BLUE RIDGE WRITER'S CONFERENCE

Glenda Beall, Brenda Kay Ledford, Bob Grove, and Carol Smucker attended the 14th annual Blue Ridge Writer's Conference at the Arts Center in downtown Blue Ridge, Georgia on April 2.

Robert Lee Brewer, senior editor of WRITER'S MARKET and POET'S MARKET, spoke about marketing your work and launching your career.

Scott Owens, editor of "Wild Goose Poetry Review," spoke about writing prompts and online journals.

C. Hope Clark, editor of the website, "Funds for Writers," was one of the speakers.

Celia Miles, co-editor of CHRISTMAS PRESENCE and CLOTHES LINES, attended the conference.

Diana Smith and Jo Carolyn Beebe

Cowan's Book Nook of Blue Ridge, GA sold books for the authors.

WORDS ANTHOLOGY

Tom Davis, editor and publisher of Old Mountain Press, recently released WORDS, a Poetry and Prose Anthology. Brenda Kay Ledford's poem, "Reach of Words," appeared in this collection. Her works have been included in all 15 Old Mountain Press anthologies. Blanche L. Ledford' short story, "Fainting Words," was included in WORDS. Barbara Ledford Wright' essay, "Fruit of Our Words," also appeared in this collection. Only writers previously published in Old Mountain Press were eligible to submit to WORDS, or persons recommended by these contributors. Writers with works in this anthology include: Jim Clark, Celia Miles, Nancy Dillingham, Al Manning, Debra Elramey, C. Pleasants York, Ed Cockrell, Tom Davis, Jo Barbara Taylor, Dr. Lynn Veach Sadler, Mark Harden, and others. Marian Kaplun Shapiro, thrice Senior Poet Laureate of Massachusetts, volunteered to judge the contest for this anthology. Mark E. Harden's poem, "Gun Line," won the Best of the Best Award. Honorable mentions included: Michael Colonnese, David Treadway Manning, and Jerome Norris. For more information about WORDS, go to: www.OldMountainPress.com.

Another Review for Living Above the Frost Line Forthcoming

I am very pleased to share that my review of Living Above the Frost Line was just accepted by Prairie Schooner! Let's hear it for Nancy's great work, which will be recognized in this wonderful journal. If you are not familiar with Prairie Schooner, check them out here: http://prairieschooner.unl.edu/index.html. As soon as I know the actual publication date, I will share. Join me in congratulating Nancy on her great work being reviewed by such a great journal.

WHAT DAVID CHORLTON SAYS ABOUT NANCY SIMPSON'S POETRY COLLECTION

Living Above the Frost Line: New and Selected Poems

By Nancy Simpson. Reviewed by David Chorlton.

Living Above the Frost Line: New and Selected Poems, by Nancy Simpson, 2010, Carolina Wren Press, 108 pp., paper, ISBN 978-0-932112-61-3, $15.95. Reviewed by David Chorlton.

This is not a book of poetry which grabs its reader’s attention with spectacular lines and extroverted virtuosity, rather a more contemplative one. While the language is generally uncomplicated, it has momentum and holds interest with a grasp of concrete imagery. The virtues in Nancy Simpson’s works include restraint and humility, as well as being firmly set in natural surroundings; for example, "On a Mountain in an Unfinished Cabin" (in the opening section with poems from 1977-81) ends with this stanza:

I am among the living.

So many trees,

I make an agreement with leaves,

acting silly, singing-

Give me all your oxygen,

I’ll give you CO2.

Wegia is pleased. It rains.

We watch the sun set as if visible.

While many of these poems grow from the details of daily life, such as waiting at the mailbox or watching for "Carolina Bluebirds" and noting the date they arrive (December 3rd), there is frequently an underlying drama not far away. "The Wreck" is short and well paced in providing the information that leads from:

Witnesses saw it all, heard the crash,

the speeding blue Camaro stopped dead

at Pinelog Bridge. Sam Beck insists

he saw a man fly through the windshield,

to:

Something in me moving fast

wants to fly out through my eyes

like a body thrown free of the wreck.

One of the later poems, describing a walk around Knowles Lake with a granddaughter, highlights the balance of an everyday life within its radius of personal concern and the natural world. In this case, the walkers see a turtle heading into traffic and are able to steer it to safety. We care for what we can, while greater forces often conspire to leave a feeling of despair.

"Voices from the Fringe" is the most ambitious poem in the book, interweaving public and personal aspects of the Gulf War. The way war slips into our lives far from the battleground itself is first expressed when news of hostilities beginning is announced on the radio between music by Mozart and Haydn. "Who wants war?/I’ve only just started to stop/grieving over the last one." The poem reads meaningfully as a journal of the war and voices raised against it domestically. For all the implicit horror, the author remains steady and focused as she quotes Norman Schwarzkopf ("We are softening the battlefield") and notes that "Today President Bush wants us to pray." A daughter tells her mother not worry, and after a message from her son a mother says "That was/the last I heard from him." Then confetti, not bombs, falls amid the fervent cheering in Manhattan.

So much of this book hinges on considering what is happening on a vast scale as opposed to the scale of an individual’s life. "Small Scope" is a gentle enough poem, layering observations from the spreading asphalt to a skunk’s carcass on the road to a walk along the beach, and concluding with "I see myself/and all of us, minute." It is interesting to find one of the more dramatic beginnings to "This Night": "Insomnia is a mountain and grief/is a lion gripping my throat." This time it is mourning that occupies the subconscious without letting go. Throughout, each small gesture points to a more universal one, and more than a tree is lost when an oak dies and something more is gained when the cicadas arrive.

Nancy Simpson is very good at showing her readers that looking around them will reveal more pleasures than expected, and yet she never leaves the mistaken impression that they live in an untainted or unthreatened world. Here is the ending of her reflection on "Network News," a poem with more than a dash of her folksy wisdom:

Would it be better to turn off

the set, refuse to hear, maybe

make up a lie or two of my own?

I have to make myself laugh

sometimes or go mad

and my gods help me do that.

It is satisfying to find a deserving poet well represented by this selection from more than thirty years of looking at her world and writing about it with heart.

Want to buy a copy from Carolina Wren Press?


http://carolinawrenpress.org/books-and-merchandise/poetry/living-above-the-frost-line


or on line at Amazon.com

Basic Blogging Terms

Not everyone is familiar with blogging terms, even some of us who have blogs.

Below are a few basic words used in the blogging world that might prove helpful.

BLOGGING

• Weblog- An online dated diary listing your periodic thoughts on a specific topic, often in reverse chronological order.

• Blog - short form for weblog

• Blogging - the act of posting on blogs

• Blogger - a person who blogs

• Blogosphere - The internet blogging community



BLOG COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS

• Index page - the front page fo the blog

• Header - the topmost part of the blog usually listing the blog title.

• Footer - the most bottom part of the blog usually listing navigation and copyright statements

• Sidebar - One or more columns along one or both sides of most blogs main page

• Categories - A collection of topic specific posts

• Post, Entry- individual articles that make up a blog

• Comments - enabling readers to leave their remarks

Spring/Summer Folk School Readings

Thanks to Linda Smith who organizes our readings at the John C Campbell Folk School. Mark your calendars now for upcoming spring/summer readings, which are the third Thursday of each month at 7 pm, Keith House.

April 21 - Nancy Simpson and Peg Russell
May 19 - Karen Holmes and Carole Thompson
June 16 - Brenda Kay Ledford and Glenda Beall
August 18-Bob Grove and Glenda Barrett

OOPS, Corrected Janice's website below. Try again

Janice Holly Booth - author who travels solo

On my last trip to Wildacres Retreat I met an interesting writer, Janice Holly Booth, at dinner. She told me she had written a book titled Only Pack What You Can Carry, and it was going to be published by National Geographic. She was expecting that day, by mail, her business cards with her book website.


“I’ll give you one when I get them,” she said. Janice was pretty cool, I thought, for someone who had a first book coming out from a major publisher.

The next time I saw her, she was a bit more excited about her new success, but I feel that Janice is one who takes most things in stride. After all, she has dined with a Prince.

She insisted I should travel solo, even though I’m a good bit older that she. Janice said you miss so much when you are traveling with others. I am looking forward to reading her book and learning more about her life and her travels. But more than that, I want to read about her four secrets to a fulfilling life.

In the evenings at Wildacres during The Gathering, writers share some of their work in the lobby of the lodge. Janice did not read from her book, but she had written an essay about writing and publishing her book. It was clever and humorous. She caught everyone’s attention. You can read more of this saga on her blog. Go to

http://www.janicehollybooth.com/ and click on Blog at the top of the page.

Janice told me the book was not only about travel, but what she had learned in her travels. Her amazing adventures that took place all over the world intrigued me. I felt a twinge of envy that I had not had that confidence when I was young – that self assurance that I could do whatever I want.

After meeting Janice last fall, I continued to think about her and her book. I even wrote a post about her for my blog, but never published it. Now, I’ve heard from the author again and I look forward to seeing her at Wildacres in May. I plan to ask her to bring a copy of Only Pack What You Can Carry, signed, of course.

An editorial synopsis from the National Geographic Book Division:
“…this unique book about personal growth through solo travel goes a step beyond Eat, Pray, Love, and Under the Tuscan Sun. Where these well-loved bestsellers help women dream, Booth’s book is just this side of Gonzales’s Deep Survival. A book of depth and wisdom, Only Pack What you Can Carry helps readers act and change their lives through solo travel and by addressing four key concepts: solitude, introspection, courage and commitment. In a lively and confidential tone with page-turning personal anecdotes that range from a week galloping across Ireland “jumping everything in sight” to learning how to master the art of the flying trapeze, she shares her secrets to a fuller life through solo travel with every other ‘average person who has a full time job, doesn’t have enough time to get everything done in a day, and has to make sacrifices and save money in order to travel.’ Through more than a decade of incredible self-challenges, observations, and discoveries she shows how crucial it is to find time alone—whether traveling to the park down the street or ziplining through the Costa Rican rain forest—to bring refreshing and vital dimension—and growth potential— to your life.”

Macon County Public Library Features WCU Literary Festival Authors

The Franklin Public Library will host three events celebrating the WCU Literary Festival that occurs during the first full week of April. I will be reading and discussing my book Coming to Rest on Sunday afternoon, March 27 at 2:00. Please go to this link to find more information about these events: http://www.fontanalib.org/pdfs/literary-festival-Franklin-2011.pdf.

Coming to Rest

1.

The Name

Because she’d not bury

the name with the dead child,

she made her surviving five children

swear they’d pass it on

to the first daughter born to them.

Another name for letting go.

Or holding on.

Another name for home.

2.

Birthday Ghazal

Why this old Persian form for today, of all days?

Why not sonnet or blank verse to help me take hold?

Down to the wire goes the season’s gold,

late this year, so long it took to take hold.

I don’t care that my days tumble down

to the compost pile. I want to look, to take hold.

Seize the day. Carpe Diem, if you like.

Bite down hard on the hook and take hold.

Down the creek float the leavings of what I once was.

Just a girl. Mostly waiting for luck to take hold.

Last night rain kept the roof busy scolding

me, wake up you dumb cluck and take hold.

I’ve already answered my e-mail, my voice

mail, my snail mail. My real work? To take hold.

Kathryn died too young. Age twelve. Now she tolls

in the dust of my name: to come back, to take hold.

3.

Sinking

The aunt I was named after died too young.

She sank at age twelve

into diabetic pneumonia. Then coma,

too pretty a word for her dying. Why cling

to another old form like this no-holds-

barred song for my aunt who died too young

to care about romance? What good is a song

now, to her? Or to me? Maybe I’ve grown too old

for such artifice, as if I’m trapped in a coma

of middle-aged dullness. My tongue

slips on names. But not hers. But why dwell

on her death. So she died, much too young,

not all like an angel who could do no wrong,

not at all blonde & pretty as I had been told.

When she sank into that final coma,

she must have looked ugly. I can’t make this

villanelle sing, no matter what I’ve been told

about Kathryn, who died too young,

years before insulin, of diabetic pneumonia.

4.

Stuck

She smoothes her skirt and squints at me.

I don’t know what to say. Or why she’s come.

The clock’s stopped ticking on the wall. Back home

again, she sees what I see, same old creek

reflecting nothing but a sky where trees

fish with their lines of moss all day. Let’s thumb

a ride to town, she dares. Let’s make the phone lines hum

above these droughty fields. Now that I’m free

I’m getting out of here. She says she wants to hear

the latest gossip, wants to have a little fun.

She tells me everything that hangs around

too long gets stuck. I nod. I don’t dare

ask her why she’s here, this dust I’ve stirred from

sleep. This shell of light. This sullen hologram.

5.

Free

This nameless creek

almost obscured by shade

where she was last seen

by the camera lens

keeps rushing through me

as she hikes her skirt

and stands wanting to be

brave enough to walk

into the current,

sickly girl whose cropped

hair won’t blow

in the summer

wind, too short,

too short, she cries,

coming to rest

in the photograph.

New Poetry Contest

This year the Byron Herbert Reece Society is having its inaugural poetry contest. The contest is open to those in the following southern Appalachian states: GA, NC, VA, TN, WV, and KY. Byron Herbert Reece Society members, excluding board members, are eligible to participate. There is no theme for the contest, and poets should complete the entry form, send three unpublished poems along with the entry fee of $15 to P.O. Box 811, Young Harris, GA 30582 by May 2, 2011. The final judge is Jim Clark. The winner will receive $300 and will be announced and recognized at the June 4, 2011 annual meeting. For the entry form and details, visit the Society’s website at: http://www.byronherbertreecesociety.org/poetry_contest.htm.

Classes at the Writers Circle

The deadline for registering for Karen Holmes' class on learning techniques to improve your reading before an audience is Tuesday, March 15 midnight - send in your registration fee for one or both classes, or call 828-389-4441 to hold a place. This class is a two parter, but you can take one or both. The first class we learn what we can do to be a better reader or speaker, but the second class is to follow up on what we learned at the first class and see if we have improved. This is a very worth while class for all writers. Even if you feel you are already very good, (and don't we all?) I'm sure you will learn something that improves your reading. I look forward to learning how I can become a better reader and speaker.
One class - $30.00 both classes $50.00 - A big bargain.

Saturday, March 12, we enjoyed a delightful three hours with Estelle Rice, Netwest Member and writer of short stories and poetry, who taught us about the cumulative sentence and how to crack open our sentences to enrich our stories. She is just one of our local writers who is a student of writing, who never stops learning and sharing her knowledge with others.

If you have not been a student at Writers Circle, I hope you will click on www.glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com and see what is coming up in spring and summer; maybe you will plan to join us in our comfortable and casual atmosphere. We have fun in our classes and hope to see you soon at Writers Circle.

STILL CELEBRATING ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE

A note to authors who contributed their writing to ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE  from your editor, Nancy Simpson

ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains is almost one year old.  Thanks to Glenda Beall and her market team, the first printing quickly sold out.  The anthology was reviewed by Scott Owens and Helen Losse. It is now in its second printing and still selling. 

Today the anthology will be presented to members of the Appalachian Studies Association meeting at the University of Eastern Kentucky. Rosemary Royston, NCWN West Program Coordinator, a graduate of the Spalding University MFA Writing Program, was invited to read her scholarly essay, “Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Echoes of Emerson.”

I’ve had the good fortune to read a copy of Royston’s essay. I must tell you, Rosemary Royston celebrates poetry in the anthology, focuses on four specific poets, and compares specific poems to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay published in 1846,  “Transcendentalism.” 

Two poems by Glenda Barrett are celebrated and discussed: “Echoes” which inspired the anthology title, and “When the Sap Rises.”  Eileen Lampe’s poem “Dancer” is said to be “written in the vein of Dylan Thomas.” “I Hear the River Call My Name”  by Mary Ricketson and “ Progress” by Brenda Kay Ledford are celebrated and favorably discussed in Royston’s essay. 

Fellow authors, today around four o’clock, if your ears begin to burn, it may be because scholars are talking about our anthology. Get your copy out and read along.

Rosemary Royston lives in northeast Georgia. Her poetry has been published in The Comstock Review, Main Street Rag, Mom Writer’s Literary Magazine, Public Republic, and Dark Sky Magazine. Her chapbook was a finalist in the 2009 Jessie Bryce Niles chapbook contest, and she was the 2004 recipient of first and third place in poetry, Porter Fleming Literary Awards. Her poem-- Igneous or "Of Fire" won the 2010 Literal Latte Food Verse Contest. Rosemary Royston holds an MFA in Writing from Spalding University.  She is Vice President for Planning and Assessment and Chief of Staff at Young Harris College. She teaches creative writing at Institute for Continuing Learning and  will teach in 2011  at John C. Campbell Folk School and in the Writing Program at YHC.

Blue Ridge Writers' Conference - Blue Ridge, Georgia

MARK THIS DATE ON YOUR CALENDAR NOW! April 1 and 2
You don't want to miss the Blue Ridge Writers Conference in its fourteenth year.
The Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference is back for its 14th year, featuring literary agent Sally McMillan as keynote and speakers Robert Brewer, editor of Writers’ Market, Scott Owens, editor of Wild Goose Poetry Review, Jennifer Jabaley, 2010 Georgia Author of the Year in the YA category, and Hope Clark, editor of Funds for Writers website.

April 1 and 2, 2011. Please note a location change – this year the conference will be at the Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association in downtown Blue Ridge, Georgia.
For more information call 706-632-2144.
If you haven't attended this conference in the past, April 1 is the Friday night reception. Saturday, April 2, is the all day conference with workshops, etc. If you want to learn about publishing, this conference should be on your list of events for 2011.

Writers' Night Out and Janice Moore

WRITERS’ NIGHT OUT FEATURES JANICE MOORE, MARCH 18
--Karen Paul Holmes

Come, be part of Writers’ Night Out. This month, award-winning poet and Young Harris College associate professor of English, Janice Townley Moore, will read her poetry. The March 18 event at Green To Bean Coffee House in Hiawassee begins at 7 p.m. Those who’d like to share their own poetry or fiction can participate in the Open Microphone portion of the program, which follows the featured reader.

A native of Atlanta, Janice Townley Moore has lived in Hayesville, North Carolina, for many years. Her poems have appeared in such journals as The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Connecticut Review, Southern Poetry Review, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and numerous others. Among the anthologies that include her poetry are The Bedford Introduction to Literature, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, and The Southern Poetry Anthology: Contemporary Appalachia. In 2009 she won first place in poetry in the Press 53 Open Awards, an international contest. Last year she won first place in the Georgia Poetry Society competition.

Moore serves as the facilitator of a poetry critique group, meeting monthly at Tri-County Community College and sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network.

Writers’ Night Out, usually on the second Friday of the month at 7 p.m., has been changed to the third Fridays in March and April. Beginning on May 13, Writers’ Night Out will resume its normal schedule on the second Friday of each month. Green To Bean Coffee House is located at 538 Bell Creek Road in Hiawassee, next to the Humane Society Thrift Shop and across from McDonald’s. Come early to get a seat: The February event had standing-room only. The evening is free and open to the public. Light snacks and refreshments, including coffees from freshly roasted beans, are available for purchase. Those interested in reading at the Open Mic may sign up at the event. Each writer will have three minutes to read.

For more information, please contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com, or call Green To Bean at (706) 896-4524.

NCWN-West to be Represented at Appalachian Studies Association Conference

-Rosemary Royston

Greetings! I'm pleased to say that the NCWN-West will have a presence at the Appalachian Studies Association Conference which is being held at Eastern Kentucky University (March 11-13, 2011). Your program director (myself) will be presenting a paper entitled, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Echoes of Emerson. My paper examines the poetry of the following included in our anthology: Glenda Barrett, Mary Ricketson, Eileen Lampe, and Brenda Kay Ledford. The works of these poets echo the Transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson -- especially in regard to his 1846 essay, "Nature." In short, these poets and Emerson see nature as not a separate entity, but as part of the self. Nature heals, nature informs, and nature is to be revered, not destroyed. If you would like to read my paper, shoot me an email at rosemary28rr@gmail.com and I will send you a copy. I will be taking copies of the anthology with me.

In the meantime, happy writing!

A MESSAGE FROM NC POET AND WRITING INSTRUCTOR NANCY SIMPSON

Hello Fellow Writers and Students of Poetry Writing,

It’s becoming one of my busiest teaching years for me after all.  Choose a class, or at least please pass the info on to others who may be interested.

Thank you, Nancy Simpson

(1) Write Poems Your Reader Can "See"

at John C. Campbell Folk School. This probably will be my last week long poetry class at the folk school. It is intense for sure.  If you can afford to give yourself a week for writing and organizing your poetry, this is the class most likely to change your writing life.

April 10-16, 2011

Instructor: Nancy Simpson

Tuition: $546.00 (half price for local students)

Pre register now.  (828)837-2775 or 1-800 FOLK-SCH

(Class description)

Write Poems Your Reader Can "See"

Time to stop asking your reader to play a guessing game. Learn to put your poem on the page so that the reader gets the picture and says, "Yes, I see." Instruction covers how to encapsulate truth, emotion, and music in poems. Learn the two rules of poetry that cannot be omitted - not even in writing free-verse. Share your work and get helpful feedback; we'll also discuss publication. All levels welcome.

(Nancy Simpson with former student Monica Henson)


Note: This class only. TO MY FORMER POETRY STUDENTS,  I’m OFFERING YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH MY GUIDENCE DURING THE WEEK ASSEMBLING YOUR POETRY MANUSCRIPT.

(2)        POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP 
Beginning May 9th, 2011.

INSTITUTE FOR CONTINUING LEARNING AT YOUNG HARRIS COLLEGE

(Description) Workshop method

The focus will be on your poems. If you are a practicing poet and want to share your writing with other poets and get constructive comments, sign up. Each week you will bring copies of one of your poems to be read and discussed.  There will be instruction as we discuss your writing but no lecture. We will talk about the publication process. A  list of markets will be given. Poetry Writing Workshop will meet at Young Harris College, Institute for Continuing Learning   1:00-3:00 four weeks, for two hours each meeting.  May 9, May 16, May 23, June 6  (no class on Memorial Day.) Fee. $13.00

(3) A FREE POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP

 You are Invited to the second annual Blue Ridge Bookfest featuring forty authors.  When is the event? Friday May 20 and Saturday June 21 , 2011.

POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP WILL BE TAUGHT BY POET NANCY SIMPSON

 at 1:00 - 3:00 Friday May 20,  2011.

Other workshops and events will be held also.

Where is it held  in East Flat Rock near Hendersonville, NC just off I-26 on the campus of our hosts, Blue Ridge Community College. The space is abundant as is the parking. Map-It on website.   www.BlueRidgeBookfest.org WS(see

More info on classes taught by Nancy Simpson in fall, 2011 will be announced. One to one coaching will be available. Stay tuned.

Coffee with the Poets and Estelle Rice

Coffee with the Poets

--Glenda Beall

As spring begins, so does our new season for Coffee with the Poets at Phillips and Lloyd Bookstore on the square in historical Hayesville, NC. Come and enjoy a couple of hours with writers and poets, eat some goodies and have coffee or tea, and read your own original poem at open mic.

Members of Netwest will want to come and hear our dear friend and long time member, Estelle Rice, read her poetry. Estelle has been home-bound for a long time with an ailing husband, so we don't have the opportunity to hear her beautiful work very often. Hope to see you all there on Wednesday.

Estelle Darrow Rice, writer and poet from Marble, NC is the featured reader at Coffee with the Poets at Phillips and Lloyd Books in Hayesville, NC Wednesday, March 9, 10:30 AM. Rice is the author of a book of spiritual poetry, Quiet Times, available at Phillips and Lloyd books and from the author. The book is in its second printing.

The anthologies, Lights in the Mountains and Echoes across the Blue Ridge included work by Estelle Rice. Her short stories have been published in a number of magazines and journals. She says she writes light and often humorous fiction, but her poems contain more serious insight and meditations on life.

The public is welcome to this reading and there is no charge except for coffee and delicacies from Crumpett’s Dessertery offered at each gathering. Anyone who wants to bring an original poem is invited to sign up and read during the open microphone period.

The purpose of this event is to support poets and writers, to give them a forum to express themselves in verse, and to provide a pleasant and comfortable place to meet and share with others. It is also for anyone who enjoys poetry and wants to come and listen.

Coffee with the Poets is sponsored by NC Writers Network West. www.netwestwriters.blogspot.com.

Contact Glenda Beall, glendabeall@msn.com for more information.

Writers' Night Out

NEW DATES FOR WRITERS’ NIGHT OUT: March 18 and April 15--Karen Holmes

March 1, 2011 – Writers’ Night Out is becoming the place to be on a Friday night in Hiawassee! In February, 31 people filled Green To Bean Coffee House for fun, literature and music. Normally on the second Friday of the month, Writers’ Night Out will take place on the third Fridays in March and April at 7 p.m.
On March 18, the program features Janice Townley Moore, award-winning poet and Young Harris College professor. The April 15 event features prose writer, Ron Salzer of Hayesville, NC. Beginning on May 13, Writers’ Night Out will resume on the second Friday of each month.

Those who’d like to share their own poetry or fiction can participate in the Open Microphone portion of the program, which follows the featured writer’s presentation. Those interested in reading at the Open Mic may sign up at the event. Each writer will have three minutes to read.

Writers’ Night Out takes place at Green To Bean Coffee House at 538 Bell Creek Road in Hiawassee, next to the Humane Society Thrift Shop and across from McDonald’s. Come early to get a seat: The February event had standing-room only. The evening is free and open to the public. Light snacks and refreshments, including coffees from freshly roasted beans, are available for purchase.

For more information, please contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com, or call Green To Bean at (706) 896-4524.

# # #

Contest from Poetry Council of North Carolina

The annual Poetry Council of North Carolina contest is now open through May 31, 2011, for adult and student poets with a North Carolina connection. Rules for the 2011 competition are posted at http://www.poetrycouncilofnc.wordpress.com/.

Adult and student poets, as age appropriate, may enter the following categories: 1) Oscar Arnold Young Contest for a Book of Poetry;
2) Charles Shull Traditional Poetry;
3) James Larkin Pearson for Free Verse;
4) Ellen T. Johnson-Hale Light Verse;
5) Performance Poem to be judged during a live performance on Poetry Day, October 1st , at Catawba College;
6) Charlotte Young for Elementary School Students;
7) Carol Bessent Hayman for Middle School Students; and
8) Sam Ragan North Carolina Connection for High School Students; and Gladys Owings Hughes Family Heritage Contest for Free Verse. Questions about the contest and PCNC may be e-mailed to edcockrell@hotmail.com, or call Ed Cockrell, president of PCNC, at 919.967.5834.

Rosemary Royston's Award Winning Poem

Read Rosemary Royston's award winning poem HERE

Congratulations, Rosemary.

Writers Night Out Reminder

For the Hiawassee/Blairsville/Hayesville area: A reminder that our next Writers' Night Out will NOT be the second Friday in March, but will be the THIRD Friday, March 18. Featured reader is Janice Moore, award-winning poet and a professor at Young Harris College.

We had standing room only in February, so plan to arrive early to get your seats and drinks before we start. We will have more chairs due to our great turnout last month!

April's event will also be the third Friday, April 15, featuring Ron Salzer. In May, we'll be back to our usual second Friday -- May 13 with Robert Kimsey.

Thanks for your enthusiasm and support. This is becoming the "happening" place to be on Friday night in the mountains.

Writing Advice from Stephen King

--Rosemary Royston, Program Coordinator

A Netwest member recently loaned me her copy of Stephen King’s On Writing. Even though I’m not a fiction writer, I’m always ready to learn, and I’m also a huge Stephen King fan. In a nutshell, the book blew me away. It is a “memoir” of the craft of writing, and King makes no bones about how he feels about anything. Not only does the reader learn about King’s life as a child and what shaped him as a writer, but she also learns specifics on what makes a good sentence, good dialogue, and a strong character. The advice in this book is simply excellent, and because of King’s tone, I found myself laughing quite a bit. He is brutal, honest, and wastes no words (in fact, he detests adverbs). One tidbit I found most interesting, not being a fiction writer, is that King is not a fan of “plot.” In fact, he warns writers against having a plot from the beginning and instead encourages them to have a situation, and then let the characters take the situation to its next level. For me, this was quite surprising, as I had the idea that most fiction writers thought of a plot first, and then shaped the characters around it. Not so, at least for King. Whether you are a poet, memoirist, or fiction writer, you will learn invaluable advice from this book. Borrow it, beg for it, check it out of your local library. You will not regret it.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Guidelines for submitting articles and photos for CLAY COUNTY PROGRESS "Sesquicentennial Souvenir Edition:

Use word document program.

E-mail: publisher@claycountyprogress.com

If you submit a photo, note at top of the article: "Photo attached." Also identify the photo with a cutline.

Include your name at the top of the article.

If the article has been published before, include the title of the publication in italics at the end of the story.

Length of article: 500 to 1,000 words.

Do not submit fictional stories. Articles should reflect on the county's history anytime throughtout the 15 decades.

A page will be devoted to poems about Clay County depending upon the number received.

Note in the subject line: 150th anniversary edition.

Photos should be sent in jpegs.

Stories will cover the following subjects: medical history, business community, railroad and transportation, agriculture, faith community, education/athletics, family life, government, organizations and service clubs, culture of Clay County such as the Peacock Playhouse and the John C. Campbell Folk School.

The Clay County Progress Sesquicentennial Sovenir Edition will be printed in August, 2011.

For more information, contact Becky Long, publisher, CLAY COUNTY PROGRESS at: 828-389-8431,

Mark Your Calendar Now

Quick Update-- Mark your calendar for NCWN's Spring Conference, Saturday, April 30, at UNC Greensboro. The fall 2011 conference date has not yet been set, but will be held in the Asheville area. As Program Coordinator, I plan on attending both events, and will put out a call for anyone who'd like to travel together to do so. Happy spring and may your pens fly across the page!

Submissions for Anthology of Love (in all its shapes and sizes)

(Photo by Catherine Beyler)

Jacar Press is calling for submissions for its poetry anthology on LOVE. What a large focus! Surely Netwest members can help Richard Krawiec out by submitting some poems. Go to the Jacar site, http://jacarpress.com/submit.html, to find out more about the submissions guideline.

At this very moment I love looking out

my window and seeing sunlight

on winterized rhododendron leaves.

Snow melting on brown grass,

weary winter trees readying themselves

for the bustin' out, the bursting forth,

the flourishing, the glorious full

in your face SPRING!

Meet Janice Moore, teacher and poet

by Paula Canup

The area in which we live is blessed, not only with natural beauty, but with a wealth of literary, musical, and artistic talent. Music has always been a part of these mountains. Now writers and artists come here to find inspiration and solitude for their work.

Janice Moore is one of those writers who moved here from Atlanta many years ago. She is now a full-time English professor at Young Harris College. In her spare time, she writes poems inspired by family, childhood, and life in the mountains. Her work has appeared in such prestigious publications as The Georgia Review, Shenandoah, and The Prairie Schooner. Her poetry chapbook, Teaching the Robins, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2005.

Janice began writing poetry as an English major in college. Friends and fellow writers offered support for her work. She also attended workshops at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta where guest poets offered helpful advice.

Her greatest challenge as a writer is finding time to write! Her job at YHC keeps her busy, but she often finds inspiration for a poem in the classroom.

What is Janice’s best advice for aspiring writers? “Do not get discouraged by rejection slips!” Every writer experiences them. She says that writers should just keep sending and sending to various publications, and eventually they will find one that will publish their work.

Today, Janice finds encouragement as a member of the North Carolina Writers Network west, better known as Netwest. This group sponsors monthly critique groups for both poetry and prose. Janice finds that the critique group, which she facilitates, motivates her to have at least one new poem ready each month to share with the group.

Recently, Janice’s poetry was included in a Netwest anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains, edited by Nancy Simpson and published by Winding Path Publishing.

CONGRATULATIONS TO NANCY SIMPSON

LIVING ABOVE THE FROST LINE New and Selected Poems by Nancy Simpson has been nominated for a 2010 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Poetry Award.

LIVING ABOVE THE FROST LINE New and Selected Poems by Nancy Simpson has been nominated for The Weatherford Poetry Award 2010.

A Big Thank You to Our Echoes Distributors



Lana Hendershott

I want to thank some members of Netwest who have been exemplary volunteers the past year. Our representatives in each county acted as distributors and marketers for Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, the anthology we published in 2010. They called on bookshops and gift shops throughout western North Carolina, South Carolina and North Georgia. They manned tables and signed books at festivals. We could not have already sold nearly 1000 books without the hard work and diligent record-keeping of these people. Each Representative originally received 100 books delivered to their homes.

Nancy Purcell from Brevard, NC sold out of her first shipment quickly and requested more books. She and the others also found each contributor in their county and gave them a promised free book. We sent out a list of people who donated money to Netwest for the printing of the book. Each of them received a free book.

Lana Hendershott is our Netwest Rep in Henderson County. She has done a remarkable job keeping book stores stocked and selling to members and others who wanted a copy of Echoes. If you live in Henderson County contact Lana if you know of any place that would like to carry Echoes Across the Blue Ridge.

Nancy Purcell

JC Walkup of Haywood County did a terrific job of selling Echoes. She brought copies to meetings of Mountain Writers, she sold books at the Farmers Market, and she keeps Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville supplied. She has also sold books in Asheville and filled orders for Malaprop’s.

These three Netwest members held readings in libraries, put articles in newspapers and did all they could possibly do to get our book out there. And they were successful. We can't thank them enough for giving of their time and making the extra effort required to make Echoes Across the Blue Ridge a big seller this past year.

JC Walkup from Canton, NC

The Power of Memorization

--Rosemary Royston

As your Program Coordinator, I challenge you this month to do some memorization. Like diagramming sentences, I believe memorization is becoming a lost art….(am I the only one who actually enjoyed diagramming sentences?). However, keeping our brains active throughout our entire lives is healthy, and I’m prompted to share this challenge with you in light of our upcoming poetry month (April). Wouldn’t it be wonderful to “testify” to the power of poetry by quoting a poem to your family and friends? I can still quote from memory the first poem that ever moved me – “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost (you may read it here: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19977). Frost’s poem was in the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and it was a very appropriate poem for the subject matter of the book – young men whose golden youth slipped away too fast and too violently.

If you recall your own days of primary and elementary school, there were other great pieces of literature or history that you likely memorized. Ms. Burton of Elbert County Elementary School (Georgia) made our entire fourth grade class memorize and recite Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. I can still recall the scent of the ink and the dampness of the paper from the mimeograph machine (where all the ink was purple, not black). I was overwhelmed and fearful of learning such a long and important speech, but the skills I gained from memorizing and then reciting to my classroom peers are skills I still use today. I’ve also found that when I get a line to a poem it helps for me to let it simmer. While I always carry a journal to jot things down, sometimes I force myself to memorize and hold onto the poem before doing so. I once wrote a poem in my head driving from Atlanta to Blairsville. I memorized it before putting it down on paper, and it’s one of my best poems.

So give your mind a workout. Memorize a poem or your favorite section of a prose piece. Share it with someone you care about. A good place to begin: Shakespeare’s sonnets. There’s a reason poems were written in rhyme…they were easier to memorize. Pick a sonnet (or write your own) for your Valentine and recite it – definitely a unique and touching gift!

GATHERING OF POETS IN WINSTON-SALEM

On April 9, Press 53 and Jacar Press (in Durham) are sponsoring a day-long gathering of poets, featuring workshops with Fred Chappell, Val Nieman, Alex Grant, among others, and a faculty reading in the afternoon, including Isabel Zuber. I will also be doing a workshop. This sounds like a lot of fun, so please visit http://www.press53.com/GatheringofPoets2011.html to view the schedule and sign up to participate in this collaborative effort for the cause of poetry in our state!

Read About What You Missed at AWP

If, like me, you did not make it to the AWP Conference in Washington D. C. this weekend, you might enjoy this site where a writer is sharing her experience there on her blog.
She is writing about the sessions she attends each day and I found her posts very interesting. Today she found that creative non-fiction is still a mystery to most writers.

Meet Glenda Beall

--by Paula Canup

Glenda Beall cannot remember a time when she didn’t love to write. “As a child, I loved getting school supplies so I could write on my fresh new paper,” she says. She began her writing career with stories about horses.

Now she writes poems, essays, and fiction inspired by family and neighbors. Her writing often revolves around themes of deep pain, loss, and injustice. In 2009, Finishing Line Press published her first poetry chapbook, entitled Now Might as Well Be Then. She has had personal essays, memoirs, and a short story published in various magazines. In addition, she writes newspaper articles and especially enjoys writing about unique people.

Glenda also maintains three different blogs online. Her many projects keep her busy, writing several hours each day. “The most difficult thing about being a writer,” she says, “is having the self-discipline to complete a project – to go back day after day and work on the same thing. Writing is fun, but rewriting is often not so much fun.” Another difficult aspect of being a writer is having to market her work – the business end of writing. Many excellent writers are never published because they don’t want to go the trouble of submitting their work.

Glenda is an active member of North Carolina Writers Network – west (Netwest). She helps with publicity for the organization and sometimes does articles about other writers in the group. Her best advice for aspiring writers is to get involved in such groups and participate in as many conferences and workshops as possible. Writers can learn a great deal from networking with other writers.

One of Glenda’s greatest accomplishments as a writer is teaching others to write. She holds classes in her home studio. Glenda especially loves encouraging older people to discover their writing ability. She believes all of us are continually changing throughout life, and we should never be afraid of new challenges. It’s never too late to make dreams come true!

Glenda contributed to Netwest’s latest anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains, edited by Nancy Simpson and published by Winding Path Publishing The book is available at local bookstores and on-line at www.ncwriters.org and at www.amazon.com.

Asheville Poet to Read in Hiawassee

This month, Writers’ Night Out features poet Tracey Schmidt in an evening of literary and musical entertainment. The event takes place at Green to Bean Coffee House in Hiawassee on Friday, February 11 at 7:00 p.m. Those who’d like to share their own poetry or fiction can participate in the Open Microphone portion of the program which follows Schmidt’s reading. Music will be provided by hammered dulcimer player Mary Sparks.

Schmidt’s first book of poetry, I Have Fallen in Love with the World, has just been released. She has taught creativity at Julia Cameron’s (author of The Artist's Way) Taos Creativity Camp and continues to teach in the Asheville area, where she now lives. Schmidt attended college in Atlanta, studying literature and photography. At the age of 19, she moved to Japan to live in a Buddhist monastery. Her spiritual practices there awakened a desire to return to the U.S. in search of a tradition that was as authentic and indigenous here as Buddhism has been in Japan. Her photography exhibit, The Awakening of Turtle Island: Portraits of Native Americans was the result. It opened in Atlanta for the Olympics and has toured over 16 museums in the southeast, including the Cherokee Museum of the American Indian. It will begin a national tour in 2012.

Writers’ Night Out takes place the second Friday evening of each month. Green to Bean Coffee House is located at 538 Bell Creek Road in Hiawassee, next to the Humane Society Thrift Shop and across from McDonald’s. Come early to get a seat: The event has been well attended by enthusiastic audiences. The evening is free and open to the public. Light snacks and refreshments, including coffees from freshly roasted beans, are available for purchase.

Those interested in reading at the Open Mic may sign up at the event. Each writer will have three minutes to read. For more information, please contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com, or call Green to Bean at 706-896-4524.

Poetry Contest from Carolina Wren Press

2011 Poetry Book Contest

Carolina Wren's next poetry book contest will take submissions with a deadline of 2/15/2011. The final judge for this contest will be Lee Ann Brown and we anticipate results in September 2011. The new postmark deadline is February 15, 2011. This will give you time to visit our booth at AWP and pick up something special from us (hint hint!).

Download full guidelines.

Blue Ridge Writers' Conference in its fourteenth year

Blue Ridge Writers' Conference will be held in Blue Ridge, Georgia just south of the Western NC line on April 1 and 2 .

Go to their beautiful website to see the schedule of presenters and to complete an application.
http://www.blueridgewritersconference.com/

Some Netwest members will be signing books at the Friday evening Reception which is a special Meet and Greet event for writers to meet the presenters.

Carol Crawford, one of the leaders of Netwest years ago, leads this conference each year and brings in outstanding speakers. This year Hope Clark of Funds for Writers will be on hand to personally give us some of the advice she doles out in her newsletter and on her blog. Scott Owens, poet from Hickory, will speak about online journals and talk from his experience as an editor.
For other presenters, visit the website.

Meet Maren Mitchell

Thanks goes to Paula Canup, who intereviewed several writers in NCWN-West and has provided transcripts. Featured today is Maren Mitchell.

Maren O. Mitchell started writing poems when she was eighteen-years-old. Friends and family encouraged her to keep writing. She eventually taught poetry at Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock, NC. Her poems have appeared in such publications as the Red Clay Reader, The Arts Journal, Appalachian Journal, and Journal of Kentucky Studies, and Southern Humanities Review.

A native of North Carolina, Maren has lived in France, Germany, and throughout the southeastern United States. She has worked as a proofreader, served as the house manager of a group home in Brevard, NC, and cataloged at the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site in Flat Rock, NC. She now resides in Young Harris, GA, with her husband and two cats.

Maren does not limit herself to poetry. She has a non-fiction manuscript, children’s stories, and essays she hopes to publish in the future. She has other interests besides writing. For the past twenty years, she has taught origami, the Japanese art of paper-folding.

“The most difficult part of writing is continuing to believe that what one has to say is worth hearing. Once you have that licked, stop worrying about what others might think, it’s a lot easier and much more fun,” says Maren. She writes one to two hours every day. She benefits from the feedback she receives from critique meetings with the North Carolina Writers Network – west (Netwest), Shallow Enders in GA, and one-on-one with individual writers. Her advice to aspiring writers is to “just write – at great length and in detail about all you know, wish to learn, and can imagine.”

Maren recently contributed to Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains, edited by Nancy Simpson and published by Winding Path Publishing. The book is available at local bookstores and on-line at http://www.ncwriters.organd at www.amazon.com.

THE COMMON CUP TV PROGRAM

Brenda Kay Ledford will appear on the program, "The Common Cup," over Windstream Communications' channel 4 cable television.

The program will feature Brenda for two weeks: Monday, January 31--Friday, February 11, 2011. The show airs three times each day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at: 9:30 a.m., 4:00 p.m., and 7:30 p.m.

Jim Geer is the host of "The Common Cup." He interviewed Brenda about her book, SIMPLICITY, that she co-authored with her mother, Blanche L. Ledford.

Windstream Communications is a local cable TV station that covers northern Georgia and western North Carolina. It also provides Internet and telephone service. For information, go to: www.windstream.com

Brenda and Blanche's book, SIMPLICITY, is available at the Book Nook, Blairsville, GA; Cherokee County Museum, Murphy, NC; and Phillips & Lloyd Book Shop, Hayesville, NC; or online: http://catawbapublishing.com/bookstore/book/179.

Coffee with the Poets, Hayesville NC

Coffee with the Poets meets the second Wednesday of each month at Phillips and Lloyd bookstore on the square in Hayesville, NC. This event, sponsored by NCWN West, features a local poet and opens the floor to anyone in the community who wants to read an original poem. Begun in 2007, Coffee with the Poets is popular with those who write poetry and those who come to listen and enjoy coffee, tea and delicacies from Crumpett’s Dessertery.

Featured on Wednesday, February 9 at 1:00 p.m., will be Linda Smith, poet and writer from Hayesville. Her poetry is inspired by the mountains that surround this area. Her inspiration also comes from memories of the past. Linda has published poems, essays and fiction in various anthologies such as Lights in the Mountains, Mountain Time, Sand, Sea and Sail, the Freeing Jonah series, and in Night Whispers and Looking Back. Her work also appears in the new anthology Echoes Across the Blue Ridge. Linda Smith is the new publicity chair for Netwest.

Coffee with the Poets provides a comfortable and casual atmosphere for meeting writers and poets and sharing news and information about literary events in Clay, Cherokee, Towns, Union and surrounding counties. Come and join us at Phillips and Lloyd books.