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.

Well Blow the Tannery Whistle. Look Who's Come to Murphy.

Appalachian Story Teller, Playwright and film maker Gary Carden entertained a large audience at the Learning Center in Murphy, NC last night, January 30, 2009. The event was sponsored by North Carolina Writers Network West, of which Gary Carden is a member. He was introduced to the audience as a "National Treasure" by Glenda Beall, Program Coordinator. I was there, and I can tell you Gary Carden's is a one man show. His theme was "Blow the Tannery Whistle" and minute by minute he took each and every one of us back to the small mountain town of Sylva, North Carolina as it was in the 1940s.

The story "Blow the Tannery Whistle" is largely autobiographical Carden said. It is the tale of a mountain boy who entertains himself by acting out stories. His grandparents seeing him talking to himself, worry about his sanity. They think he has bad blood from his mother's side of the family. Finally the men family and the men of the town meet to see if the boy should be sent away. The boy's life is changed when it is determined that he might not be all that different from the college boys seen around town. The family decides to send him to Teacher's College down the road in Cullowhee. Those who know Gary Carden, know that he did go to college, and there he had a wonderful time acting in plays and learning how a script is written.

Carden has spent 40 years of his life promoting life and culture in Southern Appalachian Mountains. He was born here in the mountains, raised here and educated here. On August 1, 2007, Western Carolina University bestowed upon Carden the Honorary Doctorate in Letters. Chancellor John Bardo presided over the ceremony.

Through the years Gary Carden made his living as a story teller, playwright and film maker. Here in the last cold, dreary days of winter, my advice to you, especially if you missed the program in Murphy last night, is get some of his audio tapes, and DVDs
to entertain yourself and your family.

Where to get them? www.tannerywhistle.com. At the Cary Carden web site, you can see all that is available, all at reasonable prices. "Mason Jars in the Flood and Other Stories" won the 2001 Appalachian Writers Association Award. It is available. Also "Papa's Angels" , "The Raindrop Waltz" and other plays, also the film The Prince of Dark Places is on DVD. It tells the legendary story of South Carolina outlaw Lewis Redmond. Also available is the film Willa, an American Snow White tale.

Another possibility is that you might invite Gary Carden to come visit your town. He will entertain you.