COFFEE WITH THE POETS AT JOE'S COFFEE SHOP HAYESVILLE,NC

Coffee with the Poets April 8, 2015

Nancy Simpson

Brenda Kay Ledford

April is poetry month and there is no finer way to celebrate than attending Coffee with the Poets, a monthly event held at Joe’s Coffee Shop and Trading Post, 82 Main Street, Hayesville, NC. North Carolina Writers Network-West sponsors this event which meets at10:30 a.m., Wednesday, April 8, 2015.

Recently a visitor to our area said, "This should be on a list of things to do here!"

Two widely published local poets, members of NCWN West, Brenda Kay Ledford and Nancy Simpson, are featured on the program this month. Coffee with the Poets and Writers is open to the public at no charge. Bring a poem or short prose, 1000 words or less, and read at Open Mic. Joe’s Coffee shop serves fine coffees and teas, and snacks can be purchased.

Brenda Kay Ledford is a well-known poet and native of Clay County, NC. She holds a Master of Arts in Education from Western Carolina University. She has done post-graduate work in Appalachian Studies, and the theme of most of her writing is her Appalachian heritage.

Brenda received the Paul Green Multimedia Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians seven times for her books, her collections of oral history, and her blog Historical Hayesville. Her work has appeared in Our State, Carolina Country Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Appalachian Heritage, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Asheville Poetry Review, Country Extra Magazine, Blue Ridge Parkway Silver Anniversary Edition Celebration, and many other journals.

Finishing Line Press published Brenda’s poetry books: Shewbird Mountain, Sacred Fire, and Beckoning. She co-authored Simplicity with Blanche L. Ledford.  She is also an outstanding photographer as you can see on her blog, Blue Ridge Poet.

Nancy Simpson lives in Hayesville, NC. Through 2010 she served as Resident Writer at the John C. Campbell Folk School. She taught many of the poets and writers in this area in her classes there and at Tri-County Community College. She also taught poetry for ICL at Young Harris College.

Nancy is the author of three poetry collections: Across Water, Night Student, and most recently Living Above the Frost Line, New and Selected Poems (Carolina Wren Press, 2010). She also edited Echoes Across the Blue Ridge (anthology 2010). She holds an MFA from Warren Wilson College and a BS in education from Western Carolina University. She received a NC Arts Fellowship and co-founded NC Writers Network-West.

Simpson’s poems have been published in The Georgia Review, Southern Poetry Review, Seneca Review, New Virginia Review, Prairie Schooner and others. Her poems have been included in anthologies, Word and Wisdom, 100 Years of N.C. Poetry and Literary Trails of N.C. (2008). Her poems have also been featured in Southern Appalachian Poetry, a textbook anthology published at McFarland Press.

Visit her blog, Living Above the Frost Line to learn more about her.  

Contact NCWN West Representative, Glenda Beall, at 828-389-4441 or glendabeall@msn.com  for information.

WRITING CLASS OFFERED IN HAYESVILLE, NC

Getting Back to the Basics of English Grammar 

 Paula Canup, writer, journalist and former English teacher, will present a workshop on

Saturday, March 7, 2015, at Writers’ Circle. 

Fee: $25

Phone: 828-389-4441

To register, mail check to:

 Writers Circle

581 Chatuge Lane

Hayesville, NC 28904 

Deadline for registration: March 3

Did you sleep through grammar class? Or was it so long ago you’ve forgotten most of what you learned?

This class is for all writers who want to submit polished work for consideration by agents, editors and publishers. It would also be good for those who find they need to brush up on writing skills for their job. We all make errors in grammar, punctuation and word usage. For some, writing dialogue is especially tricky.  Where do we place quotation marks? Does a question mark go inside or outside the quotation marks? These and many other questions about basic grammar will be addressed in this class.

Paula Canup is a former middle school English teacher who has also worked as a tutor in English grammar. 

After retiring from teaching, Paula wrote articles for a regional magazine, Southern Distinction. She later wrote regular columns for two local newspapers, The Leader in Oconee County, GA, and, locally, The Sentinel.  She worked for a year as a staff writer for the Clay County Progress. 

Paula still enjoys writing non-fiction and memoirs, though she currently focuses on painting as her means of artistic expression.  She and her husband moved to Hayesville, NC from Athens, GA, in 2008, and now live on the side of a mountain where they enjoy the natural beauty of “God’s Country.”

Glenda Council Beall

glendabeall@msn.com

Karen Paul Holmes will Teach a Poetry Class

WRITERS CIRCLE Studio IN HAYESVILLE, NC 

Hello, Poets and Writers,

Writers Circle studio in Hayesville holds the first class of the season on Saturday afternoon, March 22, 1 - 4 p.m.

Poet Karen Paul Holmes, Georgia Representative for Netwest and facilitator for Writers' Night Out, has prepared a workshop on a subject that is imperative for good poetry.

.

Express Yourself Through Poetry

Some of us are better than others when it comes to expressing emotion.

Yet the feeling in the poem is what connects it to the reader. In this class we'll explore how to free ourselves in third person or through a persona.

We'll look at examples of heartfelt poems that do not cross the dangerous bridge of sentimentality.

 

We'll also learn how humor can help communicate serious emotions -- like anger, grief, regret -- in poems that are both salty and sweet, that touch readers' emotional cores while also making them smile.

 

Class will include an optional prompt ahead of time, so you can bring a poem of your own to share.

We will begin taking registrations for this class on March 1. Space is limited.

 

Send a check for $35 to Writers Circle. Mail to 581 Chatuge Lane, Hayesville, NC 28904

 

 

For more info visit:  http://www.glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com/

 

Glenda C. Beall

Writers Circle

CHANGE IN PLANS AT COFFEE WITH THE POETS

I, Glenda Beall, will be sharing some of my poems and short prose atCoffee with the Poets on Wednesday this week, Nov 14, 10:30 a.m. - Café Touche on Main Street  in Hayesville NC.

 

We are so sorry the other Glenda is ill and we will miss her, of course.

 

Sign in and perhaps win a book.I hope you will come, bring a poem or two, or a short prose piece for open mic.

 

Some info about me, in case you didn't know:  

Glenda Beall lives in Hayesville, North Carolina where she teaches writing for adults, and she directs Writers Circle, a learning center for writers of all genres. Finishing Line Press published her chapbook,Now Might as Well Be Then in 2009. Her poem, Tomato Man, won first place in the Clay County Poetry contest sponsored by the Clay County Arts and Historical Society. She was a third place winner in the James Still Poetry Contest sponsored by the Appalachian Writers Association, and she has been awarded several honorable mentions in various literary contests. Her writing education began with classes at the John C. Campbell Folk School where she studied with outstanding authors and poets.

Her poetry has appeared in literary journals and literary anthologies for the past fifteen years. Most recently two poems were included inOn Our Own, Widowhood for Smarties, published by Silver Boomer Books.
Beall’s short stories and non-fiction has been most recently published in online journals, Muscadine Lines, a Southern Journal and the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature.

For the past three years, she has taught memoir writing, creative writing and helped others accomplish their writing goals. She mentors students from her classes at Tri-County Community College, from classes at Writers Circle, her home studio, and she teaches private lessons as well.
Glenda Beall has been an active member of NCWN for sixteen years and serves as representative to the North Carolina Writers’ Network West for Clay County. 

    

IN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT WRITING AT JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL

Questions keep coming to me about writing classes at John C. Campbell Folk School that I cannot answer. I‘m sorry. I no longer know what is happening at JCCFS.  I resigned from my Resident Writer job there in December.  I resigned because I was in a pickle with too little time. I had to take responsibility for my own writing which included the demands of trying to sell Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, a book I edited for NC Writers Network West, and also my own poetry collection Living Above the Frost Line from Carolina Wren Press that was published at the same time.  

I am happy I had the opportunity to serve and teach for fifteen years at John C. Campbell Folk School. I am happy I was able to advance the writing program and help hundreds of writers. That is what I love to do most, and I recall many happy times. My goal while at the school was to keep a balance between writing classes for the literary writers and to also offer classes for the many writers with no interest in publishing who only want to write memoir essays or plan to write their own story for their children. 

Keeping that balance, I offered a wide range of classes from writing one’s life story to  providing specific techniques that focus on character and plot for short and long fiction. I offered free verse poetry writing classes, even mystery writing, writing for children, and historical fiction in the past when we could get an instructor. My goal was to return to offering 24 writing classes a year so that writers across America could have at least two a month to choose from. Twenty-four classes a year remained my goal, even when cuts kept coming.

Your questions about what is happening to the writing classes now keep coming to me, and I do not  have answers. When I saw the current school catalog, I was as surprised as you to see no poetry writing classes. When I resigned, I talked with Program Director Karen Beaty. I suggested poet Rosemary Royston as my replacement because Rosemary Royston also has an MFA in writing, and she has a clear understanding of literature and what is being written today. She has her finger on the writing pulse of our own writing community, and she has contact with hundreds of writers from across America who teach writing.  When I talked with Karen Beaty she said she was not going to name a resident writer now but that she was going to schedule the classes herself. Her concern was the photography studio where the writing classes meet, and she said she planned later to hire a photo journalist to be the new resident writer. 

When I read the current catalog I saw there are 25 photography classes but only 17 writing classes. If the space were shared equally, there would be 25 writing classes and 25 photography classes for the fifty weeks in a folk school year. 

Seven of the writing classes in the current catalog are classes I scheduled before I left JCCFS. Seven others are classes I scheduled in the past that are repeated because of their success such as  “What is Memoir Anyway?” taught by award winning essayist Dana Wildsmith, “Your Life -Your Stories” with Glenda Beall, and “Building a Character” taught by award winning fiction writer Darnel Arnoult . Other successful, repeat classes are “Creative Non Fiction” with Carol Crawford, “The Habitual Writer” taught by Susan  Woodring, “Write Like a Genius” taught by Maureen Ryan Griffin, “Tools of the Trade for Professional Writers” with Wendy Webb and  “Harnessing the Power of Words” taught by Jayne Jaudon Ferrer. Five of these instructors are also published poets with poetry books in print (none self published): Darnel Arnoult, Glenda Beall, Jayne Jaudon Ferrer, Maureen Ryan Griffin, and Dana Wildsmith. Any one of those five writing instructors could teach an excellent poetry writing class.

In reading the catalog, I understand what you are asking. I agree.  Poets paint with words, as they say.  We have been carefully taught that if we have to illustrate our poems with sketches, paintings or photography, then we have indeed failed in our responsibility to deliver the images to the reader.  Seldom or never  will you see a book of poetry with illustrations or any image other than the cover art, which we know, can be a companion piece, but it can never simply “illustrate.”  

Here at the end, I cannot answer your questions. My best advice is, if you are a regular student at the school and if you are truly concerned, contact the Program Director Karen Beaty and talk with her. Let her know what kind of writing classes you want to see offered in the future.  

Also, to the number of you who have asked me about teaching writing at the school, I suggest you apply to teach if you want to.   Apply with a class title and a class description. I do not know what JCCFS wants now, but there used to be three main credentials: 1)You are a published author, probably have a book published (not self published) 2) that you have teaching experience, 3) and that you truly fit in well at the folk school’s  no-lecture, relaxed environment. Before applying, remember that a week at the folk school is super intensive, if not totally exhausting, and being a non-profit, the pay is not up to scale. But if you love learning and if you want to pass on what you know as an instructor, you should apply.  

If it is creative energy for your writing that you seek, the folk school has  an abundance of that energy flying through the air, hitting almost everyone up side the head who happen to be walking across campus, beginning about the middle of each week. I can guarantee that. That is all I know at this point about what is going on at the folk school.

COFEE WITH THE POETS NOVEMBER 10, 2010

NC WRITERS NETWORK WEST's featured poets today at Coffee With the Poets at Phillips at Lloyd Book Store were Maren O. Mitchell of Hiawassee  - Young Harris, Georgia and Linda M. Smith of Hayesville North Carolina.These are popular poets with many publications to their credit.  

Glenda Beall, founder of Coffee With the Poets during the time she was Netwest's Porgram Coordinator, led the program.

During the Open Mic session, a number of Netwest members read poems, including Nancy Simpson who read from her newly published book  LIVING ABOVE TH FROST LINE, New and Selected Poems ( Carolina Wren Press.)  On this, the anniversary of her mother's death, Simpson read the poem, "Argument With My Mother."

Brenda Kay Ledford read a recently published essay written by her mother, Blanche Ledford that was published in a new poetry and prose anthology  TRAVELING TIME (Old Mountain Press.)

Joan Howard read a vivid autumn poem. A number of other Netwest poet's read in the open mic session including Clarence Newton, Glenda Barrett, and long time member Carolyn Johnson.


WHAT IS NEXT?  Some of these writers: Glenda Beall, Linda Smith, Brenda Kay Ledford, Blanche Ledford, Maren O Mitchell,  and Nancy Simpson will be featured  in panel discussion  WRITERS TALKING ABOUT WRITING at Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville 2:00 on Saturday, November 20, 2010.  It is said that they will share some of their writing tips and breakthrough moments in their own writing. The program is free and open to the the public.  All netwest members within driving distance are welcome to come and join in the discussion.