N C Writers Network West's 18th Annual Picnic

THIS IS OLD INFO. ANNUAL PICNIC WILL BE HELD THE SECOND SUNDAY IN SEPTEMBER - 2010. Contact the NCWN West Program Coordinator Kathryn Stripling Byer for details of the 2010 Annual Picnic and open mic reading.

Sunday, September 13, 2009 the North Carolina Writers Network West held their 18th Annual Picnic at Lake Chatuge near Hayesville, North Carolina. Glenda Beall welcomed all and introduced the guest for the day,

Ed Southern.

The guest writer for the day was Ed Southern, Executive Director of NCWN. He recognized Netwest Program Coordnator Glenda Beall for her years of service and he told what a pleasure it was to work with her. Southern also announced that the new NCWN West Program Coordinator will be Kathryn Stripling Byer.

Later, Southern read from his most recent publication, a collection of short stories titled Parlous Angels, Press 53, (2009 Winston Salem.) To order at copy contact Press http://www.press53.comor PO Box 30314

Winston Salem, NC 27130.

Ed Southern was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and began making up characters and stories shortly after. Before he was 10 years old, his mother had decided that “either this child is going to be a writer, or we’re going to have to spend a fortune on therapy for him.” (Whether that was a valid either/or proposition is still to be determined.) Southern’s previous work, all nonfiction, includes The Jamestown Adventure, Voices of the American Revolution in the Carolinas, and Sports in the Carolinas. He lives in Winston-Salem, and is executive director of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.

The Picnic, which was open to all writers within drivng distance, included a reading by the featured author Ed Southern and also featured an open mic reading.

Below: Poets Linda M. Smith and Dorothea Speigel. Look for their new poems in Echoes Across the Blue Ridge:Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired By the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

Below: Brenda Kay Ledford will have three poems in Echoes Across the Blue Ridge. Blanche Ledford will have an essay.

Below: Poet Clarence Newton. Look for two of his new poems that will be featured in Echoes Across the Blue Ridge.

Below: NCWN West Prose Critique Leader has two stories forthcoming in Echoes Across the Blue Riege. Glenda Barrett,author of a poetry collection WHEN THE SAP RISES, has two poems forthcoming in Echoes Across the Blue Ridge.