy Simpson and Janice Townley Moore are two of the NC poets who had poems included in the new bird anthology titled THE POETS GUIDE TO THE BIRDS. Both of these poets live and write in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The anthology contains only bird poems, some of them by the most noted poets writing in America today. It was edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser and published at Anhinga Press, Tallahassee, Florida, 2009.
Janice Townley Moore's poem is "Teaching the Robins." This is the title poem of her chapbook Teaching the Robins published at Finishing Line Press, 2005.
Nancy Simpson's poem is a previously unpublished poem titled "Carolina Bluebirds."The Poets Guide to the Birds is available at http://www.anhingapress.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, and at Phillips and Lloyd bookstore on the square in Hayesville, NC.

Both Simpson and Moore are featured readers of their poetry at Coffee with the Poets in Hayesville, NC at Phillips and Lloyd bookstore on March 11, 10:30 AM.
Poets reading at open mic are invited to bring their poems about birds. Everyone is invited to come and listen or read while munching on delicacies from Crumpets Dessertery.

A STORY BY GARY CARDEN

LISTEN TO THE MOCKING BIRD

When I remember my grandfather now, it seems he was a pretty somber fellow…maybe even a bit grim. Members of the family would sometimes confide to me that he had never gotten over my father’s death, and I did know that he had banished all of the musical instruments to the attic.
“There won’t be any more music in this house,” he said.
Often, I would prowl around up there where a fiddle, a banjo and a guitar stood quietly in a corner, like chastened children.
But sometimes, on summer nights, when we sat on the porch and listened to the rain crows on Painter Knob, my grandfather would smile and hum a bit of some old song.
“Can I sleep in your barn tonight, mister?
It is cold lying out on the ground.
The cold north wind is a-blowing,
And I have no place to lie down.”

Then, he would get up and retrieve his old tuning fork from the mantle above the fireplace, strike it against his kneecap or the heel of his hand and intone:
“Doo, doo, doo. Meee, mee, meee!”
Then, he was off on a singing bender.
He loved old quartet pieces that allowed him to sing several parts.
“Come to the church in the wildwood,
Oh, come to the church in the dell!”
Or
“Listen to the mockingbird!
Oh, listen to the mockingbird!
The mockingbird is singing o’er her grave.”

My grandmother would look at me and smile, but she was also a little nervous. When my grandfather had sudden bursts of good will, he did peculiar things.
Like the night he went to visit his friend, Walter Potts. My grandfather had known Walter all of his life. Both men had been born in Cowee in Macon County, and now, oddly enough, they were neighbors.

When we sat on our porch on summer nights, we could see a kerosene lamp on the front porch of the Potts house where Walter and his wife, Sara sat, rocking in the darkness.

As best as I can remember, the events of the “Walter Potts Night” began with laughter. My grandfather had been staring for some time at the Potts house, and had even talked a bit about Walter. My grandfather recalled numerous pranks he had played on Walter when the two boys worked in a sawmill. It seemed that Walter was such a good-natured soul, my grandfather couldn’t resist tormenting him.

Then, my grandfather grew quiet for a while. Eventually, he gave a little chuckle, and then he laughed outright. Suddenly, he rose and went in the house. In a moment, he said, “Come and help me, Agnes.”
My grandmother looked at me and shook her head. “Hold onto your hat,” she said and went into the house.
When I attempted to follow, my grandfather said, “Gar-Nell, you stay outside.” And, so I did.

There was a lot of loud, incoherent talking from my grandparent’s bedroom. My grandmother seemed to be objecting to something and frequently said, “Arthur, you can’t do that!” but my grandfather’s laughter drowned her out.

When my grandfather emerged, I had trouble recognizing him. He had on my grandmother’s “going to town” dress. His cheeks were rouged and he had on lipstick. His eyebrows had been darkened, his eyelashes were laden with mascara and a string of dime-store pearls hung around his neck. His head was wrapped in a huge kerchief. He smirked and batted his eyes at me.
“You stay here, Gar-Nell.”
I didn’t say anything, but I had no intention missing this! He was carrying his big Rayovac flashlight and as soon as he was out of sight, I ran for the pasture above our house – a pasture that ended just above the Potts house.

When I crawled up under a big rhododendron bush above the front porch of the Potts House, my grandfather was already there, standing in the moonlit road below the porch. He had a little lace handkerchief and he dabbed his eyes as he talked in a high falsetto.
“Walter, don’t you remember me?” Grandpa did a pretty good imitation of weeping. “Oh, Walter, how could you forget?”
Walter and Sara were standing on the porch, their mouths agape as my grandfather dabbed his eyes and said, “Come down here and talk to me.” “You got me confused with someone else,” said Walter.
“I’ve rode the bus all the way from Waycross, and I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”
“Do you know that woman, Walter?” said Sara.
“No, I don’t. Never seen her.”
“How come she knows your name and where you live?”
“We need to talk about … Willie,” said my grandfather. “You remember Willie, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t. Listen, you crazy woman, you better get out of here, if you know what’s good for you.”

I noticed that Sara had vanished from the porch. When she reappeared in the yard, she was picking up green walnuts from the big black walnut tree by the spring. Then, she wound up and threw one, and it hit my grandfather in the side of the head.
“Ka-thunk!” That had to hurt. “Ka-thunk! Ka-thunk! Ka-thunk!”
I don’t think that Sara missed more than once or twice. My grandfather was in full retreat and Sara was in pursuit. He finally broke into a hobbling run, dropping his flashlight and leaving one of my grandmother’s “sensible shoes” in the road in a litter of smooched walnuts. Sara followed for a short distance and then stood in the middle of the road with her hands on her hips. She yelled some colorful insults that included “Hussy” and “Jezabel,” before she returned to the porch.
“When was you ever in Waycross?” she asked Walter.
“Never,” said Walter.
Sara went in the house and slammed the door. Eventually, Walter followed her, still proclaiming his innocence.
When I got back to our porch, my grandmother was dabbing iodine on grandpa’s face. He was banged up pretty good, and he did have some pretty good bruises the next day; but that night, even with a black eye and some loose teeth, he was laughing.

“What if she had shot you?” said my grandmother. “But she didn’t,” chuckled my grandfather.
“When you start this foolishness, you get carried away.”

Late into the night, I could still hear him imitating Walter’s “I think you got me confused with somebody else,” and laughing.

Walter brought grandpa’s flashlight and my grandmother’s shoe back the next day, placing them on the porch and shaking his head.
“I knowed it was you all the time,” he told Grandpa. “Did, huh?”
“Why shore! Thought I’d go along with it, though, just to see how far you’d go.” He left shaking his head. Grandpa winked at me, and said, “Like hell he did!”

The visit to Walter Potts took place over sixty years ago, but recently, I told a psychologist/friend about it and he said, “Your grandfather was a manic depressive.” He went on to explain that this mental ailment was characterized by abrupt shifts in mood: from depression to a kind of manic glee. I have to admit it sounded like my grandfather. I also asked the friend if manic-depressives were dangerous. He shook his head. He said that in actual fact they were common. “Other than those occasional shifts in mood, I imagine your grandfather was a good father and a reasonably stable fellow.”

Then, he smiled and said, “Studies indicate that mild mania and depression is a common trait of creative people … actors, writers and storytellers.”
"Storytellers, huh?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Well, thanks for the free diagnosis,” I said. I left him sitting there. He could pay for his own coffee.

I’ve been trying to think if I have ever behaved in a manner that could be called “manic.” …….Naw, I don’t think so.

Jessy tells it like it is

I want to introduce you to a brave, spunky, and lively young woman. Her name is Jessy and she writes a column for a local newspaper and also publishes these columns on her blog.
Please click on and leave her a comment. I think you will find her an unbelieveable twenty something who just won't quit.
http://canswercolumn.blogspot.com/

Ed Southern, Exe. Director for NCWN, readings

This is what our Exe. Director, Ed Southern is up to these days:

Feb 26,

Quail Ridge Books, 3522 Wade Ave., Raleigh NCWN Executive Director Ed Southern will read from his new book, Voices of the American Revolution in the Carolinas. This story of the American Revolution, told by those who fought it, gives the reader some idea of what it was like to be part of a war when two states were ripped apart, but a nation was made.
Fri., Mar. 6, 5:00 p.m.Waldenbooks, 120 Market Street, Charleston, SC
Fri., Mar. 13, 7:00 p.m.Barnes & Noble, 1925 Hampton Inn Court, Winston-Salem
Sat., Mar. 14, 12:00-2:00 p.m.Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, 2332 New Garden St., Greensboro

Nâzım Hikmet Poetry Festival

I've just received word of this new poetry festival and competition, after being invited to serve as one of the judges. I hope some of you in Netwest territory will submit work. Kathryn Byer

**************************************
NAZIM HIKMET POETRY FESTIVAL

“To live! Like a tree alone and free, Like a forest in brotherhood”

Nâzım Hikmet Ran
Greatest Modern Turkish Poet



CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Named in honor of the distinguished Turkish poet, the Nâzım Hikmet Poetry Festival will be held for the first time
on Sunday, April 19, 2009 in Raleigh, North Carolina. This event will include Nâzım’s poetry, a look at his life,
and readings of poems by the area poets.

As we bring together poets and poetry lovers, participation of the area poets will be an essential part of this
Festival. Interested poets are invited to submit their poems to the Festival Committee by Wednesday, April 1,
2009. Selected poems will be published on-line at the Festival web site as well as in the Festival Booklet, and the
poets will be invited to read their poems at the Festival.

More information is available at the Festival website: www.nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org


ABOUT NÂZIM HIKMET:

Nâzım Hikmet Ran (1902 –1963), commonly known as Nâzım Hikmet, was a Turkish poet, playwright, and novelist.
He was recognized as the first and foremost modern Turkish poet, and regarded throughout the world as one of the
greatest poets of the twentieth century for the "lyrical flow of his statements”. Described as a "romantic
revolutionary", his humanistic views are universal.

His poetry has been translated into more than fifty languages. UNESCO declared 2002 the "Year of Nâzım Hikmet"
on the occasion of what would have been his 100th birthday. He received the World Peace Prize (the USSR's
equivalent of the Nobel) in 1950. Even though he faced many challenges in his life, he always remained optimistic
about the future.

His poetry reflects his undiminishing hope for social justice, his love of life, and longing for his homeland.


ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS:

This event is organized by
American Turkish Association of North Carolina ( www.ata-nc.org ) and
Gregg Museum of Art & Design, North Carolina State University ( http://gad.ncsu.edu/ ).

Organizing committee:
Buket Aydemir, Pelin Balı, Mehmet Öztürk, and Birgül Tuzlalı

Contact: contact@nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org

Event Location: The Gregg Museum of Art & Design, Talley Student Center, NCSU




GENERAL RULES
Deadline
Entries received by Wednesday, April 1, 2009 will be considered for selection.

Submission Requirements

 All entries MUST be submitted via www.nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org
 All poems submitted to the Festival must be unpublished, original works.
 Each poet can submit up to three poems.
 The poems should be written in English.
 The selected poems will be published on-line at the Festival web site as well as in the Festival Booklet which
will be distributed during the Festival.
 The poets will retain the copyright of their poems.

Selection & Notification

 Submitted poems will be evaluated anonymously and the names of the poets or their contact information will
not be disclosed to the members of the Selection Committee.
 The contact listed on the entry form will be notified of their poem’s status via e-mail by April 12, 2009.

POETRY SELECTION COMMITTEE:

Kathryn Stripling Byer, NC Poet Laureate
Jon Thompson, Professor, Department of English, NC State University
Greg Dawes, Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, NC State University
Erdag Göknar, Assistant Professor of Turkish Studies, Slavic & Eurasian Studies Dept., Duke University
Joseph Donahue, Senior Lecturing Fellow, Department of English, Duke University
Hatice Örün Öztürk (ATA-NC Representative), Associate Professor, Department of ECE, NC State University

TENTATIVE FESTIVAL PROGRAM:

Opening Remarks
Greg Dawes, Professor, Department of Foreign Languages And Literatures, NC State University

Talks on Nâzım Hikmet's life and poetry:
Erdag Göknar, Assistant Professor of Turkish Studies, Slavic & Eurasian Studies Dept., Duke University
Güven Güzeldere, Associate Professor, Philosophy Department, Duke University

Nâzım reading his poetry – a recording of his voice: In Turkish with English translations available

Fazil Say’s Nâzım: An oratorical composition of one of Nâzım’s poems in Turkish with English subtitles

Poetry Reading: Nâzım Hikmet’s poetry in English

Poetry Reading: Selected poems from the entries

Refreshments

A documentary on Nâzım Hikmet's life – In Turkish with English subtitles
Blue Eyed Giant / Mavi Gözlü Dev, directed by Biket Ilhan (2007)

Blue Ridge Book and Author Showcase in Black Rock, NC May 8-9

Don't miss this huge event for authors and anyone who loves to read and write. Robert Morgan, Kathryn Stripling Byer, Sharyn McCrumb, Vicki Lane, Joan Medlicott, Gary Carter, Sheila Kay Adams, Keith Flynn and many other writers and poets will be in Hendersonville NC on May 9 to speak, read, and sign thier books.

Below is a partial listing of events. Check out the website to get all information including directions, lodging, etc. Tables are available for authors to sign and sell their books.

A great opportunity for writers in the western area of North Carolina to network with authors, poets and many people in the literary community.

9:00-9:10 AM Robert Morgan -- Welcome & Keynote Introduction Conference Hall/Gala
9:10-9:50 AM
Sharyn McCrumb -- Keynote Address: Finding truth in fiction -- Conference Hall/Gala
10:00-11:00 AM
(Concurrent Sessions) Louise Bailey -- The historical and cultural dimensions of Henderson County -- Conference Hall/Gala
10:00-11:00 AM Vickie Lane -- Appalachian mysteries
Conference Hall/Cortland
10:00-11:00 AM
Rose Senehi -- Romantic thrillers threaded with environmental themes Conference Hall/Macintosh
10:00-11:15 AM Student Presentations School-age writing talent to the
microphone -- Classroom 213
11:00-11:30 AM
Author display tables open. Book sales signings, author/public interaction.
Perimeter corridors.**
11:30 AM-12:30 PM
(Concurrent Sessions) Sheila Kay Adams -- Historical novels; mountain culture in storytelling and ballad style Conference Hall/Gala
11:30 AM-12:30 PM Keith Flynn - Inside the poetry genre
Conference Hall/Cortland
11:30 AM-12:30 PM Charles F. Price - Historical fiction
Conference Hall/Macintosh
11:30 AM-12:30 PM Student Presentations -- School-age writing talent to the microphone Classroom 213
12:30-1:45 PM Lunch Break ORDER YOUR BOX LUNCH! See website for ordering information.
1:45-2:15 PM Author display tables open. Book sales signings, author/public interaction.
Perimeter corridors.**
2:15-3:15 PM
(Concurrent Sessions) Kathryn Stripling Byer -- Poet Laureate of North Carolina Conference Hall/Gala
2:15-3:15 PM
(Concurrent Sessions) Joan Medlicott -- Never too late to become a published author-- Conference Hall/Cortland
2:15-3:15 PM
(Concurrent Sessions) Gary Carden -- Western North Carolina storytelling and folklore -- Conference Hall/Macintosh
2:15-3:15 PM
(Concurrent Sessions) Marvin Cole -- Character portrayal of Mark Twain Room 213
3:15-3:45 PM Author display tables open. Book sales signings, author/public interaction.
Perimeter corridors.**
3:45-4:45 PM
(Concurrent Sessions) Robert Morgan -- Boone’s Legacy Reaches to the
Pacific -- Conference Hall/Gala
3:45-4:45 PM
(Concurrent Sessions) Peggy Collins -- “The Self-Sufficiency Syndrome”—Learning to accept help -- Conference Hall/Cortland
3:45-4:45 PM
(Concurrent Sessions) Jeff Biggers -- The Appalachian character and other memoirs -- Conference Hall/Macintosh
3:45-4:45 PM
(Concurrent Sessions) Steve Kirk -- Navigating the publishing labyrinth Room 213
4:45-5:30 PM Author display tables open. Book sales signings, author/public interaction.
Perimeter corridors.**
**Note: At the discretion of exhibiting authors, many display tables will be open to visitors throughout the program hours
in order to accommodate intermittent patron arrivals and departures and to allow for optional attendance at scheduled
program sessions.

Carole Thompson, words on love

From the Window of Our Georgia Mountain Home -

Our Georgia Netwest Rep offers thoughts on mature marriage and love.

Check out this writer's work.

CWP, March 11, is for the Birds

Are you a bird watcher? A Lover of the natural world? Nancy Simpson and Janice Townley Moore are two of the NC poets who had poems included in the new bird anthology titled THE POETS GUIDE TO THE BIRDS. Both of these poets live and write in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The anthology contains only bird poems, some of them by the most noted poets writing in America today. It was edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser and published at Anhinga Press, Tallahassee, Florida, 2009.

Janice Townley Moore's poem is "Teaching the Robins." This is the title poem of her chapbook Teaching the Robins published at Finishing Line Press, 2005.

Nancy Simpson's poem is a previously unpublished poem titled "Carolina Bluebirds."
The Poets Guide to th Birds is available at http://www.anhingapress.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, and at Phillips and Lloyd bookstore on the square in Hayesville, NC.

Both Simpson and Moore are featured readers of their poetry at Coffee with the Poets in Hayesville, NC at Phillips and Lloyd bookstore on March 11, 10:30 AM.

Poets reading at open mic are invited to bring their poems about birds. Everyone is invited to come and listen or read while munching on delicacies from Crumpets Dessertery.

NORTH CAROLINA WRITERS NETWORK WEST ANTHOLOGY
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
North Carolina Writers Network West is seeking the best short stories, essays, and poems by writers in the Netwest region. Our Goal is to collect the best writing and to introduce our writers to readers in the mountains and beyond.
Eligible Writers: Must live in and have a mailing address in· N.C. Counties: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Swain, or Transylvania.· Georgia Counties: Fannin, Rabun, Towns, or Union.· South Carolina Counties: Greenville or Pickens.· Tennessee Counties: Blount or Polk.

Submission is open to NCWN members and non-members in these counties.
Theme: Stories, Essays, and Poems by Writers Living in or Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains. While we hope the work submitted will give a feeling and flavor of the mountains, please submit your best work regardless of the subject matter.
GUIDELINES: Submission can be an excerpt from your previously published book. It can have been published in a print or web magazine, if you own the copyright. It can not have been previously published in an anthology. ·
Enter one category only.
Mark your envelope: Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Poetry.· Identify your work. This is not a contest, therefore, no blind judging.·
To help with record keeping, please send a cover sheet with your contact info, and a 50 word bio.

For Fiction and Nonfiction send one or two stories or essays in 12 point type, double spaced. Combined limit total 3,000 words. On first page of manuscript write your name and contact information and the Word Count. On last page of manuscript, write name of publication if previously published.
For Poetry send one - three poems in 12 point type, single spaced. 40 line limit including title and stanza breaks. Put your name and the number of lines at the top of each page.
At the bottom of each poem, please write name of publication if previously published.
You will be notified if your work has been accepted. Send a SASE for the editor’s decision.Do not send your only copy. Manuscripts will not be returned. If accepted, manuscripts must be submitted on a CD as a Word Document in Times New Roman.
Everyone who submits will receive a copy of the anthology
DEADLINE: Your submission must be postmarked during December 2008, January or February, 2009. Enclose Reading Fee: $10.00 Members. $18.00 non members.
Make check payable to NCWN West. Mail to Nancy Simpson, Editor,472 Old Cherry Mtn. Trail, Hayesville, NC 28904

Editors of Christmas Presence offer new opportunity

We are soliciting
Material from women writers in western North Carolina
For a second book project

Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham want your stories, memoirs, essays/reflections, poems for an anthology about the garments we wear—metaphorically, symbolically, literally---from hair bow to bra to Birkenstocks, from christening gown to prom dress, from waitress uniform to nine-to-five stiletto heels.

We expect an October 2009 publication date, in time to market the book alongside the 2008 Christmas Presence.

General Guidelines

i Submit no more than 2000 words
i Previously published material is fine–as long as you provide acknowledgments
i You retain all rights to your material
i Send in an email attachment (or contact us)–in Ms Word or RTF
i Formatting for submissions:

Double space with one-inch margins
Left justify only
Center or left justify title

Use 12-point font (Times New Roman preferred) for body and title

i Editing is a “given,” but we will try to ask about changes
i DEADLINE: MAY 2, 2009
i In return for your effort and creativity, you will receive

A complimentary copy of the book
An opportunity to buy additional copies at reduced cost
A publication party and potential readings/signings

i Contact Information:
Celia Miles (277-6910)> celiamiles@fastmail.fm
Nancy Dillingham (254-3143)> nandilly@earthlink.net

We are excited about compiling an interesting and entertaining collection of theme-related work from women writers in this region. We know you’re out there! So, we invite you to look into your clothes closet (past or present), and if you have a story to tell, a memory to share, a point of view to espouse, send it along. We promise to treat it with care.

Mountain Voices meets in Sylva

Mountain Voices,

a writers' group for writers/poets/playwrights/storytellers in Macon, Jackson and Swain counties in NC will meet Thursday at 7:00 PM at Soul Infusion Bistro in Sylva. Members wll eat at 7:00 and readings will begin at 7:30. Writers interested in attending, should contact Gary Carden at: GCarden498@aol.com -Telephone: 828-631-5438

Some Valentin Thoughts

For me, Valentines day is a celebration of LOVE in all its manifestations-----finally (guess it's my age), I have crossed the great chasm of limiting the boundaries of love's need and expectation to having one special other. The shift wasn't easy and seemed to take forever but poetry and dreams and dear friends and seeing lovers glow feeds my soul and verifies connection and the ALL of love and loving.

A lot of times we just reach out
& expect nothing in return—& that...
that is so much more than enough.

~~~~~~~~~~
Happy Valentines Day to you all...........
Pat
~~~

Poetry & Essay Contest Middle School

I would like to thank Jayne and Glenda for volunteering to judge the Cherokee County Poetry and Essay Contest this year. This is a milestone in many of the students lives and appreciated by everyone involved from sponsors, teachers and parents.

I have been asked to extend this contest to the Cherokee County Middle Schools and the "Learning Center." I would like to do this, if, I can get two more volunteers, one for each category. I will make sure to obtain the sponsors, awards, publicity and facilities to present the awards.

If you have an interest to help promote writing for young people, please respond ASAP, as I need to set the dates of submissions and deadlines.

Much Thanks,

Paul Donovan

Poet Laureate, Kathryn Stripling Byer visits CWP in Hayesville, NC

Many thanks to Kathryn Stripling Byer for speaking and reading her poetry at Coffee with the Poets in Hayesville, NC today. The atmosphere was casual and comfortable in Crumpets Dessertery at Phillips and Lloyd Book Store in the historic little mountain town. Netwest members and others from the community filled the room.
Kathryn answered questions, and then said she wanted to hear from the local poets who had brought poems to read at open mic.

Mary Mike Keller hosted the session and gave each person a chance to share a poem with the Poet Laureate of North Carolina. Elizabeth Rybicki, owner of Phillips and Lloyd Books, served a delicious cake and candies all in Valentine's Day colors.

We look forward to another great day of poetry in March, second Wednesday, at Coffee with the Poets when Janice Townley Moore and Nancy Simpson will read. Their poetry is published in a new anthology edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser. The theme of the book is Birds and Nancy asked everyone to bring poems about birds for open mic.
Look for more details on Kathryn Byer's blog and on Nancy Simpson's site.

A Love Poem for Valentine's Day

THE GARDEN

By Nancy Purcell

Somehow I need to find a way to tell you

of the unfolding of myself since you are with me.

There always was a wellspring of love,

but it had to be hidden: life hurt.

Like a walled garden no one could see,

you found my heart and climbed inside.

I’m not sure how, but by some feat of magic,

you moved away yesterday, showing me tomorrow.

What key were you given no other ever used?

Or was it in the lock and no one ever turned it?

You’ve torn out weeds with simple words and touches,

making me free-flying but vulnerable.

Will you remove the wall and nurture the garden?

Or is the wall the challenge and the space only for leasing?

The last stones to be cleared are buried deep, buried yesterday.

If you clear them, you are honor-bound to stay.

Think carefully, for no chains will hold you fast.

But should you leave this garden,

Please close the door and take the key.

No one should ever walk in here but you.

NANCY PURCELL, North Carolina Writers' Network West Representative for Transylvania County, (828)862-8117; nansea@citcom.net

Nancy studied Creative Writing at Florida Atlantic University, served as a North Carolina Writers Network/Elizabeth Squire Daniels Writer-in-Residence, Peace College, Raleigh, NC, under the guidance of Doris Betts, and she teaches Creative Writing in the Brevard College Community Education program.

Her latest undertaking is Quick Coaching; motivating writers and those who wish to write through the use of prompt and various motivational techniques.
Publications: RiverSedge, The MacGuffin, Pangolin Papers, Troika, LongStoryShort, The Square Table, among others, including two anthologies. Her stories have been read on the "Writers' Radio Show" out of Chattanooga, TN.
Nancy is retired from a career in Marketing and Sales. She spends her days in the office writing and in the garden, relaxing and hoping her writing seeds will germinate. She holds a membership in the North Carolina Writers' Network and in PWA.

Mary Ricketson and her husband Bill Killen

Mary Ricketson, Murphy resident, served Netwest as treasurer for the past year and a half. She did a terrific job in spite of the busy life she leads. Mary is a mental health counselor and also the founder of the REACH program in Murphy NC. She writes a column for the local newspaper. Her poetry chapbook, The River Calls My Name, was published by Finishing Line Press last year.
Although her busy schedule means she had to resign as treasurer , she continues as the Cherokee County Representative for Netwest.
Thanks Mary for the great job you do for NCWN West.
With Mary is her husband, Bill Killen, artist.

Nancy Simpson, editor of the new NCWN West Anthology

Seven poems by Nancy Simpson were reprinted in the textbook, Southern Appalachian Poets, edited by Marita Garin at McFarland Press.

A new poem, "Carolina Blue Birds" was published in the anthology: The Poets Guide to the Birds at Anhinga Press, edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser.

Nancy Simpson's poem, "Grass" will be reprinted in Southern Poetry Review's 50th Anniversary edition in 2009, and two new poems are forthcoming in Solo Cafe, out of California with guest editor Lenard D. Moore.

More at http://www.nancysimpson.blogspot.com/

My Father, the farmer, lover of the Land

This poem is one I've written and rewritten, changed titles and almost discarded. But I have kept it and I'll share it today. The farmer is my late father who'd rather plant and grow than eat the fruit of his labors.

Farmer and His Dog

Once he cultivated vast acres, harvested bounteous crops.
Grey haired now, in a frayed lawn chair,
sweat staining his chambray shirt, pock-marked
with burn holes from his Pall Malls, he caresses
silky ears of Pat, his bulldog.

His stooped frame rests from a morning spent
spraying tomatoes, trying to murder small bugs
that battle him for his harvest.

Tall corn tassels. Green beans climb twine
strung on poles in rows equally distanced.
Piles of summer squash strewn on clean straw
hide under leaves large as sun hats.

The cigarette ash grows long. He hardly notices
the shortened smoke, the fire against his calluses.

Coffee with the Poets, Hayesville,NC, Wednesday, February 11, 10:30 AM

Kathryn Stripling Byer, Poet Laureate of North Carolina

will be the featured poet Wednesday, February 11, 10:30 AM for Coffee with the Poets at Phillips and Lloyd Books on the square in Hayesville, NC.

All writers and members of the community are invited. Open mic for poems and short essays or stories.

Be Careful About What is in Your Subject Line

This article from Writers-Editors eZine could help us keep our email submissions from disappearing before they are read:


Subject Lines in E-mails

More editors are telling me they prefer to receive queries via e-mail than postal mail. Yet just this past week three e-mails from members and others in my address book have gotten caught in the spam trapper I use. And my filter is not nearly as tough as the ones most publishers and corporations use! Plus, I do give my filtered e-mails a quick scan before deleting permanently, but many large companies do not bother with this step. So what can you do to get past the gatekeepers - especially when querying editors new to you who will not have your e-mail address in their approved lists?
Here are a couple tips gleaned from my own ISP's filtering rules:
* Be careful with the word "submission." One of the messages caught in my spam trap used this word in the subject line. Not only is it a writer's term, but it is used by many x-rated e-mailers, and thus is caught by some filtering software.
* Stay away from all caps. Frankly, I'm surprised to still see all-cap messages, yet one of the filtered messages had the subject line in all caps. Using capital letters in e-mail and on the Web is considered shouting. Spammers use all caps routinely. So filters will often toss messages with words, phrases, and subject lines in all caps.
* Similarly, use of exclamation marks in the subject line can send your message to spam purgatory -- and I see them used regularly. Instead of ignoring your spam mail, skim through a folder of these messages, and you will soon see repeated words, characters, and formatting - if something appears frequently, avoid it in your queries, and especially your subject lines. If you are querying about a topic frequently appearing in junk e-mails, and you do not receive a reply from the editor, it might not hurt to send a follow-up e-mail asking if your query was received.


Source: Writers-EditorseZine, © CNW Publishing. Sign up for a complimentary subscription at http://www.blogger.com/.CNW Publishing,

PO Box A, 45 Main Street, North Stratford, NH 03590, USA

Lady Banks tells the news

We think you'd enjoy reading up on what is happening in the world of southern writers, book stores, poets and poetry, and commonplace books. Her ladyship, provides much of interest for the literary world, especially in the south.

Great recipe for Black-eyed peas and ham soup - that is a surprise, but a good one.



http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/lady-banks

Kelly L. Stone, guest blogger

How To Find Time to Write Despite Your Busy Life
By Kelly L. Stone
When I tell people that I've written three books and started a freelance writing career while holding down a full-time job, their jaws drop. Then the inevitable question follows: how did you find the time? That is the basis of my book Time to Write: More Than 100 Professional Writers Reveal How to Fit Writing into Your Busy Life. In that book, I reveal how I and the other authors managed to find time to write and get published, all while holding down jobs, caring for families, juggling household responsibilities and managing to get sufficient amounts of sleep.
The bottom line is, we're all busy, sometimes to the point of feeling frantic. But finding time to write can be done, no matter how busy you are. Here are just a few of the tips from my book:
1) Make writing appointments. Making time to write is similar to any new activity that you are attempting to fit into your life; let's use exercise as an example. How do you do it? You plan ahead. You decide that you'll exercise for twenty minutes, three times a week. You might choose Tuesday and Thursday at four o'clock and Saturday at nine o'clock. It's the same idea with writing. Decide when you will write, and then jot it down in your calendar. Whatever time slots you choose, write them down and then.
2) .keep the appointments. Just like you won't reap the health benefits that come with exercise if you don't regularly break a sweat, you won't reap the benefits of consistent writing if you routinely blow it off. So work hard to keep that writing appointment. Treat it like it's "real," just like an appointment with the doctor or at your child's school. The only way to do this is to exercise self-discipline and make yourself follow through.
3) Stay Focused. When it's writing time, you should be writing. Don't let yourself get sucked into surfing the Internet, checking e-mail or making a grocery list.
4) Plan your work. When you make the weekly appointments, also plan what you'll be working on during that time: Monday you'll use your twenty minutes to create plot points, Wednesday you'll use the hour for writing freely on your draft and during Friday's thirty minute session, you'll revise what you did that week. Maximize the time spent at your desk by planning ahead how you'll tackle that day's writing session.
5) Set long range and intermediate goals. Knowing what you're striving for (long range goals) will help you decide how much time you need to write and how much work you should produce during that time (intermediate goals). For example, decide what date in the future you want to have your book finished. Then, work backwards to determine how much writing you should do every week to meet that deadline. If the draft of your novel will be four hundred pages and you want to finish it in a year, then you'll have to write thirty-three pages per month (four-hundred divided by twelve), or roughly eight pages a week (thirty-three divided by four). If you write three days a week, that's two to three pages each sitting. Break your writing down this way to make time management seem easier.
6) Make up lost time. Let's face it--life happens. If you miss a writing appointment because your kid gets sick or your car breaks down or there's a family function you simply must attend, cut yourself some slack, but do plan to make up the lost time the following week if possible. This means you might have to make four writing appointments instead of your usual three, or write two hours one day instead of just one. Make every effort to stay on track with your weekly goal.
7) Reward yourself. This is an important step because you want to associate positive feelings with that self-discipline you've been practicing. It reinforces the behavior and increases the chances that you'll do it again. So at the end of each week that you kept your writing appointments, do something nice for yourself. Take a bubble bath, get a pedicure, have a romantic dinner with your spouse or buy your favorite author's latest release. You can even reward yourself at the end of each writing session. For example: If I write for thirty minutes, I can watch General Hospital.
Finding time to write is a dilemma that every writer faces, published or not. The tips above are based on my interviews with over one hundred professional writers on how they do it, and there are a lot more in my book. Give them a try!

Kelly L. Stone (www.kellylstone.com) began a freelance writing career while holding down a full-time job. Her articles and essays have been published in Family Circle, Writer's Digest, Cat Fancy, Chicken Soup for the Soul and Cup of Comfort. Her debut novel, Grave Secret, was released in September. Her book Time to Write: More Than 100 Professional Writers Reveal How to Fit Writing Into Your Busy Life is now in stores. Her next book, Thinking Write: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind, will be released in October, 2009 and demonstrates how to apply the power of your subconscious mind to your writing aspirations.

Well, Blow the Tannery Whistle. Look Who's Come to Murphy

Appalachian Story Teller, playwright and film maker Gary Carden entertained a large audience at the Learning Center in Murphy, NC last night, January 30, 2009. The event was sponsored by North Carolina Writers Network West, of which Gary Carden is a member. He was introduced to the audience as a "National Treasure" by Glenda Beall, Program Coordinator. I was there, and I can tell you Gary Carden's is a one man show. His theme was "Blow the Tannery Whistle" and minute by minute he took each and every one of us back to the small mountain town of Sylva, North Carolina as it was in the 1940s.

The story "Blow the Tannery Whistle" is largely autobiographical Carden said. It is the tale of a mountain boy who entertains himself by acting out stories.

His grandparents seeing him talking to himself, worry about his sanity. They think he has bad blood from his mother's side of the family. Finally the men family and the men of the town meet to see if the boy should be sent away. The boy's life is changed when it is determined that he might not be all that different from the college boys seen around town. The family decides to send him to Teacher's College down the road in Cullowhee.

Those who know Gary Carden, know that he did go to college, and there he had a wonderful time acting in plays and learning how a script is written. Carden has spent 40 years of his life promoting life and culture in Southern Appalachian Mountains. He was born here in the mountains, raised here and educated here. On August 1, 2007, Western Carolina University bestowed upon Carden the Honorary Doctorate in Letters. Chancellor John Bardo presided over the ceremony.

Through the years Gary Carden made his living as a story teller, playwright and film maker. Here in the last cold, dreary days of winter, my advice to you, especially if you missed the program in Murphy last night, is get some of his audio tapes, and DVDs to entertain yourself and your family.Where to get them? www.tannerywhistle.net At the Gary Carden web site, you can see all that is available, all at reasonable prices.

"Mason Jars in the Flood and Other Stories" won the 2001 Appalachian Writers Association Award. It is available. Also "Papa's Angels" , "The Raindrop Waltz" and other plays, also the film The Prince of Dark Places is on DVD. It tells the legendary story of South Carolina outlaw Lewis Redmond. Also available is the film Willa, an American Snow White tale.

Another possibility is that you might invite Gary Carden to come visit your town. He will entertain you.

By Nancy Simpson

Red Clay, Blood River by William J. Everett of Waynesville, NC

Waynesville, NC author William Johnson Everett has published eight books and numerous articles on social ethics and religion. He taught for over thirty years in Germany, India and South Africa as well as in the United States.

For his novel, Red Clay, Blood River, he has drawn on the simultaneous occurrence, in 1838, of our own “Trail of Tears” and South Africa’s legendary “Great Trek” to tell a sweeping saga of love and conflict in the midst of migration, invasion, slavery, and exploitation.

The story, told by Earth, braids together the lives of an African slave, the settlers of Appalachia and South Africa, and three contemporary young people struggling with this fragmented heritage of courage and pain.

Everett has joined with actress Barbara Bates Smith to cast parts of his story into dramatic readings that introduce us to the power and lyricism of Earth’s voice and the character of these remarkable people.

Smith and Everett have drawn standing room only crowds to these performances.
For more about the book, readers can visit http://www.redclaybloodriver.com/.

Meet Janet Benway and Nancy Purcell of Transylvania County, NC

Nancy Purcell
on left.




Right: Janet Benway
Netwest is fortunate to have Nancy Purcell and Janet Benway, writers in Brevard, NC. as representatives in Transylvania County, NC.
Janet is happily transplanted from Connecticut to Brevard, where she lives, walks and writes while enjoying the Blue Ridge Mountains. A former editor and college English teacher, Janet now teaches creative writing at Brevard College. Her poems appear in Lucidity, Bereavement and Long River Run.

Nancy Purcell writes and teaches a writing course for Brevard College's Creekside Program. Nancy studied Creative Writing at Florida Atlantic University, attended the Iowa Summer Workshops, and served as a North Carolina Writers Network/Elizabeth Squire Daniels Writer-in-Residence at Peace College in Raleigh, NC, under the guidance of Doris Betts.

Her stories have appeared in various literary magazines including: RiverSedge, The MacGuffin, Pangolin Papers, Trioka, LongStoryShort, The Square Table, Bereavement, and have been read on "Writers Radio Show" out of Chattannooga State College, TN.

Nancy organized a writing group, Wordsmiths, and Janet is a member. They meet every other Wednesday at Quotations, a local coffee shop. The meeting time is 11am - 1pm. Nancy can be reached for specific dates at mailto:nansea@citcom.net or 828-862-8117.
Contact these Netwest representatives if you live in Transylvania County, and they will help you with membership questions, or with information about Netwest (NCWN West) a chapter of the North Carolina Writers' Network.
Janet: 828-884-8830 and Nancy: 828.862.8117

WHAT IS SELLING IN THE INDIE BOOK STORES?

Click on this link and see what books are best sellers in various categories.

http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/bestsellers/7651-southern-indie-bestseller-list-1112009

Valentine's Day

The robins returned today.
Their voices filled the hills
and lifted my heart.

I spied with my binoculars
on these strange cupids
wearing scissor-tailed coats.

The robins returned today.
They covered my lawn
with a bronze blanket.

The sentinels strutted through
snowflakes spearing worms
with their arrow beaks.

The robins returned today.
Their songs lifted my heart
and brought a message of hope.
by: Brenda Kay Ledford

Meet Mary Mike Keller, A Very Important Person

Michelle (Mary Mike) Keller, Netwest Member and important volunteer

Among the many people who help make Netwest a successful organization is Michelle (Mary Mike) Keller who lives in Towns County just across the border between North Carolina and Georgia. Michelle's creativity in design, her talents in everything from building a house to book making, and her loyalty to friends drew me to her years ago when we first met.

In June, 2007, when I became Program Coordinator with Netwest, Mike answered my call for a volunteer to take the job of publicizing writers' events.

Some of our members don't know Mary Mike Keller. She keeps a low profile. She is a VIP and I want our members and our readers to meet her. In a recent interview, Mike answered questions about herself and her various talents.

GB: Mike, painting seems to be your first love. How long have you been an artist, and what do you like to paint?

M.K: Painting has always been part of who I am. I cannot remember ever not drawing and painting. It is one of my vocabularies. Flowers are my favorite subjects, their colors spreading across the canvas make me feel good. I like to draw and paint people. I especially like to draw people in airports as they wait. I prefer to paint at night, even into the early morning, which works well with the fact that I like to write in the late morning.

GB: You are a painter, among many other things, but you write lovely poetry, essays and stories. Do you think of yourself as a writer?

MK: I call myself a writer. I write poetry primarily, yet I enjoy the putting together of a personal essay and of course the short story that pops into my head occasionally.
I began writing for pleasure about thirteen years ago. I had the ability, in school, to write good essays and the occasional poem, but never thought of myself as one who could write. In wasn’t until I took my first class with Nancy Simpson that I began to write seriously.
I will hear someone say something, a sentence sticks in my head, bouncing around until it finds itself a poem. Often it is a simple action as in “The Purple Screen Door." I was painting my screen door purple when the line “Why purple you ask?” manifested itself.

GB: Why do you write?
MK: The answer is simple. Writing is fun. I write for pure pleasure.

GB: I know you are an avid reader. Tell us what you like to read.

MK: I could write volumes on this subject. It is probably answered best by telling you my favorite authors. Ann Rice is at the top of my list. As for earlier writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald tops that list. Isabel Allende, P.D. James, James Lee Burke and Amy Tan are among my favorites. I recently read “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield. I liked the way it held onto its secrets, only leaving hints along the way for the reader to find. This month, my book club is reading “Whistling in the Dark” by Lesley Kagen. It was a quick read and I enjoyed it very much.

GB: You have been a member of NCWN and involved with Netwest for a number of years. Tell us what you do for the writing group.

MK: I have been a member of the NCWN for many years. I handle the publicity for Netwest. I send out the monthly calendar to the newspapers and write about the readers who will be reading at John C. Campbell Folk School and Coffee With the Poets along with other items that need to be in the newspapers. I am, so to speak, the person in charge of Coffee with the Poets and am lining up the 2009 readers for Poets and Writers Reading Poems and Stories at the folk school.
GB: Thank you, Mary Mike Keller, for answering our questions and for letting our readers and fellow members get to know you.

Mary Mike Keller can be reached at mmkeller@brmemc.net

POEM BY MARY MIKE KELLER

PURPLE SCREEN DOOR

“Why purple?” You ask
screen door banging behind you.

“Purple is for passion.” I say.

Passion for the cool sweet taste
of tall sweating glasses of ice tea
rivulets running down the sides
pooling on old linen napkins
ironed and folded into smooth squares.

Passion for Chopin and Copland
Rachmaninoff’s rhapsody on a theme
fingers dancing across creamy ivory keys
playing on a polished piano
rubbed well with pungent lemon oil.

Passion for small smelly children
sporting mud smeared shirts
just come in from the yard
smacking liquid kisses
moist warm little circles.

Passion for written words
on pages of well worn books
friends to be read aloud to another
or who quietly sooth the soul
tirelessly in timeless wisdom.

Passion for pure love
succulent with fluid
flowing as rivers
rushing to the sea
then joined in
passion
as deep as purple.

Netwest Poets, Enter your poems

Michael Beadle on left in photo heads the Charlotte Young Contest

I have served on the Poetry Council of NC for a few years now and, although we have a large number of fine poets who live in the southwestern part of NC, we have very few who enter the PCNC

contests.

Let's see some entries from our Netwest poets for the Poetry Council's contests this year.

Michael Beadle from Canton NC is on the Council. His area is the Charlotte Young Contest which is for elementary and middle school students.

Teachers, help your students enter and benefit from the publication of their work and participation in Poetry Day at Catawba College in Weymouth, NC.

Parents, pass on this information to teachers who might not be aware of the contests. Help spread the word.

See all information on these contests in following post.

POETRY COUNCIL OF NORTH CAROLINA CONTEST BEGINS JAN. 15

The Poetry Council of North Carolina announces poetry contests for this year.

Go here for the guidelines


Poetry Council of North Carolina Annual Poetry Contest
Poetry Day will take place October 10, 2009

To read about Poetry Day last year go to:
Poetry Day October 4, 2008, at Catawba College.

Annual Poetry Contest rules

Opening Date: Jan 15, 2009
Closing Date: May 15, 2009.

Open to residents and former residents of North Carolina—persons born in N.C., transients from other states who either attend school or work in this state, and N.C. residents temporarily out of state.


OSCAR ARNOLD YOUNG (book contest)
CHARLES SHULL (traditional poetry)
JAMES LARKIN PEARSON (free verse)
ELLEN T. JOHNSTON-HALE (light verse)
GLADYS OWINGS HUGHES HERITAGE (free verse) CHARLOTTE YOUNG (elementary and middle school students; any subject or form)

SAM RAGAN NORTH CAROLINA CONNECTION (high school and undergraduate)

The Poetry Council of North Carolina is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit of about 15 volunteers who conduct an annual poetry contest, publish the winning poems in our contest anthology Bay Leaves, and host Poetry Day each fall so that the poets who submitted a winning poem may read and attend a luncheon that includes a guest speaker. Because we do not have a paid membership, we charge a small entry fee of $5 for adult entries by contest category, and there is a modest charge to attend the luncheon so that we may recover those costs. The student contests are supported by donations, and do not have an entry fee as a means to facilitate the ability of school administrators and teachers to encourage students to enter one of the grade-appropriate contests. Questions about the Poetry Council may be directed by e-mail to edcockrell@hotmail.com.
Hosted by Old Mountain Press Poetry and Prose Anthology Series


http://www.oldmp.com/poetrycouncilofnc/

THINKING OF MAY AND JUNE IN POETRY

In these snowy, dark days the first of the year, it is good to read poems about May and June, continuing with poems from Scott Owens' Book of Days recently published online by The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature..http://www.deadmule.com/poetry/2009/01/scott-owens-book-of-days-a-chapbook/


Of Flowered Gardens As In May


You’ve been working the garden again
to the texture you want, beating it
with mattock and hoe, pulling up what
you won’t grow, putting down what you will.
Everything you do leaves a different taste
in your mouth. Pulling up ivy is nothing
like pulling up myrtle. Rooting one only
like the other in the earth you turn.
These are days with high foreheads
and Roman noses coming out of the ground,
with eyebrows bushy as clouds, with green hands
of limbs stroking the windows open,
with the too-cool sauntering in of May.
You sniff the air alive with spring’s ammonia,
search for the living bloom of earth
beneath stones. In the garden bitter drops
of May hang beneath umbrella leaves,
the screaming plant, the little man.Loose
strife, spiderwort, bleeding hearts
blaze their public weeping. Squirrels swing
from cats’ mouths. Birds lie dead on the path,
premature bodies pink as velvet gloves.
Lichen slices through rock. You arrive
with your hands full of little graves,
your thoughts full of the deaths of planting.
Immature May, May with its half-hearted
promises, May the almost ripe, has called
you to its secret rooms full of flowers,
to its life dripping from fingertips
of leaves. You will open the earth again.
You will set the seedling in place
and feed it with your own cracked hands.
***
June Arrives, Dressed in Grace and Pain
Hesitant, June stood waiting on the horizon for days,
then walked in with an uncertain limp,
dragging the dead heads of spring behind it.
Now it stands staring into fields that will not grow,
counts fallen fingers of foxglove, sits in the trees
at night wilting the leaves, spreading its heat around.
Now it sings in the throats of mockingbirds at night,
in distant whippoorwills teasing you out into darkness
towards dead-leaf bodies you’ll never find.
There is no loneliness like June’s confusion
of faces, bee-balm’s foolscap of red, yarrow’s
cowardly hands, bright, boasting tongues of gladiolus.
In the day edible orange daylilies open their mouths
to a sky full of promises. At night the air shines
with bodies burning to touch one another.
The angel of June flies into the room, black wings,
red belly spiraling down to black, three-part-body
you can’t help but want on top of you.

Poetry and Essay Contest

Good Morning Everyone,

It's that time of year again that I request some Poetry and Essay judges to help out in selecting poems and essays for the Cherokee County High School students.

It is my hope to be able to add "The Learning Center," students this year which covers students in 7, 8, and 9th grades. This school has received many accolades for its academics and I have been assured that the submissions will most likely, be very good. So, if I can get enough judges and get the support of 6 new local businesses, I will proceed with this.

Please let me know ASAP if you would like to participate and at what level. These contests have been very helpful to the students in the past. Not only do they receive Savings Bonds and Certificates of Achievement that may assist them to get into the College of their choice, they also receive recognition from the community, family and peers.

As always Judges will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis.

My sincere appreciation for your support,

Paul

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all’s relative

as i sat in a smoke-sated room
pecking out cold-coffee prose
wrenched from 66 re-births
of dog-eared trials & jubilations
low & be-hold
jehovah’s chosen-witness
came rapping-tapping at my door

inches beyond
the tightly-locked screen
his swivel-neck craning
high on rarified airs
he-droned on & on
of how his personal save-your
bid him in-ter my door’s yell-owed pain

at first i--small-i pondered ways
to swat this bee ear-buzzing counsel
to one whose glazed-dazed eyes
he just-knew betrayed fallow seed

having tripped some king-domes
where deep-seated junkies fly
no-way could i--small-i
condemn his joyful drug-of-choice
no-way

so sweetly sweetly
(as an old moon-crone will)
i re-leased him still-smiling
his faith in full-flight
confidant the deity
would answer all of his-prayers
& dark-ilks would never crush
his lust for truth-&-right

...as for-me...
other cravings beck-on
be-still my-will be-still

Pat

written 12-13-08--blame it on the full moon--

Thought it might be a good/fun time to post some dyslexic poetry.

Wishing you all a Great 2009!!!

Peg Russell's Favorite websites for Writers

Peg Russell of Murphy, NC is a writer I often turn to when I need information found on the web. At my request she sent a list of some of her favortie sites for writers and some for general interest.

GOOD ONES

http://gcwriters.org/ site has contests, conferences, places to publish, etc. (Gulf Coast Writers. org)

http://http://http//www.duotrope.com/

database search for publishers of poetry, short stories, novels

http://http://www.thepoetrymarket.com/

free newsletter with articles and poetry markets

http://http://http//www.theroseandthornezine.com/

free newsletter, too many ads, but good market info

http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/

where to check out scams, slow payers, etc.

MORE INFORMAL

http:// http://www.fundsforwriters.com/

free newsletter, too many, but good market info, too chatty

http://clicks.aweber.com/

free newsletter, Angela Booth sells her stuff, but

advice articles are light, good to review advice

TWO NON-WRITER SPECIFIC GOOD SITES

http: http://www.killerplants.com/

free newsletter, not a writer newsletter, but fascinating information about plants in history, folk beliefs, etc. General information

http://http://http//www.crimelabproject.com/ free newsletter about current forensic news in USA and abroad

Thanks, Peg

If any writers who read this blog would like to share some of your favorite sites for writers, please send them to writerlady21@yahoo.com

On subject line write: good sites for writers

Netwest Call for Submissions for Anthology

NORTH CAROLINA WRITERS NETWORK WEST ANTHOLOGY
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

North Carolina Writers Network West is seeking the best short stories, essays, and poems by writers in the Netwest region. Our Goal is to collect the best writing and to introduce our writers to readers in the mountains and beyond.
Eligible Writers: Must live in and have a mailing address in
· N.C. Counties: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Swain, or Transylvania.
· Georgia Counties: Fannin, Rabun, Towns, or Union.
· South Carolina Counties: Greenville or Pickens.
· Tennessee Counties: Blount or Polk.

Submission is open to NCWN members and non-members in these counties.

Theme: Stories, Essays, and Poems by Writers Living in or Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains. While we hope the work submitted will give a feeling and flavor of the mountains, please submit your best work regardless of the subject matter.
GUIDELINES: Submission can be an excerpt from your previously published book. It can have been published in a print or web magazine, if you own the copyright. It can not have been previously published in an anthology.
· Enter one category only. Mark your envelope: Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Poetry.
· Identify your work. This is not a contest, therefore, no blind judging.
· To help with record keeping, please send a cover sheet with your contact info, and a 50 word bio.
For Fiction and Nonfiction send one or two stories or essays in 12 point type, double spaced. Combined limit total 3,000 words. On first page of manuscript write your name and contact information and the Word Count. On last page of manuscript, write name of publication if previously published.

For Poetry send one - three poems in 12 point type, single spaced. 40 line limit including title and stanza breaks. Put your name and the number of lines at the top of each page.
At the bottom of each poem, please write name of publication if previously published.

You will be notified if your work has been accepted. Send a SASE for the editor’s decision.
Do not send your only copy. Manuscripts will not be returned. If accepted, manuscripts must be submitted on a CD as a Word Document in Times New Roman.

Everyone who submits will receive a copy of the anthology
DEADLINE: Your submission must be postmarked during December 2008, January or February, 2009. Enclose Reading Fee: $10.00 Members. $18.00 non members.
Make check payable to NCWN West. Mail to Nancy Simpson, Editor,
472 Old Cherry Mtn. Trail, Hayesville, NC 28904

Book of Days - A Chapbook by Scott Owens

I think poems from Scott Owens' Book of Days - A chapbook --- are especially appropriate for this day beginning 2009.
"Book of Days," has been published online by The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature..http://www.deadmule.com/poetry/2009/01/scott-owens-book-of-days-a-chapbook/
Poems will be continued in future posts.

January Looks Forward and Back,
Feeds the Stove October’s Wood,
Saves the Ashes for April’s Garden

January wraps trees in sleeves
of ice, coats the ground in frost,
throws its shawl of morning mist
on field and lake and stream.
January plants sage and lavender,
costmary and mint, pulls up fingers
of crocus and daffodil,green
uds of forsythia, rose, spirea.
January’s voice is cold and coarse
–the silver moon, the blue sky,
the gray sky, the absinthe moon,
the empty trees, the trees filled
with cedar waxwings. January
wears out darkness sleeping late,
puts on morning’s half-white face,
speaks of what is bare and necessary.
It is dangerous to know the mind
of January.January is life
and death, the new born from the chest
of the old, half-formed eyes of flowers
forcing their way through tight skin
of limbs, mouths of bulbs tonguing
up through dirt,opening to earth
and sky and air of January.
**
February’s Air of Waiting

February, his feet by a fire,
warms the morning’s chill away,
huddles under horsehair, bearskin,
eats savory, spinach, and sweet
marjoram, cradles a book of days
in his hands,wearily scratches
in plans of days to come. Scratching
in ashes, February stokes the fire,
watches flames the color of day
speak, roar, sing their way
to dying, listens to the thick, sweet
sound of wood burning to skins
of black ash, dry, skinny
sticks, half-dead limbs scratching
against each other, green wood sweating,
snapping, spitting into the fire,
life consumed with eating away
its own body and lighting the days
of February’s interiors. Such days,
kept wrapped in thick skins
of house and cloak, await the sweet
sounds of newborn spring scratching
at windows, sun’s warmth firing
panes to melting, sweeping away
the ground’s cover of ice, sweetening
the air with labor’s harsh perfume. Today
February can only bank the fire,
gather limbs, hang skins
to dry, absently scratch
blades on whetstones, put the tools away.
Outside the world goes winter’s way,
hedges white with malignant sweetness,
limbs full of irritable scratching,wind howling
at the day,earth drinking its icy skin,
trees lit with frostian fire.
Sprout-kale, month-long day of waiting,
sweet season of keeping beneath the skin,
I will scratch my way from your consumptive fire.
**

March with Your Flowers Burning

Just as I had gotten things under
control again, you showed up,
with your head in the clouds,
your eyelids full of rain,
your cuffs of late snow,
your feet tracking mud,
you who refuse to be ruled,
you with your willow’s strand
of pearls, you with your fingers
sucking scilla, daffodil, crocus,
your nostrils stuffed with snot,
your cheeks puffed,
your lips dripping lullabies,
your rainbow-wicked smile,
you with your forsythia switch,
your many-voweled throat, your mind
like black ice, your hands always
open , the slap and plea, the cup
and howl, the easy lure,
the careless jangle of trees.
How could I hope to respond,
my arms grown thin, my eyes
winter-blind, my hands
unaccustomed to such change?
You were the one I dreamed of,
with your mouth full of promises,
your cheeks honey-smeared,
your hands around my balls.
**

Rush of April Coming In

Schizophrenic April rained the ceiling down
pulled up lamb’s ear and fennel columbine and sage
ran the radio outdoors the clouds transforming
the hills running mud my feet slippery wet
on steps sweating thick socks tracking criss
-crossed patterns of brown-yellow earth the architecture
of days sprouting green lines across the sky
running streams of water between brick beside the road
across the yard in widening pools of sunshine dripping
puddles beneath the trees cold fingers raking
the sky white gray blue or black and flowers blooming
anyway April’s cruelest joke not enough to stop
their show of colors only slightly mud-spattered
the way they clean themselves like cats in windows waiting
for mid-month to fling themselves open as mouths
to weather warming with winter’s burning away.