The passing of Rob Neufeld, a friend to writers in western North Carolina

Western NC has lost a friend to writers. 

Rob Neufeld, RIP

Rob Neufeld

The literary community lost a longtime friend and supporter this week with the passing of Rob Neufeld. The beloved author and historian was sixty-five.
A veteran columnist for The Asheville Citizen-Times, Rob continued writing his “Visiting the Past” column up until the week he died.
He was diagnosed with ALS in the summer of 2018 but remained productive, focusing not only on his newspaper stories but also on a narrative poem for the stage, which he excerpted on his website, The Read on WNC.

Read More

North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green reads at Western Carolina University Wednesday, October 30th, at 7:30 p.m.

North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green will be reading at Western Carolina University next Wednesday evening, October 30th, at 7:30, in Blue Ridge Conference Room A. I've sent out press releases and WCU publicity venues have the information, but I know that kind of thing can be very easy to miss. This is a rare opportunity to hear a sitting poet laureate--they often don't make it this far west--and Jaki's poetry is accessible and enjoyable. Jaki is also North Carolina's first African-American poet laureate and only our third female poet laureate.  Parking on WCU's campus can be a bit dicy, but there are pay lots near McKee, behind the University Center, and behind Reid Gym. 

Don't Be Gullible and Fall for a Scam

I receive emails every day from people I do not know. Usually they want me to make public their website, their services, their pitch to you, writers, who might fall for their scams.

Writer Beware is a site we should all have bookmarked and check it often, especially if we are approached by anyone who wants us to pay them for publishing our book.

I am not speaking of a company that offers their service to help you self-publish your book. I am talking about a company that offers to publish your book for thousands of dollars. Some are even part of a well-known traditional publisher.

Often they will make an offer and ask for a small amount. But as you begin to work with them, they will offer more help, marketing packages, etc., and want more and more money. Before long you have spent far more money than you can ever replace with sales of your book. And you won't get all that is promised.

You can always go to Writer Beware and learn if they have any information about a publisher.

I learned recently that most self-published books sell no more than 150 copies. I am afraid that most of us feel that once our book is out there, on the market, it will sell with little effort on our part. That is not true. We hate the marketing part, so if an unscrupulous company promises to sell our book and earn us thousands of dollars, we often fall for that promise, even without investigating the folks making the offer.

One of the reasons to belong to an organization like NCWN is having people to turn to when we have questions. With so many members who have been in the business for many years, you can often find free and good advice. Attending a conference like NCWN Fall Writing Conference in Asheville is helpful. You can meet editors, publishers, agents, and other writers who are often very generous with their advice and their knowledge.

"I'm guessing that at least a few of my readers will be thinking "Well, if someone is that naive/ignorant/unwary, they deserve what they get." Believe me, I get frustrated too with writers' gullibility, and in particular with how many writers fail to educate themselves about publishing and self-publishing before trying to publish. But no one, no matter what, deserves to be deceived and ripped off by a pack of con artists."  from article on Writer Beware.

I do my best to check out anyone or any company before I post it or send out emails to our NCWN-West members. But you should also check them out. It is all up to the writer to be sure, to be educated about who he is dealing with in order to self-publish his book.

Karen Paul Holmes Featured on The Writer's Almanac

Garrison Keillor Recited "Rental Cottage, Maine" on October 16, 2019

In what Karen Paul Holmes calls her "poetry dream come true," the popular daily audio program The Writer's Almanac selected a poem from her second book, No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin 2018). Keillor, host of the long-running Prairie Home Companion, has a voice immediately recognized by his worldwide fans.  You can hear this poem as well as all his broadcasts at GarrisonKeillor.com.

Karen's first book was Untying the Knot (Aldrich, 2014). Chosen a Best Emerging Poet, three of her poems appeared in Stay Thirsty Media's 2019 poetry volume with well-loved poets such as Billy Collins. Karen's other publications include Prairie Schooner, Valparaiso Review, Tar River Poetry, Poet Lore, and many journals and books, including two anthologies of Georgia poets. 

She founded and hosts The Side Door Poets in Atlanta and Writers’ Night Out in Blairsville, GA. A freelance business writer, she also teaches writing classes at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, Writer’s Circle in Hayesville, NC, and other venues. Lake Chatuge and the mountains inspire much of her poetry, which also includes stories of personal joys and losses.

Join Karen the weekend of Valentine's Day, 2020 when she teaches "Love Songs & Poetry" at the Folk School. 

The next Writers' Night Out is November 8 at 7 pm at the Union County Community Center, Blairsville. Rosemary Royston and Diana Anhalt are featured. Sign up for open mic at the door (3 minutes of poetry or prose). 

To learn more about Karen's work, visit www.karenpaulholmes.com .

Brenda Kay Ledford Receives Paul Green Award

Brenda Kay Ledford received the Paul Green Multimedia Award from North Carolina Society of Historians for her poetry book, Red Plank House. Kelsay Books printed this collection and it was endorsed by Evan Miller, senior editor of Guidepost Magazine.

The NCSH held their 77th Annual Award's Ceremony in the Chambers Building located on the Davidson College Campus in Davidson, North Carolina on Saturday, October 12, 2019.  A distinguished panel selected Ledford's work to receive this prestigious award for preserving the history of Appalachia.

Ledford has won the Paul Green Multimedia Award a dozen times for her books, blogs, and collecting oral history on the people and places of Southern Appalachia.  She also received the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who's Who in America for her writing and work as an educator.

For more information:  ncsocietyofhistorians.org.
                                      http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com

The Literary Hour Readings, This Thursday, October 17, 2019, at JCC Folk School, Brasstown, NC, featuring, Glenda Council Beall, James F. I. Davis, and Mary Michelle Brodine Keller

On Thursday, October 17, 2019, at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School and NC Writers' Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour. At this event, NCWN-West members will read at the Keith House on the JCCFS campus, in Brasstown, NC. This event is now held in the community room. The Literary Hour is held on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise indicated. This reading is free of charge and open to the public. This month's featured readers will be Glenda Council Beall, James F. I. Davis, and Mary Michelle Brodine Keller.

Glenda Council Beall moved from southwest Georgia to Hayesville, North Carolina in 1995; it has been home ever since. Her poetry, essays and short stories have been published online, in magazines and in literary journals. Beall’s poetry chapbook, Now Might as Well be Then, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2009. She co-authored a collection of stories, poems and articles in 2018, Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins, Family Pets and God’s Other Creatures.

One of her hobbies is genealogy. In 1998 she compiled stories about her grandfather and his ten children and the hardback book, Profiles and Pedigrees, The Descendants of Thomas Charles Council (1858 – 1911).

Beall teaches writing in her studio, Writers Circle around the Table, the Institute of Continuing Learning, and Tri-County Community College. She serves as program coordinator for the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West.

James F. I.  Davis grew up on a family farm, got a degree in Economics from Cornell University, an MBA in International Business from The American University, and spent three years in the US Army, leaving as a Captain. Davis was an international banker for most of his working years, lived in Europe and Latin America, and traveled to more than 50 countries during his career. 

Several hundred of Davis’ articles have been published, mostly about finance, economics and the effects of government policies on people's standard of living. Recently he has been writing mostly humorous stories about interesting people and/or unique situations he encountered while traveling the world for business and pleasure. He hopes to turn these stories into an entertaining novel. His first literary attempt garnered second place in a national short story contest.

Mary Michelle Brodine Keller, or Mary Mike as she is often called by her friends, writes poetry, essays, and short fiction. She draws her subject matter from things she sees or experiences, putting meaning to them. She is also a visual artist, painting in oil, watercolors and pastels.  She likes to think of her poetry as painting with words. 

Her poems have been published in The Mountain Lynx, and in anthologies: Freeing Jonah III and IV, Lights in the Mountains, Echos Across the Blueridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains and various other publications. She calls herself a reader, reading to others in a variety of settings, and finding that more satisfying than publication, as it is a shared experience.

For more information regarding this event, contact Mary Ricketson at: maryricketson311@hotmail.com.

Barrett and Paine Featured at Coffee with the Poets and Writers October 16

 

        

Glenda Barrett

Coffee with the Poets and Writers (CWPW) will feature poet Glenda Barrett and writer/ storyteller Roy Paine on Wednesday, October 16, at 10:30 a.m. at the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC. The event is free and open to the public. An open mic will follow the presentations. Bring a poem or a short prose piece to participate. CWPW is sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West (NCWN-W) which also includes writers in Towns, Union, Fannin, and Rabun Counties in Georgia.

        Glenda Barrett is a native of Hiawassee, Georgia. She writes poems and essays that have been published yearly since 1997, including Woman's World, Country Woman, Now & Then Magazine, and Journal of Kentucky Studies. She is the author of two books, a chapbook titled When the Sap Rises, published by Finishing Line Press, and a full-length poetry book titled The Beauty of Silence, published by Aldrich Press.

        Glenda is an avid reader and also a visual artist. Her artwork is online at Fine Art America. She is retired from healthcare and feels fortunate to be able to do the things she loved as a child, painting and writing. She lives in Hiawassee with her husband of forty-six years.

Roy Paine

 

        Roy Paine was raised near Boston and lived his entire life within ten miles of his birthplace, except for four years when he was in the military. He served in the US Navy from 1981-1985 attaining the rank of Petty Officer Second Class (E5). During his time in the Navy, he earned the Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.

        He moved to the mountains in Nantahala National Forest of North Carolina in 2016, and the relaxing atmosphere immediately inspired him to write. Besides writing stories, Roy likes telling them through the spoken word story as an art form. He won first place in the Amateur Division at the Stone Soup Storytelling Festival in Woodruff, South Carolina in 2017.

        Roy published his first book Bumbly Bee Can't Fly in December of 2017. When he is not writing, he enjoys hiking, camping, and fishing.

        For more information about this event, please contact Glenda Beall at: glendabeall@msn.com.

 

Submitted by Carroll S. Taylor

ATTENTION POETS:

CROSSWINDS POETRY IS CALLING FOR SUBMISSIONS

Crosswinds is pleased to announce that Richard Blanco, Presidential Inaugural Poet and recipient of several notable literary awards,

will judge this year's contest.

Grand Prize - $ 1,000.00

Second Prize - $  250.00

Third Prize -  $    100.00

All winners will be announced in Poets & Writers Magazine, on our web-site, and in other announcements.

As a reminder, all poems will be considered for publication. A minimum of one hundred poems to be published in our Spring edition. 

For guidelines, sample copies

or to pre-order the upcoming issue

www.crosswindspoetry.com

Open Mic at City Lights, Sylva, 10/4, 7 pm

The Jackson County branch of the North Carolina Writers' Network-West is hosting its monthly Open Mic night tomorrow, 10/4/19, at City Lights Bookstore on Spring Street in Sylva, NC.  Come out to read with a small but diverse and supportive audience and have some wine and cookies at 7:00 p.m.!

Meet our Writers' Night Out Headliners: Linda Jones & Alan Cone

October 11, 7 pm

Union County Community Center

Blairsville, GA

Open Mic follows the reading

Join us for Linda's intelligent, heartfelt poetry; and Alan's smart, quirky prose. (Read his bio below for a sample). 

Linda Grayson Jones is an Associate Professor of Biology and Dean of Math and Science at Young Harris College. She has read and written poetry since childhood and recalls reading The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes to her third-grade classmates. With a B.S. in Biology from Stetson University, an M.A. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Pathology from Vanderbilt University, Linda's career path was primarily in academic biomedical research, but in 2009 she returned to her first love—teaching. She remains a reader and writer of poetry and is a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network. She credits North Carolina poet Nancy Simpson (1938-2018) for encouraging her to use Grayson Jones as her published poet’s name.

 Alan Cone is the author of many short stories and a novel, The History of the Decline and Fall of Roland Arnheiter. He explains that he “comes to North Georgia by way of Texas, on our nation’s frontier, where a man writes with both fists or perishes.” Alan's work is anchored always in a common man’s self-effacing humility. His penchant for dry humor and sarcasm is reflected in his artist’s statement: “With acuity and wisdom, with perceptiveness and whimsy, I usher audiences through an odyssey of freshman-level erudition and beyond. My quietly courageous abasement of the writer’s dais will leave you challenged, thoughtful, hungry for less.”  He also admits that he does not actually smoke a pipe.