WRITERS' NIGHT OUT

WRITERS’ NIGHT OUT

Brenda Kay Ledford will read her poetry at Mountain Perk Coffee House in Hiawassee, GA on Friday, August 13.

“Writers’ Night Out” begins at 7:00 p.m. with Ledford’s reading. An open microphone follows for people who wish to read their work.

A native of Clay County, NC, Ledford’s work reflects her Appalachian heritage. She recalls her Hayesville High School English teacher, Mrs. Josephine Thurman, encouraged students to write what they know.

Ledford’s poem, “Lake Chatuge,” received the 2010 honorable mention award from Georgia Poetry Society. Her poem was published in the societies’ anthology, The Reach of Song.

She’s a member of Georgia Poetry Society, Byron Herbert Reece Society, Appalachian Writers’ Association, North Carolina Writers’ Network, North Carolina Poetry Society, and listed with A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers.

Her work has appeared in Our State, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Appalachian Heritage, North Carolina Humanities, Broad River Review (Gardener-Webb University), Chicken Soup For the Soul, Country Extra, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, and other publications.

Ledford received third place from the North Carolina Press Association for Feature Writing in 1999. She also won the Paul Green Award from North Carolina Society of Historians for her three poetry chapbooks, Patchwork Memories, Shewbird Mountain, and Sacred Fire. Her books are available at the John C. Campbell Folk School Craft Shop, Phillips & Lloyd Bookshop and online at: http://www.amazon.com/.

Finally, those interested in participating in the open microphone, may sign up at “Writers’ Night Out.” Each person has three minutes to read prose or poetry. The event is free and open to the public. It also includes musical interludes.

Mountain Perk Coffee House is located at 195 Main Street next to Mull’s Motel in Hiawassee, Georgia. Come early for a light dinner. The café features espresso and other coffee drinks, smoothies, sandwiches, and sweets.

For more information, contact Mountain Perk owner, Mary Lawrence at: (706) 896-9385, or “Writers’ Night Out” coordinator, Karen Paul Holmes at: (404) 316-8466, or kpaulholmes@gmail.com.

NC Writers' Network West Will Celebrate the Publication of Echoes Across the Blue Ridge.

The big publication party will be held at City Lights Book Store,

Sylva, North Carolina,

August 8, 2010, 5:00 pm.

NC Writers Network West Program Coordinator

Kathryn Stripling Byer

will host this event.

My heart wants to celebrate our mountain writers.

I hope to see you there.

--Nancy Simpson

Netwest Has Lost a Loyal and Active Member

Our deepest sympathy goes out to Judy, wife of Richard Speir Argo II, age 66, CWO 3, Coast Guard, Retired, who died July 8, 2010, at home in Murphy,NC of cancer. Richard was a long-time member of Netwest.

Born February 21, 1944, in Tampa FL, the first of two children, to Richard and Ann Argo, he was a gifted athlete and a man of many talents.

Richard joined the Coast Guard in 1962, after high school graduation. His career spanned over twenty years with duty stations up and down the East coast and Gulf region, and Marcus Island. He was trained as a boatswain mate, then rose through the ranks to captain his own ship, The US Coast Guard Cutter Kennebec. He retired in 1983, then attained a BA degree at Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA.

He and his wife, Judy, moved back East, where Richard enjoyed time as a white water raft guide on the Ocoee and Nantahala rivers. In 1994, Richard and Judy hand-built a cord wood house in the Hanging Dog Community in Cherokee County.

A man who believed in keeping fit, Richard entered the sports events in the Senior Games. He cross trained in biking, swimming, tennis, jogging, and kayaking. He won medals in swimming and tennis. On the grueling 700 mile North Carolina Bike Tour, From Murphy to Manteo, Richard rode his 12 speed Huffy amongst the high speed racing bikes of others. Because he had ridden and trained for hours on the mountain roads, he pedaled right past some of those fancy bikes going across Chunky Gal Mountain and beyond.



Richard was an active member of NC Writers Network West. He taught writing locally, read publicly and for many years led The NCWN West Prose Critique group until he had to resign due to his illness. He won awards for his literary work in the Senior Games, published short stories in Moonshine Review, Lights in the Mountains, and the new anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge. Although his poetry was not as well-known as his short stories and essays, an award winning poem was published here on the Netwest Writers site.

Richard loved telling stories. He loved old jokes, making people smile, and all kinds of music. He quietly showed his compassion for others. His passion for environmental concerns revealed a caring for his fellow man, particularly in the sustainable house he built.

He was cremated, and asked that his ashes be scattered on the Outer Banks of NC. Richard did not want a memorial service, but requested that his family and friends plant a tree in his memory.

Richard’s essence seemed captured in the following poem sent by his friend Mary Ricketson during his illness:

I’m calling good vibes
speaking to the trees
asking the sun
and all the earth
to hold my friend close
impart faith and courage
while time is uncertain
to lend wisdom
when time comes
to chart a course.

(Most of this post comes from the obituary for Richard written by Mary Ricketson)


Read Richard's essay on critique .

Our members who wish to send condolences to Judy Argo will find Richard's address on our membership list. If you need further information, please contact glendabeall@msn.com .

ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE: Rosemary Royston

For the next couple of weeks, I will be featuring selected authors from ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE on my Here, Where I Am blog.

The first author is Rosemary Royston. Please drop by and enjoy!

Quest for Publication

Beginning novelists looking to get published, I recommend you follow Pat Meese Davis' blog, http://novelistapproach.blogspot.com/ as she takes the steps you will need to make on your quest for publication. Pat's blog is new, only three posts so far, but that is why I think it is time to start following Pat who is looking for an agent for her Young Adult novel. Comment on your trials and errors in finding an agent. Your remarks may help others.

Pat is a native of Brevard, NC who lives in Pennsylvania where she has earned her PhD. She is a writer who has spent all her time writing, and is now ready to take the next steps.

Comment on your thoughts about what Pat is doing to get her book out there.

Coffee With Poets: Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

On Thursday, July 15, Coffee with the Poets at City Lights in Sylva will feature guest Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin, a business writer and editor by vocation. She writes for a variety of print and online publications on business topics, and has been co-editor or co-author of several business books, including two winners of the Project Management Institute’s literature award. On the avocation side of the ledger, her poetry has been published in The Nomad, the Atlanta Review, and Appalachian Heritage, in the anthologies Tree Magic (SunShine Press, 2004), The Gift of Experience (Atlanta Review, 2005), Immigration, Emigration, Diversity (Chapel Hill Press, 2005), and The Moveable Nest (Helicon Press, 2007). She was a finalist in the Atlanta Review’s poetry competition in 2000 and 2005, and in the 2000 Greensboro Awards. Her chapbook, Patriate, won the Longleaf Press Open Chapbook Competition and was published by Longleaf in 2007. She lives and works in the forks of Blackbird Branch on the eastern slope of Cullowhee Mountain.

All Netwest members are cordially invited to attend. City Lights' Coffee With Poets is held on the third Thursday of each month.

North Carolina Literary Review: NC Appalachian Literature

The new issue of NC Literary Review will be out at the end of this month. Here is a list of contents for our Appalachian feature. A reception will be held at Malaprop's Bookstore on August 14. Please join us.

Margaret Bauer, Editor

http://www.nclr.ecu.edu/

NORTH CAROLINA APPALACHIAN LITERATURE
The Land Breakers, a novel excerpt by John Ehle art by Will Henry Stevens
"wonderfully simple, yet complex": The Mountain Novels of John Ehle, by Terry Roberts art by Will Henry Stevens
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Love Affairs and Family Feuds in the Smoky Mountains, an Ehle review by Jonathan Yardley

Lion on the Hearth, a novel excerpt by John Ehle

Cry Naked, Purple Hands, Dew, and Listening to Clouds, four poems by Robert Morgan art by Will Henry Stevens

Robert Morgan’s Peripheral Vision: "the point beside the point" in The Hinterlands, by Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt== photography by Horace Kephart

As If She Listened, a poem by Laurence Avery photography by Horace Kephart

"We’re still here": Eddie Swimmer on Cherokee History, Life, and Outdoor Drama in the Appalachian Mountains, an interview by Gina Caison

The Gathering, a poem by Joyce Compton Brown

"what I feel I was put on the planet to do": An interview with Wayne Caldwell, by Jerry Leath Mills

Looking Back into the Undergrowth, a review of Wayne Caldwell’s two novels, by Chris Green

Ron Rash’s Serena and the "blank and pitiless gaze" of Exploitation in Appalachia, by Joyce Compton Brown with Mark Powell photography by Horace Kephart

"Look here, world, look who this woman [is]": Silas House Interviews Pamela Duncan, introduced by Joyce Compton Brown

Drought Days, a poem by Kathryn Stripling Byer art by Noyes Capehart

Hook and Eye, a short story by Kathryn Stripling Byer photography by Rob Amberg

Mountain Tunes and Tartini Violin Concertos, a review of Julia Nunnally Duncan’s new novel, by Mae Miller Claxton
Into a Strange Country, a review of Tony Earley’s Jim sequel, by Tim Edwards art by Will Henry Stevens

Praise Poem for Our Mountains, a poem by doris davenport photography by doris davenport

Resplendent, Ingenious Forms, a review of Fred Chappell’s new poetry collection, by John Lang art by Will Henry Stevens

The Poetry of Southern Appalachia, a review by Jeffrey Franklin photography by Rob Bousa

Sorry, a poem by Michael McFee art by Will Henry Stevens

Controlled Burn, a short story by Charles Dodd White photography by Rob Amberg

A Cozy Conspiracy, a review of Kenneth Butcher’s The Middle of the Air, by Brett Cox photography by Rob Amberg

Breaking Line, creative nonfiction by Christopher Wrenn photography by Rob Amberg

Blind Faith, the 2009 Doris Betts Fiction Prize story, by David McGuirt

Updated Information on Mountain Writers in Waynesville, NC

Mountain Writers meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm at Blue Ridge Books, WaynesvilleNC.

Call 828-235-2003 for more information. MountainWriters@charter.net

http://www.mountainwritersnc.com/Mountain_Writers_of_North_Carolina/Welcome.html



Our next meeting will be a special joint meeting of Mountain Writers of NC and Netwest Mountain Writers and Poets. Don’t miss “Lunch with the Authors” on July 13th. We’ll meet at noon for lunch at the New Happy Garden restaurant in the Waynesville Shopping Plaza close to Staples.
Mark your calendar for the Mountain Writers annual picnic. August 21 is the tentative date. That will take the place of the August meeting.