Writers' Night Out Features Newton Smith & Robert Lee Kendrick

Our 2017 Season Opens on April 14 in Blairsville, GA

You're invited to hear poems from two Ph.D. poets who have new, highly acclaimed books: Newton Smith will read from his Camino Poems: Reflections on the Way, and Robert Lee Kendrick from his Winter Skin. After the featured readers, there's an open microphone for anyone wanting to share their own poems or prose. All this takes place at 7 pm on April 14 at the beautiful Union County Community Center. Please note, we will be meeting in a first floor conference room this month rather than the ballroom, and the grill will not be open for dinner until May.

Of the two books, celebrated North Carolina author, Ron Rash, says: “Newt Smith’s spiritual journey is rendered with such attentiveness and fidelity that we become his fellow travelers. We too share the pain and effort but above all the wonder, and are reminded that in matters of the spirit the journey and destination can be one,” and “Robert Lee Kendrick’s poems transport the reader into the deep, dark souls of his narrators, but the elegance of his language gives the poems a rough, hard-earned grace.”

Smith, who lives in Tuckasegee, NC, received his Ph.D. from University of North Carolina. He's the treasurer of NCWN-West and a retired professor who taught creative writing, poetry and literature at Western Carolina University. He has been published widely in literary magazines including Southern Poetry Review, Carolina Quarterly, Ann Arbor Review, Poetry Review, Main Street Rag, and others. Smith now devotes his time to travel, gardening, Buddhist studies, mindfulness practices, and hiking in nature, especially in the Smoky Mountains. During his 2014 pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago he wrote a poem every day reflecting on the physical body, nature, and the spiritual.

Kendrick also has a Ph.D., earned from the University of South Carolina. He grew up in Illinois and Iowa, but now calls Clemson, South Carolina home, where he lives with his wife and their dogs. His poems have appeared in top journals, such as Tar River Poetry, Xavier Review, Louisiana Literature, South Carolina Review, The James Dickey Review, The Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, and elsewhere. His chapbook, Winter Skin, was released in 2016 by Main Street Rag Publishing.

Writers’ Night Out is a free monthly event, sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West. It takes place on the second Friday of the month, April through November. Open mic readers sign up at the door and can read for three minutes each. The Union County Community Center (map here) is located at Butternut Creek Golf Course at 129 Union County Recreation Rd., Blairsville, Georgia 30512, off Highway 129 near the intersection of US 76,  phone (706) 439-6092. Food is available for purchase in The View Grill, but please arrive by 6 pm to get served.  For more information, please contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com.

Clay County Historical and Arts Council and the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West co-sponsor a Poetry and Song Writing Lyric Contest for Clay County, NC Middle and High School

The Clay County Historical and Arts Council and the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West are please to announce that they are co-sponsoring a Poetry and Song Writing Lyric Contest for Clay County schools Hayesville Middle School and Hayesville High School. There are 3 prizes in each category at each school.

This contest began March 2017 and continues until April 5, 2017

The winners will be announced at the schools on April 17, 2017

A presentation will be given at the Hayesville High School Auditorium on April 25, 2017 at 6:30 PM

Rosemary R. Royston

Judges are:

Rosemary Royston—Poetry (NCWN-West Representative for North Georgia, and author of Splitting the Soil)

Rob Tiger—Song Writing Lyrics

Brian Kruger—Song Writing Lyrics

Wyatt  Esplain—Song Writing Lyrics

Contacts for this event are:

Reba Beck, Clay County Historical and Arts Council

828-361-5783

Joan Gage, North Carolina Writers’ Network-West

828-389-3733

North Carolina Poetry Society hosts 15th annual Spring Literary Festival at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC, on Mon., April 3, 2017and Walk into April, Sat., April 8, 2017 at Barton College, Wilson, NC

Western North Carolina poets participating in the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series will be reading their work at the 15th annual Spring Literary Festival at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee on Monday, April 3, 2017, at the A. K. Hines University Theater from 12-1 p.m.  Poets reading include Pat Riviere-Seel, the region’s Distinguished Poet for 2016-17, and four student poets: Mary Coggins, Benjamin Cutler, Jade Shuler, and Cathy Sky.  The student poets will read again at area public libraries on April 5, April 18, April 20, and May 8.  For further information, contact Pat Riviere-Seel.

Walk into April will take place on Saturday, April 8, 2017 at Barton College in Wilson, NC. The North Carolina Poetry Society and the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series again celebrate our state’s accomplished poets.  This year’s event features Bruce Lader and Beth Copeland as well as Amber Flora Thomas, Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for Down East.  The program runs from 9:45 until 3:00.  For more information contact Rebecca Godwin or Marty Silverthorne.
You can find the North Carolina Poetry Society's blog at:  http://www.ncpoetrysociety.org

Western Carolina's Annual Literary Festival, April 3-6, Features Billy Collins, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, and Others

Noble Netwest writers, April and May are fine times in writing in Appalachia.  In particular, you may not know about Western Carolina University's annual Literary Festival, this year from April 3-6.  All events are free and open to public on Western Carolina's campus (most in the University Center Theater, Thursday night keynote in the Coulter Recital hall.)  You can find schedule and details at www.litfestival.org. 

Mark your calendars now for WCU's Fifteenth Annual Spring Literary Festival, featuring keynote author Billy Collins, along with writers Stephen Clingman, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Robert Gipe, Michael Knight, Ray McManus, Carrie Mullins, Elena Passarello, Jamie Quatro, Sue Weaver-Dunlap, Paul Worley with WCU student writers, Gilbert-Chappel Distinguished Poet Pat Riviere-Seel with student poets (including Swain High teacher Ben Cutler and his student Jade Shuler), and special guest, photographer Roger May.  

We hope to see you there!

MEET TERRY KAY, AWARD WINNING AUTHOR

Meet Terry Kay, award winning author who is featured fiction writer at A Day for Writers, May 6, 2017, in Sylva, NC, Jackson County Public Library.

He is the author of seventeen published books, including the 2014 release of Song of the Vagabond Bird.

His other works include The Seventh Mirror, The Greats of Cuttercane, Bogmeadow's Wish, The Book of Marie, To Dance With the White Dog, The Valley of Light, Taking Lottie Home, The Kidnapping of Aaron Greene, Shadow Song, The Runaway, Dark Thirty, After Eli, The Year the Lights Came On, To Whom the Angel Spoke, as well as a book of essays, Special K: The Wisdom of Terry Kay.

Three of his novels have been produced as Hallmark Hall of  Fame movies –To Dance With the White Dog, The Runaway and The Valley of Light. Additionally, a Japanese film based on To Dance With the White Dog was produced. His books have been published in more than twenty foreign languages, with To Dance With the White Dog selling two million copies in Japan.

An essayist and regional Emmy-winning screenwriter as well as a novelist, Kay's work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies.
LaGrange College and Mercer University have recognized his work with honorary doctorate degrees. Atlanta Writers Club named their annual fiction award the Terry Kay Prize for Fiction, 2015.

In 2011, Kay was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Georgia Writers Association. He has received the Georgia Author of the Year award four times and in 2004 was presented with the Townsend Prize, considered the state's top literary award.

In 2006, Kay was inducted in Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, and in 2009 he was the recipient of the Governor's Award in the Humanities (GA), 2009.

In 2007, Kay was presented the Stanley W. Lindberg Award, named for the late editor of The Georgia Review and considered one of the state's most prestigious literary honors, given for an individual's significant contribution to the preservation and celebration of Georgia's literary heritage.

Kay’s best-known book, To Dance With the White Dog, was made into an award-winning film. Of this book, Anne Rivers Siddons said, “(This) is what literature is – or should be – all about, and what the South at its best still is. Terry Kay is simply a miraculous writer, gifted with poetry, integrity and rare vision.”

A native of Hart County, GA, Kay and his wife now reside in Athens, GA.

Learn more here

Presenters for A Day for Writers

Did You Get This Very Important Email?

Call for Votes: Glenda Beall as Program Coordinator

Glenda Beall

On March 15, I sent the NCWN-West members the following email. I'm also posting it here in case you didn't get it.  If you haven't already responded to the email, please email me with your YES or NO vote at kpaulholmesATgmailDOTcom (replace AT with @ and DOT with a period).


Dear NCWN-West members,

I'm writing today about a very important matter. Can you please take a moment to read this and respond as soon as possible?

As many of you know, we've been without a Program Coordinator (PC) at NCNW-West (sometimes known as "Netwest") for quite some time. We've managed to keep most of our events going through the generous help of volunteers and our County Representatives.

One person in particular has kept us together through her relentless dedication to the group. This person is Glenda Beall. She has continued to communicate regularly with the Reps and the membership as a whole via the NCWN-West blog and emails, to coordinate activities such as Hayesville's Festival in the Square, and to take the lead on planning our big conference in Sylva in May.

In short, Glenda has been acting as the PC without the formal title/recognition and without receiving the monthly stipend that the PC was paid in the past. She has now volunteered to take on this role in an official capacity. Ed Southern (Executive Director of NCWN) and the Board of Trustees, has agreed to appoint her to this position and pay a $200 monthly stipend from the NCWN-West account, provided that the majority of the NCNW-West members agree. In my opinion, compared to Glenda's dedication to our group, this is a very small stipend, indeed. The PC is still considered a "volunteer" role, but it is vital for us to have this type of leadership.

Please vote by replying with a simple "Yes" or "No" to indicate whether or not you approve of Glenda becoming the PC with a monthly stipend as stated above. If you prefer to remain anonymous, you can mail your vote to me by March 20 to the address below my signature.

Sincerely,

Karen Paul Holmes

NCWN County Rep for Georgia border counties

Women writers are invited to submit: Essays for Democracy, for a book by McFarland Publishers

In an effort to document what is proving to be a unique era in American political history on several fronts, Dr. Betty Wells and I have developed a project we are calling Essays for Democracy. The purpose is to provide the venue whereby women’s voices can create the historical record of this era. To this end, we are soliciting essays from women activists for a book, tentatively titled “Resist: Women’s Voices Speaking Truth to Power” being published by McFarland Publishers.

We are inviting any women members of various groups to submit an essay for this book, on a topic of their choosing. This might be immigration, health care, the environment, a living wage, or any other concern they feel passionate about and are committed to protecting and defending.

Anyone who is interested should contact us at womenresisting@gmailcom for further details. We will work with essayists on the deadline.



Paula vW. Dail, PhD
Emerita Research Professor of Social Welfare and Public Policy
www.pauladail.com
publisher: www.mcfarlandpub.com

The NCWN-West has printed the correspondence from Dr. Dail as a service to it's readers. The NCWN-West is not affiliated in any way with McFarland Publishers or with soliciting writing for McFarland Publishers.

Progressive Rising Phoenix Press announces the release of SPOKES, a novel by Deanna K. Klingel

Progressive Rising Phoenix Press has released Deanna K. Klingel's YA novel, Spokes. Spokes is about  a Catholic girl and a Jewish boy training for a triathlon, who search for clues to solve the mystery of a hit and run killer. Along the way they discover the importance of truth, friendship, and faith. 

Klingel writes primarily, not exclusively, for young adult readers. She has thirteen books published and others in the que. In addition, one of the picture books is also in Spanish, and there are teacher/classroom study guides for two historical fictions. Many of the books have received recognition and awards. Two of her short stories were contest winners. She's a member of SCBWI, ACFW, Catholic Writers Guild, and NCWN. She blogs twice a week at booksbydeanna.com, and travels with her books across the South and beyond, appearing at schools, museums, and events. Her books are widely distributed and are available wherever books are sold.

Klingel is a member of North Carolina Writer's Network-West. She will be hosting a workshop at the NCWN-West's A Day for Writers, at Sylva, NC, on May 6, 2017. Ms. Klingel's topic will be: "The Merry Go Round of Children's Literature". She will discuss how to recognize the types of children's literature, the myths about writing for children, and the writing process for Child Lit and how it differs for each kind of Child Lit. She will also cover working with illustrators and finding the proper publisher for your work. Klingel will go over questions to ask your publisher before signing the contract , and will address how to market Child Lit.

Links for registration and the schedule for A Day for Writers, are here:
http://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_13.html
http://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/p/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html