Brenda Kay Ledford's New Book Released

 Brenda Kay Ledford's new book, "Leatherwood Falls, Blue Ridge Mountain Poems," has been published by Kelsay Books.

According to Glenda C. Beall, North Carolina Writer's Network-West Program Coordinator, "Brenda Kay Ledford takes the reader on a mountain hike where she names the wildflowers, birds, through the eyes of her  beloved brother.  She takes us to childhood days and as he left for Vietnam.  We see an ordinary man who is not ordinary  in the eyes of his sister.  Ledford writes in various poetic forms staying true to her task of honoring her brother.  Like most mountain families, they are close and death will never end the love they share."

You may purchase Ledford's book at:  www.amazon.com  or www.Kelsaybooks.com

Poet and Writer Abbie Taylor to be Featured Reader for Mountain Wordsmiths

By Carroll S. Taylor
Guest Writer

 

Abbie Taylor

            Wyoming writer and poet Abbie Johnson Taylor will be the featured reader for this month’s gathering of Mountain Wordsmiths. The group will meet Thursday, March 23, at 10:30 a.m. via Zoom. One of the benefits of meeting online is the ability to host writers from all areas of the country. Taylor attends our gathering each month despite the early time difference between North Carolina and her home in Wyoming.
            She is the author of three novels, two poetry collections, and a memoir. She is currently working on a short story collection she hopes to publish this year. Her work has appeared in The Weekly Avocet, Magnets and Ladders, and other publications.
            Taylor is visually impaired and lives in Sheridan, WY, where for six years, she cared for her late husband who was totally blind and partially paralyzed by two strokes soon after they were married. With a BA in music, she worked as a registered music therapist with nursing home residents for 15 years before getting married and writing full-time. She also taught Braille, facilitated a support group for blind and visually impaired adults, and served on the advisory board to a trust fund that provides adaptive equipment and services to blind and visually impaired children and adults. To learn more about her, visit her website at: https://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
            NCWN-West is continuing to stay in touch by using technology to share our writing. We continue to offer writing events and writing classes both online and in person. Many writers are enjoying the convenience and flexibility of Zoom meetings because of the ability to join our gatherings from other locations.
           Those wishing to attend Mountain Wordsmiths may contact Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link. Our group is informal, and we welcome those who would simply like to listen to the beauty of wordsmithing. All who attend are encouraged to enjoy their morning cup of coffee or tea as we share our thoughts about writing.

                                         

2023 Blue Ridge Writers Conference keynote speaker is Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, author

We are very fortunate that the Blue Ridge Writers Conference is held in Blue Ridge, Georgia every spring. It is one of the best small conferences you will find anywhere. This year the keynote speaker will be Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle. She lives in western North Carolina and is a member of the NCWN-West. She is also president of the NC Writers' Network Board of Trustees. 

https://www.blueridgewritersconference.com/about-our-speakers.html 

Carol Crawford and the staff at the Blue Ridge Arts Association have gathered an elite faculty and will cover all facets of writing. If you have not attended before, mark your calendar now and go to the website to register. If you plan to spend the weekend there, better get those hotel reservations now as they fill up quickly. 

You will find Dana Wildsmith and Jessica Handler on the speakers' list. Many locals are familiar with Dana who teaches at the John C. Campbell Folk School yearly. Jessica has often been on the speakers' list for the Blue Ridge Conference. 

I look forward to attending this year since I missed the last couple of years. 

Carol Crawford who lives in Fannin County, Georgia was an active member of Netwest when I first moved to Hayesville, NC. In those days there were very few writing events in our area other than the monthly Thursday evening meetings at Tri-County Community College led by our NCWN-West members. Carol led our poetry group at that time. Thanks to Carol and others with the Blue Ridge Arts Association this is the twenty-sixth Blue Ridge Writers conference.

Not only do we have the opportunity to meet and learn from knowledgeable instructors, but it's also like a reunion for so many of us who have enjoyed it all these years. The speakers are available to those who want to speak to them or ask questions. I hope to see you there.

Brenda Kay Ledford Featured on WKRK Radio Station

 Brenda Kay Ledford was interviewed by Laura Kleiss Hoeft, executive director of the Clay County Chamber of Commerce, March 3, 2023 on the "Clay County NC Chamber of Commerce Show."

Ledford's book, Leatherwood Falls, Blue Ridge Poems, was released this week by Kelsay Books.  She read from her collection on WKRK Radio Station in Murphy, NC.

You may view the show at:  WKRK/Murphy, NC-Facebook

                                            Click on Videos

                                            Scroll down to :  Clay County, NC Chamber of Commerce Show,

                                                                           March 3, 2023

During the show, Ledford gave details about North Carolina Writers' Network West and the groups that meet under the umbrella of NCWN.

Ledford's new book:  Leatherwood Falls, Blue Ridge Poems, is a collection in memory of her brother.  It will be posted on Amazon.com in three weeks to purchase, or you may order at KelsayBooks.com.

 

Many thanks to Mary Fonda, and Moss Library

We wish good health and happiness to Mary Fonda our long-time librarian for the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC as she retires this year. We are grateful for Mary and the library which has always been supporters of our writers and NCWN-West. In my travels around western NC and visits to libraries far and wide, I hear nothing but praise and compliments for Moss Library. 

Of course, Mary's library assistant, Deborah Kenyon, is always there to make sure everything works like a well-oiled clock. She does her very best to help us schedule meetings for NCWN-West events at the library. It is perfect for us because it is handicap accessible and all local writers can attend.

We look forward to working with the new Branch Manager, Griffin Anderson. We hear good things about him. 

We are delighted that Deborah continues as Library Assistant. She sent the following information about the library and you might want to copy and keep this handy.

The hours for the Moss Memorial Library (except for holidays and inclement weather) are:

•  Tuesdays from 9 AM to 8 PM
•  Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 9 AM to 5 PM

Moss Memorial Library Phone Number:  828-389-8401

 Please send emails concerning the Moss Memorial Library to our respective Nantahala Library emails:

•  Griffin Anderson, Branch Manager:   ganderson@nantahalalibrary.org
•  Deborah Kenyon, Library Assistant:   dkenyon@nantahalalibrary.org

This would allow the Moss Memorial Library to respond sooner to scheduling requests.

 Of course, Coffee with the Poets and Writers is on schedule to resume its monthly meetings beginning Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in the library's meeting room.

 

Poet Mary Ricketson to be Featured Reader for Mountain Wordsmiths

By Carroll S. Taylor

Mary Ricketson

             Mountain Wordsmiths will have as our featured reader distinguished poet Mary Ricketson on Thursday morning, February 23, at 10:30 via Zoom. Our monthly gathering, sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West, will continue its online presence because local writers as well as writers from other states and cities are now joining us each month on Zoom.
            Ricketson will be sharing her latest poetry collection, "Precious the Mule." The poems weave a story of humanity, compassion, and kindness. Ricketson says, “My neighbor’s mule got badly injured, frightening all of us who live in this cove. Mingled with the natural beauty of winter and springtime at my home in the Appalachian Mountains, this is the story of a relationship I developed with my neighbor the mule, a story that joins sorrow and suffering with joy and hope.”
            Ricketson, who lives in Murphy, NC, is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor in private practice in Murphy, NC, and an organic blueberry farmer. She has been writing poetry for over twenty-five years. Her poems often reflect the healing power of nature, a path she follows from Appalachian tradition, with surrounding mountains serving as midwife for her words.
            Her published collections are "I Hear the River Call My Name," "Hanging Dog Creek," "Shade and Shelter," "Mississippi: The Story of Luke and Marian," "Keeping in Place," and "Lira, Poems of a Woodland Woman," and "Precious the Mule." 

More information about her may be found at www.maryricketson.com. 

NCWN-West is continuing to stay in touch by using technology to share our writing. We will offer writing events and writing classes online until we can safely meet face-to-face again. Many writers are enjoying the convenience and flexibility of Zoom meetings because of the ability to join our gatherings from other locations.

Those wishing to attend Mountain Wordsmiths may contact Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link. We welcome those who would simply like to listen to the beauty of wordsmithing.

Literary Hour Returns to J.C. Campbell School

  The Literary Hour returns to the J.C. Campbell Folk School March 16 at 7 p.m. with readings by popular local poet and storyteller Brenda Kay Ledford and local novelist David Plunkett.  The Literary Hour will continue every third Thursday of the month through September and is free and open to everyone.
Ledford, a Clay County, NC, native, will read from her poetry which draws on her love for the beauty, heritage, and history of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.  Her poetry collection, “Blanche, Poems of a Blue Ridge Woman,” published by Redhawk Publishing, won the Paul Green Multimedia Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians in 2022.
In addition to her award-winning poetry, she is the recipient of the Children’s Book Award for her picture book “The Singing Convention” and writes the Blue Ridge Poet blog which is dedicated to preserving the culture of Southern Appalachia through poetry, storytelling and writing.
Plunkett, who lives in Young Harris, GA, is the author of the espionage thrillers “Chessboard” and “Poisoned Pawn” published by Kindle Direct Publishing.  Readers have called “Chessboard” “intriguing and captivating,” and a well-researched book about “the shadow workings of our government.”  He will read selections from both novels and talk about his process for writing them.
The Literary Hour is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and will continue every third Thursday of the month through November 16 at 7 p.m.
        The March meeting will be hosted by Murphy, NC, poet Mary Ricketson, who is president of the Ridgeline Literary Alliance and the 2011 winner of the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest national poetry contest.
Ledford, Plunkett and Ricketson are members of the North Carolina Writer's Network-West.  The Literary Hour meets in the Living Room of the Keith House on the J.C. Campbell Folk School campus.  For more information you can contact Glenda Beall at glendabeall@msn.com.
The J.C. Campbell Folk School is located in Brasstown, NC, and offers classes in folk arts and crafts and storytelling.  For information about the school, you can find its webpage and contact information at https://www.folkschool.org/.  Students and faculty of the school are welcome to attend the readings.

Poet Louise Runyon to be Featured Reader for Mountain Wordsmiths

 By Carroll S. Taylor

Louise Runyon

 January 2023 begins a new year for Mountain Wordsmiths, an online writers’ gathering sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West. Our first gathering will meet on Thursday morning, January 26, at 10:30 a.m. on Zoom, and our featured speaker will be poet Louise Runyon, who will be sharing poetry from her fifth and most recent book of poems, Where Is Our Prague Spring?

 Her book examines Runyon's deep love for the mountains of Western North Carolina, her childhood experience of love here, and her attempts to reconcile this love with the hatred and division found in the present.  A great-niece of Lucy Morgan, founder of the renowned Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, Runyon honors her visionary and activist family in these poems.

 A resident of Sylva, NC , Runyon was born and raised in New York City but grew up at Penland School in the summertime.  She lived most of her adult life in Atlanta before coming back to western North Carolina in 2019. A dancer and choreographer as well as a poet, she is Artistic Director of Louise Runyon Performance Company. The publication of her new book is supported by the Jackson County Arts Council.

 Poet Catherine Carter of Western Carolina University says, “…Runyon interrogates the place and her family’s long history there to illuminate a complicated tradition of Appalachian progressivism dating both back to and forward from the Trail of Tears.  These thoughtful poems evoke an Appalachia that few outsiders know: simultaneously progressive and conservative, woven into the wider world in unexpected ways, and rooted deeply in the labor and vision of women.” 

 NC Writers’ Network-West is continuing to take precautions as we stay in touch and use technology to share our writing. We will offer writing events and writing classes online with some writers’ groups now meeting in person with careful safety guidelines.

 

Mountain Wordsmiths will meet via Zoom on the fourth Thursday of each month Those wishing to attend our gatherings may contact Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link. Also, those who wish to participate in Open Mic may sign up upon entering the meeting. We welcome those who would simply like to listen to the beauty of wordsmithing.

Hear Karen Luke Jackson Read "Finding Home"

Karen Luke Jackson, EdD

Randell Jones has included Karen Luke Jackson's story "Finding Home" about moving to the Garden Hamlet at Highland Lake" in his latest anthology, Twists and Turns.  If you'd like to listen to her read it, click here.

An oral history tradition, contemplative practices, and clown escapades provide a scaffolding for Karen Luke Jackson’s work. Whether crafting a poem, teaching a class, or serving as an Anam Cara, Karen searches for life-giving “role/soul” connections and helps others do the same. Stories, she says, provide an opening. They allow us to explore the core of our human experience and capture snippets of sacred mystery in everyday life.

​An award-winning poet, Karen’s work has appeared in numerous journals including Broad River Review (Ron Rash Poetry Award), Ruminate (Janet McCabe Poetry Award, Honorable Mention), Kestrel, One, Emrys Journal, Friends Journal, Christian Feminism Today, eno, TOWN Magazine, The Pisgah Review, moonShine review, The Great Smokies Review, Kakalak, and several anthologies. Karen is also the author of two poetry collections, The View Ever Changing exploring the power of place and family relationships and GRIT chronicling her sister’s life as Clancey the Clown. She is currently working on a memoir that spans six generations of a South Georgia family.

​

Karen holds a bachelor's degree in history from Valdosta State University, a master's in education from UNC-Chapel Hill, and a doctorate in education from North Carolina State University. She has served as executive director of two nonprofits, worked and taught in higher education, and for the past twenty years been a facilitator with the Center for Courage & Renewal. In that capacity, she has led workshops and retreats for groups throughout the Southeast, including a monastic community, clergy and hospital chaplains, Duke University’s advanced leadership program for nonprofits, churches, environmental activists, and interfaith groups.

 

Being a grandmother and living in a cottage adjoining a goat pasture in Western North Carolina are two of Karen’s greatest joys. When she’s not writing or companioning people on their spiritual journeys, she enjoys sitting on a porch nestled between pines and listening to bird song.

 

Winter Writing Workshop in Cashiers, NC

Maren Mitchell Poems Published

 NCWN-West member Maren O. Mitchell has poems published in: 

Tar River Poetry, Vol. 62, No. 1, Fall 2022, "I have no earth-shaking news, my friend Janice." 
The Lake, an online UK journal, January 2023 issue, "Quantum Beats" and "To My Husband in the Time of Covid-19."
POEM, November 2022 issue, "Black Is Not the Lack of Light" and "We are all stray cats."
Twelve Mile Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall/Winter 2022, "Hickory Tree."

Her poems appear in The Antigonish Review, The Cortland Review, The Comstock Review, Tar River Poetry, Poetry East, Hotel Amerika, The South Carolina Review and Southern Humanities Review. Three poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her nonfiction is Beat Chronic Pain, An Insider’s Guide, (Line of Sight Press). Her chapbook, "In my next life I plan...," is forthcoming from dancing girl press. She lives with her husband in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia.

Brenda Kay Ledford's Work Published

 Brenda Kay Ledford's poem, "Snow Cream," will appear on  the " Written Tales" website on Christmas Day, December 25th, at 10:00 AM.

You may view her poem at:  https://writtentales.com

Additionally, her story, "Special Fashion Show,"  appeared in the "Good Old Days Magazine," January/February 2023  print issue.

www.GoodOldDaysMagazine.com

Congratulations to our western North Carolina Writers

 

Brent Martin of Macon County was awarded the 2022 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.

Network member and former Representative for NCWN-West, Brent Martin was selected as the winner of the 2022 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award by the Western North Carolina Historical Association for his nonfiction book "George Masa’s Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina" (Hub City Press 2022).

Annette Clapsaddle of Jackson County was voted Board President for the NC Writers Network.

Last year’s winner of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award was Network board member Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle for her novel, "Even As We Breathe"(University Press of Kentucky, 2020).

Clapsaddle was sworn in as the next board president of the North Carolina Writers’ Network on December 9, 2022 by a unanimous vote.

It is a pleasure to see our Western NC writers' accomplishments.

On December 13, an award ceremony will celebrate Brent Martin and all five finalists for 2022. The event will also be live-streamed via Zoom for those who cannot attend in person. Registration is available for this free event at: www.wnchistory.org.

https://www.ncwriters.org/news/blog/the-western-north-carolina-historical-association-recognizes-network-members-and-forthcoming-board-president-for-the-thomas-wolfe-memorial-literary-award/?fbclid=IwAR24m9k3fsvA0jqydw-Y_TSxBRm_an1YSaEvo9grC-KphYLdW8a9kV3ZlZs

Brent Martin Recognized at Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award Event

Brent Martin

    Author and conservationist Brent Martin who spoke to NetWest members on Writers' Night Out in July, is a finalist for the 2022 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.  The award is presented by the Western North Carolina Historical Association to the best WNC author or book.  The ceremony is Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, in a ceremony at 5 pm in the  at UNC-Asheville Reuter Center, , Asheville, 28804.

    The event will be held in the Manheimer Room at the Reuter Center at UNC-Asheville, 300 Campus View Rd, Ashville, NC. It will also be livestreamed via Zoom and recorded for those who cannot attend in person.

    Martin is author of George Masa's Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina.  He spoke to NetWest members about his book and Masa and his photography. 

    Other finalists chosen from an original group of 34 nominations include:

Anne Chesky Smith - Murder at Asheville's Battery Park Hotel: The Search for Helen Clevenger's Killer;

Lance Greene - Their Determination to Remain: A Cherokee Community's Resistance to the Trail of Tears;

Heather Newton - McMullen Circle; and

John Ross - Through the Mountains: The French Broad River and Time.

    The event is free and open to the public but registration is required and a ticket/Zoom link will be emailed to attendees. If you are able, please consider making a donation with your registration. Donations are placed into a community fund and help us offer tickets to other events at no-cost for those who would be otherwise unable to attend.
       Originated by the Louis Lipinsky family and now supported by the Ruth Siegel and Jacques Sartisky Foundation and the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Advisory Board, WNCHA has presented the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award annually for printed works that focus special attention on Western North Carolina since 1955 when Wilma Dykeman was presented the award for The French Broad.

    The December 13, 2022 award ceremony will celebrate the five finalists for the 2022 award with readings and remarks by each author.

John C. Campbell Folk School makes changes

 John C. Campbell Folk School has dropped COVID 19 restrictions. 

Read about it here.

Take writing classes at the Folk School with excellent instructors.

I am taking an online course next year from the Folk School. How nice it is to have the opportunity for both in-person and online classes with these top writers. 

The John C. Campbell Folk School changed my life in so many ways. I first took poetry classes with Nancy Simpson, Carol Crawford, Kathryn Byer, and many other writers. Later I taught writing at the folk school and that was a huge step in my life. 

Glenda Beall

Tom Hooker, Adair Sanders and Mike McCarthy to Sign Books in Brevard

Tom Hooker

    Local authors Tom Hooker, Adair Sanders and Mike McCarthy will sign their latest books at Broad Street Wines in Brevard, NC, on Friday Nov. 25th from 1pm to 4pm.  If you need a break from Black Friday shopping, plan to stop in and enjoy the perfect wine pairing for a cozy afternoon of reading.
        In Tom Hooker’s latest book, Year of the White Dog, the year is 1540.  Strangers wearing shells like turtles are on the rampage.  A young Chickasaw maiden named Swift Doe has a dream about a white dog.  Can her dream save her people?  Hooker lives in Hendersonville, NC, and his short stories and poems appear in a number of literary journals.  He is coauthor with Gary Ader of a novel, The War Never Ends, and author of another, Twenty-five Angels, in addition to his latest which he will be signing.
        Suspense soars when the body of a C.I.A Section Chief is found in the car trunk of a Supreme Court Justice.  Whodunnit?  Find out in Adair Sanders latest, And So It Ends.  Sanders, a Brevard, NC, lawyer and author is known for the Allison Parker Mystery series and Biologically Bankrupt, a memoir about generational dysfunction and addiction.  She has also published Out of the Ashes, A Collection of Essays.
        Some say working from home requires superpowers, and Mike McCarthy and his co-authors, Janis Allen and Gail Snyder, show you how to don your cape and fly over the challenges in Working From Home Is Your Superpower.  McCarthy has been a teacher and management consultant who writes books about business.  He is also author of two novels The Noah Option and The Rainbow Option.

Fall 2022 NCWN Conference Registration Closes Friday

Registration to attend Fall Conference 2022 closes Friday, November 11 at 4:00 p.m. EST (via phone or mail) and at midnight (via online).   The conference will be held at the Holiday Inn Resort, 1706 North Lumina Avenue, Wrightsville Beach, NC.

Four p.m. Friday is also the deadline for those already registered for the conference to cancel if necessary and receive a refund.

Learn more about Fall Conference and how to register here.

For recommended hotel accommodations, please visit the Venue section on the Fall Conference 2022 web page.

Listen to the WHQR, Cape Fear's NPR station, interview with Communications Director Katherine O'Hara about Fall Conference.

The 2022 Fall Conference of the North Carolina Writers' Network will open with a keynote address by Jason Mott, winner of the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction.

He will be joined on the conference faculty by more than 20 other writers leading classes on the craft and business of writing, from “Cross-Country Flights and Hollywood Nights” to “Escape from Pompeii: How to Write While the World Around You Burns.” 

Instructors include acclaimed novelists Clyde Edgerton and Dana Sachs; poets Mark Cox, Melissa Crowe, Gabrielle Brant Freeman, and Amber Flora Thomas; journalists Russell Worth Parker and Brandon Sneed; editors Margaret Bauer and Emily L. Smith; and many more. 

Brenda Kay Ledford Receives Paul Green Award

 Brenda Kay Ledford; Photo by:  Seeing  Southern Photography

Author, blogger, and  poet Brenda Kay Ledford received the Paul Green Multimedia Award from North Carolina Society of Historians for her book,  Blanche, Poems of a Blue Ridge Woman.

The Award's Ceremony was held at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina  on Saturday, November 5.  Ledford received the award for the book about her mother, Blanche.  Redhawk Publications released the poetry book in 2021.

According to Mary Ricketson, author and mental health counselor, "Blanche comes to life in this memoir of poems.  Ledford chronicles a story of her mother's life, flour sacks and all.  Blanche rises before dawn, dew soaks her brogans when she goes berry picking.  Hens scratch hieroglyphics in the front yard and the sun rises like a ruby over Shewbird Mountain."

Ricketson continues, "I can see the sparkling blue eyes of Blanche Ledford.  'My hands have served me well as blood veins crisscross the Blue Ridge Mountains.' These poems will make you fall in love with the amazing Blanche I knew."

Ledford's book is available at:  www.amazon.com and www.RedhawkPublications.com 

Novelist, Non-fiction Author P.C. Zick Featured at Writers' Night Out

P.C. Zick

P.C. Zick, a writer with a passion for sharing and helping other writers, will be featured at Writers' Night Out Friday, Nov. 11, at 7 pm.  This is a Zoom event.  To get the link contact Glenda Beall at glendabeall@msn.com 

Zick’s passion for sharing her stories and helping aspiring writers realize their dreams motivates all her projects. And that’s whether she’s serving as an editor to others or creating her own books that entertain and inform her readers.

Zick writes in a variety of genres, including romance, contemporary fiction, and creative nonfiction. She’s had works in each of these genres published and has won various awards for her essays, columns, editorials, articles, and novels.

Setting plays a significant role in her fiction, beginning with the three contemporary novels in her Florida fiction series, which explore the people and landscape of the Sunshine State. Her romances transport readers to some of her favorite places from Long Island to Chicago to Florida to the Smoky Mountains. Her four separate romance series explore various social issues as people of all ages navigate the complicated road to romance.

Zick has also written a variety of nonfiction books, which include a primer for beginning writers for drafting, writing, and publishing a book. Her book on vegetable gardening combines her husband’s passion for growing food and her love of cooking it. She has also published and annotated the journal of her great-grandfather based on his experiences as a Union soldier during the Civil War.

She and her husband split their time between Tallahassee and the Smoky Mountains near Murphy, where they enjoy gardening, kayaking, golfing, and hiking. To learn more, please visit www.pczick.com.

For open mic, please limit your reading to 3 to 4 minutes maximum for poetry or prose (2 poems only, please) so that everyone who wishes to read has an opportunity to share.  To sign up for Open Mic, send Glenda an email (with a sentence she can use to introduce you) by clicking here: glendabeall@msn.com 

Mary Ricketson to Read from Precious the Mule

Mary Ricketson

Mary Ricketson will read from her new poetry collection, Precious the Mule, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva on Friday, Nov 11, at 5 pm.  City Lights Bookstore is located at 3 E Jackson St, Ste 1, Sylva, NC, a small Main Street town tucked in the heart of the southern Appalachian Mountains. 

"Precious the Mule is a story of humanity, compassion, and kindness.  My neighbor’s mule got badly injured, frightening all of us who live in this cove.  Mingled with the natural beauty of winter and springtime at my home in the Appalachian mountains, this is the story of a relationship I developed with my neighbor the mule a story that joins sorrow and suffering with joy and hope."  Mary Ricketson.

Ricketson lives in Murphy NC, works as a mental health counselor and a blueberry farmer.  Her poems often reflect the healing power of nature, surrounding mountains as midwife for her words.  Her published collections are I Hear the River Call My Name, Hanging Dog Creek, Shade and Shelter, Mississippi: The Story of Luke and Marian, Keeping in Place, and Lira, Poems of a Woodland Woman, and new collection, Precious the Mule.