READING AND SIGNING: CHEROKEE LITERATURE

Reading and Book Signing: Cherokee Literature in Appalachian Heritage .

(Please go to http://ncpoetlaureate.blogspot.com/2009/11/appalachian-heritage-special-cherokee.html to see the post on this special issue.

The Museum of the Cherokee Indian will host a reading and book signing Sunday afternoon January 17 from 2-4 pm in the Multi-purpose room of the Education and Research Center. Michell Hicks, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, will introduce Cherokee writers featured in the new issue of AppalacAppalachian Heritage: A Literary Quarterly of the Appalachian South. This issue features works by twenty-one members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, with cover artwork and illustrations by Sean Ross, (EBCI.) Featured author of the issue is Robert Conley (Cherokee Nation) who is also Distinguished Sequoyah Professor at Western Carolina University and keeps office hours at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian as well.

This volume is the largest collection to date of contemporary literary efforts by members of the Eastern Band, and includes poetry, prose, essays, stories from oral tradition, and artwork. The Editor, George Brosi of Berea Kentucky, will attend the event, where Conley will read from his work. Authors will be available to sign copies, which will be sold through the Museum Store at $8 each.

ABOVE THE FROSTLINE - NEW AND SELECTED POEMS

Congratulations to my mentor and my friend, Nancy Simpson. Her book, Living Above the Frostline – New and Selected Poems, will be published by Carolina Wren Press, Durham, NC.
 Nancy’s poetry collection spans thirty-two years and is the first book chosen by Kathryn Stripling Byer for Carolina Wren’s Laureate Series.

For over thirty years, Nancy’s poetry has been published in the best literary magazines. Early on in her writing career, Nancy published two books, Night Student and Across Water. But Nancy, working at the time as a special needs teacher, was also quietly dedicating herself to other writers in her home area of western North Carolina. She took on the leadership of the writing organization, NCWN West, and she taught writing and poetry in night classes at Tri-County Community College.

Before she knew it, the years had flown and she had not published another book. When she retired from her job, she put her efforts into a new manuscript. Through family tragedies and health problems she endured, never wavering from her goal of publishing a complete collection of her poetry.

This book is a landmark, in a way. We all know that youth reigns in this country. Older men are revered for their achievements, but often women over fifty are dismissed, no matter how talented or special their work. That is why I applaud Carolina Wren Press and Kathryn Stripling Byer for choosing this book to publish as the first in the Laureate Series.

Osondu Booksellers merges with Blue Ridge

January 2010 Calendar

January 2nd-23

50 % off all books sale at Osondu Booksellers on 184 North Main Street.

Monday, January 18th

@ 7:00 pm: Non-fiction Book Club @ Osondu’s on 184 N. Main St.

Tuesday January 26th

@ 7:00 pm: All Gender All Genre Book Club @ Osondu’s on 184 N. Main St

Jan. 26-28

Blue Ridge @ 152. S. Main St. will be closed for integrating and a face-lift.

Friday, Jan. 29th

Come in and have a cup of tea or coffee, browse the books and say hello to some new and some familiar faces. This is the beginning of a great bookselling team. Magazines, newspapers and the café will all be fresh and fabulous.

ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE

Best selling writer and poet, Robert Morgan wrote the introduction to

Echoes Across the Blue Ridge

Other North Carolina authors have endorsed the collection including Lee Smith and more comments are forthcoming.


NCWN West Program Coordinator Kathryn Stripling Byer, Thomas Rain Crowe, Steven Harvey and Bettie M. Sellers were asked and they generously conributed their work for the anthology.
The book is dedicated to the memory of our Appalachian ballad poet
Byron Herbert Reece.


Other contributors who have work forthcoming in Echoes Across the Blue
Ridge:

Ellen Andrews
Richard Argo
Glenda Barrett
Glenda Beall
Jo Carolyn Beebe
Janet Benway
Joan Thiel Blessing
Rachel T. Bronnum
John T. Campbell
Gary Carden
Nancy Sales Cash
James M. Cox
Paul Donovan
Robert Edward Fahey
Jayne Jaudon Ferrer
Debora Kinsland Foerst
Joyce Foster
Karen Gilfillan
Gerri Wolfe Grady
Lana Hendershott
Eugene Hirsch
Sam Hoffer
Karen Paul Holmes
Tom Hooker
Kitty Inman
Carl Iobst
George Ivey
Mary Michelle Brodine Keller
Eileen Lampe
Blanche Ledford
Brenda Kay Ledford
Susan Lefler
StarShield Lortie
John Malone
Gail Maye
Marshall McClung
Jennifer McGaha
Mary Lou McKillip
Dick Michener
Maren O. Mitchell
Janice Townley Moore
Clarence Lee Newton
Arnie Nielson
Nancy Purcell
Betty Jameron Reed
William V. Reynolds
Estelle Rice
Mary Ricketson
Judy Roney
Rosemary Royston
Peg Russell
Linda M. Smith
Susan Snowden
Dorothea Spiegel
Wendy Richard Tanner
Carole Richard Thompson
Shirley Uphouse
J.C. Walkup
Cecily Hamlin Wells
Eleanor Lambert Wilson
Charlotte Wolf
Jane J. Young

Congratulations to Philip Sampson of Young Harris, Georgia whose photograph was chosen for the cover.
Katja Holmes formatted the manuscript and designed the book and the cover.

After release, this book will be available to book stores and individuals by contacting
Glenda Beall - writerlady21@yahoo.com

Check here later for pre-order options.

Here is Why it Takes Forever to Get Your Book Published

If anyone wonders why it takes months and sometimes more than a year to publish a book, please read this post. The author is Debra Dixon  of Bellebooks which published Maggie Valley, NC author, Kathryn Magendie's
novel, Tender  Graces.  I've followed Kathryn's blog as she wrote her first book, and kept her readers up to date on her publishing process.

On the post titled Why Does it Take So Long to Publish a Book, Debra gives us a list that is mind boggling and opens eyes to why it takes forever, after a writer finishes a manuscript, to get it into the hands of the reader.

Makes me even more appreciative of the work being done by Nancy Simpson and other members of NCWN West as we put together what promises to be an excellent anthology of work by writers living in and inspired by the southern Appalachian Mountains.

CLARENCE NEWTON WILL READ AT "COFFEE WITH THE POETS"

Coffee with the Poets was cancelled for Wed. the 13. CWP will meet on Wednesday, January 20 at 10:30 p.m. at Phillips and Lloyd Books in Hayesville, NC.

Clarence Newton of Hiawassee, Georgia will be the featured reader at Coffee with the Poets. Clarence puts both humor and wisdom into his writings. Once a guest writer for several newspapers, he has turned his love of writing toward poetry. He has studied under local poets Nancy Simpson and Betty Sellers . After a long career in aviation, Clarence now finds inspiration in the things of retirement, fishing, gardening, birding ect.

Please come for a morning of reading pleasure on Wednesday, January 13^th. Clarence will be followed by an open mic, an opportunity for anyone who would like, to read and share their work. Coffee with the Poets is sponsored by Netwest and hosted by Phillips and LLyod Book Shop on the square in Hayesville North Carolina. Coffee, tea and morning pastries are served for a small fee by Crumpets Dessertery.

CLOTHES LINES BOOK SIGNING

Local writers Nancy Sales Cash, Celia Miles (standing), Peg Russell, Brenda Kay Ledford, and Blanche Ledford (from left) whose work appeared in CLOTHES LINES attended a book signing on December 12, 2009 at the Curiosity Shop in downtown Murphy, NC. They thank all who attended to make the event a success.

NAZIM HIKMET POETRY FESTIVAL CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Nazim Hikmet Poetry festival competition is now open. The closing date is Feb. 19, so begin to think about the poems you wish to submit. For more information about the Festival, please go to www.nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org. I'd like to see some of our Netwest members entering this contest.

The second annual Nâzım Hikmet Poetry Festival will be held on Sunday, April 18, 2010 in Cary, North Carolina. As we bring together poets and poetry lovers, participation of area poets will be an essential part of this Festival. Interested poets are invited to submit their poems by Friday, February 19, 2010. The selected poems will be published on-line at the Festival web site as well as in the Festival Chapbook, and the poets will be invited to read their winning poems and introduce their poetry at the Festival. Each finalist will receive an award of $100. Last year's winning poems can be found at the festival web site.The 2009 festival chapbook is available at Amazon.com.

GENERAL RULES:

Deadline: Entries received by Friday, February 19, 2010 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 in English.

(*) The selected poems will be published on-line at the Festival web site as well as in the Festival Chapbookl. By submitting their poems, the poets grant NHPF all rights to publish the poems at these venues.

(*) After the festival, the chapbook will be available for purchase at amazon.com. The proceeds from the chapbook sales will be used to support future festivals.

(*) The poets will retain copyrights of their poems.

Selection & Notification

(*) Submitted poems will be evaluated anonymously.

(*) The contact information provided by the poets will not be disclosed to other individuals or organizations.

(*) The poets will be notified of their poem’s status by March 22, 2010.

POETRY SELECTION COMMITTEE:

John Balaban, Professor of English, Poet-in-Residence, NC State University

Kathryn Stripling Byer, 2005-2009 NC Poet Laureate

Greg Dawes, Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, NC State University

Joseph Donahue, Senior Lecturing Fellow, Department of English, Duke University

Jackie Shelton Green, Piedmont Laureate

Hatice Örün Öztürk (ATA-NC Representative), Associate Professor, Department of ECE, NC State University

ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS:

This event is organized by the American Turkish Association of North Carolina (www.ata-nc.org )

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

Contact: contact@nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org