Who is teaching at the Folk School?

The John C. Campbell Folk School is not only a place to learn how to play musical instruments, dance, sing, and create beautiful paintings and other crafts, they have a wonderful writing program as well.

In the early '90s, Dr. Gene Hirsch, a poet, persuaded the school to include writing as one of the arts taught on the lovely campus. 

The program continues today with excellent instructors. Visit this page and see what is offered now for poets and prose writers in the coming year.

I studied poetry with some outstanding poets and took classes with other writers. Some of the people I recommend are Valerie Nieman, Carol Crawford, and Dana Wildsmith. All of them are excellent and you will enjoy being a part of their classes. 

Carol Crawford

At the folk school, there are no grades, no harsh criticism, and only kindness and enthusiasm prevail. Competition is not encouraged. 

I built friendships there that have lasted for many years. The folk school is like a fun vacation where you do something you enjoy all the time, and take home something very special when you leave. 

Right now the campus is glowing with fall color. I remember how I used to feel when I walked through the fallen leaves along the paths and trails. It is a happy place where no one is judged or made to feel unworthy. I always left there with a happy heart. 

If you can, you should go and spend a week or even a weekend, at the John C. Campbell Folk School. You will never forget it.

What? No Charge? Yes, just this once with Gene Hirsch

Poetry classes with Dr. Gene Hirsch is an experience unlike most workshops. He dearly loves poetry and poets and delves deeply into why we write what  we do and what we want to say in our work. He doesn't dwell on technique or basics we have heard so many times. Students in his classes find themselves going deeper into their poems than they had done before.

For years, he has had a  following of poets in our local area. It started with his classes at John C. Campbell Folk School. He never bowed to the norm, but encouraged his students to reach higher.

We have a few places left in his class on Sunday, May 25, at Writers Circle. This will be a small gathering of only 8 students. He will lead us in a discussion on Inspiration and Poet's Block.

Inspiration and Poets’ Block
Inspiration and writer’s block are two widely used, poorly understood antithetical terms. In this class we will study and share your views and experiences with these concepts. Please bring one poem to discuss in terms of its inspiration and meaning for you. Please bring a short written explanation of your views and experiences with inspiration and one regarding block, for discussion. Please bring 10 copies of each. Class limit, eight poets.

Call 828-389-4441 or email nightwriter0302@yahoo.com if you can come. We are offering this class - a one time only opportunity - at no charge.
Come and spend the afternoon talking about poetry with other poets and friends.
Time: 1 - 4 p.m.

I Give You Scott Owens

Since 2009, after I resigned as Program Coordinator for our local writing organization, I brought writers together at my studio at my house. My guest instructors come and hold three hour workshops for a very small fee. My guests, both instructors and students, have seemed to be very pleased with this arrangement. Anyone who knows me knows that I am making hardly enough off this venture to pay for the overhead, certainly not making tons of money. I am happy when I make enough to pay the expenses for the teachers. I enjoy the classes and enjoy bringing good writers and poets here for the writers in our area.

My Gift

I think of Writers Circle as something I can do for the writing community in my area. It is my gift to my friends and fellow writers, and it is a gift that I enjoy as well. We have some of the best poets and writers teaching here. Recently, my long time friend and heralded poet, Gene Hirsch, spent a Sunday afternoon in the studio with six poets who found the time together exhilarating and stimulating. My friend, Mary Mike, and I enjoyed lunch on her sunny porch recently and discussed our notes on that class.

On Saturday, June 15th, we will have with us, Scott Owens, one of North Carolina's most important poets and also one of the busiest poets I know. Scott teaches at Catawba College in Hickory, NC.
His workshop title is: The Essential Practices of Writing.
This workshop will focus on four habits all writers need to foster in practicing their craft. Some time will be given to invention strategies, hopefully resulting in the creation of at least one new piece and students are encouraged to submit a short piece ahead of the workshop for possible review and critique. 

All questions and topics for discussion are welcome.
Call me at 828-389-4441 for registration information or visit here.

Guest Post on the subject of Poetry by Mary Mike Keller

Today we have a guest post from Mary Michelle Brodine Keller, poet, writer, painter and instructor. Thank you Mary Mike for posting today.

Mary Michelle Brodine Keller

Poetry classes by skilled Poets 

This past week I found myself with seven others at the knee of Gene Hirsch learning “the relationship of a poem’s art and the aim of the poem to the information from which it is written.”  

Those of us gathered, poems in hand, worked hard, if not struggled to put our minds around something that was not a tool or technique but craftsmanship.  We dug deep into ourselves and the poems, separating the poem from the poet, finding the focus, naming the vehicle, the thread that runs through, the essences and the art with which the poem elicits a reaction from the reader. 

   

Not long ago I took a workshop at The Writers Circle taught by Scott Owens.  The focus of that day was meter, not the “ta da ta da” counting of accented syllables as written, but counting the accents as they are actually read. They are different and can be tricky to count as you read aloud. This was about a tool or technique that could improve a poem from awkward to flowing. 

Thinking on the two classes, I realize how important it is to marry the non-technical with the technical, by doing so, we as poets can write poems that grab the reader and will not let go.

There are many places available to writers who want to learn how to write the best they can. We are fortunate to have The Writers Circle.  Skilled writers come from near and far to teach for one day or several days.  A full range of classes is available, including poetry, memoirs, writing your ancestor’s stories, publishing, essay, fiction and others. Take advantage of this resource.  It is the best in this area.

Mary Michelle Brodine Keller is a published poet and writer, and a seasoned genealogist.  She is a member of NCWN West and is on faculty at Writers Circle where she will teach a course in August, From Bones To Flesh. - Genealogy and writing class.