Great article on Scott Owens in Pirene's Fountain Poetry Journal

Scott Owens, poet, teacher, editor and facilitator, taught a workshop at Writers Circle in October. All of our students enjoyed and learned a great deal from Scott who has authored seven books of poetry.
Pirene's Fountain Poetry Journal included an interview with Scott and a number of his poems in their recent issue. The article is well-written and interesting. Find the article  here 

Get acquainted with Scott and with Pirene's Fountain, an online journal published twice a year.

Saturday workshop with Scott Owens

It was lively here this weekend. Our guest instructor, Scott Owens, highly published poet, teacher, speaker, and editor of Wild Goose Poetry Review, arrived on Friday afternoon for his reading at Writers Night Out, held in Hiawassee, GA at Mountain Perk. We made him comfortable in our guest room overnight, and Scott was up at 5:00 a.m. quietly enjoying his self-made breakfast.

I warned him I am not an early riser, and he would have to fend for himself with cereal, fruit and juice, if he wanted breakfast before 8:00 a.m..

The enthusiastic poets and writers who had registered for his three hour workshop arrived with questions and were eager to hear Scott speak. One of them told me she felt this was one of the best workshops she had taken. Although she has been writing for many years, she picked up constructive tips on writing poetry and essays.

I was unable to go to Writers Night Out, and I missed the NCWN West picnic this year where Scott was the guest speaker, but I'm sure our local area writers enjoyed the priviledge of meeting him and learning from him.

Writers Circle became somewhat of a writing retreat for Scott as he had the place to himself for one day and one evening. All I asked of him was to feed Tiger, the resident cat.

Tiger, resident cat

MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN and SCOTT OWENS teach in October

October is chock full of writing events, that's for sure. We have two major events scheduled for Writers Circle and you don't want to miss either of them.
From Charlotte, NC, Maureen Ryan Griffin, poet, writer, teacher and owner/director of WordPlay ( See her website here) will stop by and give a three hour workshop on Saturday, October 29. If you haven't had the experience of taking Maureen's classes, don't miss this opportunity. The theme for the day? FOOD!! How much can you write on that subject? Anthologies have been published on just that theme.
If you are a beginning writer or an experienced writer you will learn and have fun in this class.
As you know we have limited space, so don't wait to register. Send a check  ($22.50) to Writers Circle, 581 Chatuge Lane, Hayesville, NC.28904

Also in October, Scott Owens, poet, editor, teacher and more, from Hickory NC, will spend the weekend with us. That is October 15 and 16.
He will read at Writers Night Out in Hiawassee, GA on Friday evening. But he will teach at Writers Circle on Saturday, October 15. His class is not only for poets, but for fiction and non-fiction writers as well.
Come to the Netwest Picnic on Sunday, October 16,  and hear him talk about his favorite subject writing and publishing.

See Schedule at the top of this blog for time and other information.

Writers in Western NC and beyond

All writers in western Noerth Carolina should take note of the North Carolina Writers Network Fall Conference in Asheville In November. Seldom do we have anything of this quality in our mountain area. Read what Scott Owens says about it.

One of NC's largest annual writers' events, the NC Writers' Network Fall Conference, is now open for registration. The conference will take place this year November 18 through 20 at the Double Tree Hilton in Asheville, just a block from the entrance to Biltmore Estate.

The keynote address of this year's conference will be given Friday night by award-winning novelist Silas House. Another highlight will be Saturday night's performance by Asheville Poetry Review Founding Editor Keith Flynn and his band The Holy Men.

Master classes in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction will be offered by Sebastian Matthews, Tommy Hays, and Tony Abbott. Five workshop sessions, including 18 workshops in all spread across Saturday and Sunday, will feature instruction in poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and drama from such well-known writers as Asheville's Katherine Soniat and Holly Iglesias, Appalachian State professor Joseph Bathanti, novelist Ellyn Bache, nature writer George Ellison, and poets Scott Owens and Nancy Simpson.

A Marketing Mart with publishers and booksellers, Laura Hope-Gill, Nicki Leone, Stacy Hope Jones, and Laine Cunningham, will provide writers with an opportunity to create or refine an effective plan to pitch, promote, and sell their current, upcoming, or proposed books. Thirty-minute critique sessions with Bache, Cunningham, Rosemary Royston, or Jan Parker will provide in-depth literary critiques of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenplays. And the Manuscript Mart will allow authors to pitch their manuscripts and get feedback from publishers, editors, and agents from Algonquin Books, Press 53, FinePrint Literary Management, John F. Blair Publishers, or Judith Ehrlich Literary Management.

As always numerous exhibitor tables will give participants the chance to chat with publishers, literary journals, support organizations, and other friends of writers.

Registration material and more information on the conference faculty can be found at http://www.ncwriters.org/. All workshops and classes have limited capacity, and the conference is typically attended by several hundred participants, so early registration is important.


posted By Scott Owens to Musings at 9/08/2011 09:32:00 AM
Scott Owens


www.scottowenspoet.com

www.scottowensmusings.blogspot.com

www.poetryhickory.com

www.wildgoosepoetryreview.com

www.234journal.com

www.poetrycouncilofnc.wordpress.com

Owens' Review on our mountain writers

I am always impressed with Scott Owens' reviews on his blog, Musings. He has done the best with this review. Please read what he has to say about Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, edited by Nancy Simpson. He also includes poetry by some of my good friends and fellow writers.

He published, in this issue of Wild Goose Poetry Review, a poem I wrote after my husband Barry passed away.

I hope you will read it and leave me a comment. I know that many of you have felt the same way.

Look Who's in Wild Goose Poetry Review

On his site, Musings, Scott Owens says,
The new issue of Wild Goose Poetry Review went online last Wednesday, and it has already had over 1200 views. The most popular item in the issue so far has been the review of "The Sound of Poets Cooking," with nearly 100 views. The review of Rhett Iseman Trull's "The Real Warnings" has been second most popular with about half that many views, followed by three poems by Maren Mitchell. The most gratifying part of this release for me has been the number of people leaving comments and the conversations about poetry that have developed as a result.
I am delighted to see poems by Maren Mitchell and Brenda Kay Ledford in the present issue of Wild Goose Poetry Review, the online journal edited by Scott Owens. Scott visited our far western part of NC earlier this year and our poets turned out to hear his work. He read at Coffee with the Poets and he heard Maren and Brenda Kay read their poems.
Now both Netwest poets have been published in the Wild Goose.
Go over and read this issue and let me know what you think of the reviews and the poems.
Karen Holmes and I will read at Scott's Poetry Hickory tomorrow evening at Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse in Hickory.

SPRING CONFERENCE IN GREENSBORO

The NCWN Spring Conference was fun as always. It was good to see some of the writers I seldom see except at the conferences. Valerie Nieman is now Poetry Editor for Press 53. Such a warm person, good teacher and writer. I was happy to see Al Manning again. Haven't seen him since he left WNC for the flatlands of the Piedmont. He is a NCWN Rep and seems to be moving things along in his area.
Alice Osborn is also a Network Rep and you see her name numerous times in the Literary Calendar emailed to members each week.
Like Scott Owens, Alice is very busy.
I enjoyed half a day of non-fiction class and then sat in on Scott's class. He gave us the greatest prompt that should keep us busy for eons.
We here in far western NC will be priviledged to hear Scott's poetry read at Coffee with the Poets on May 12 at Phillips and Lloyds in Hayesville and again at Mountain Perk at 7:00 p.m. that night.

The trip to Greensboro was extremely long and I was happy that Lana Hendershott invited me to stay at her house on Thursday and Saturday nights. Still, I was beyond tired today.

Worked on a brochure for Writers Circle. Hope to have that out to the public soon. Received an invitation to judge the poetry section of the Silver Arts for Cherokee County. I look forward to reading all the entries.

Did you attend the Spring Conference? What did you like or dislike about the day? Let's tell Ed what he could do to make it better and what he did that was perfect.

2011 Looks Good at Writers Circle

WRITERS CIRCLE IN SPRING

Writers Circle will start classes in March of 2011. I am happy to note that instructors from last year will be back. Estelle Rice, Rosemary Royston, Michelle Keller, Paul Donovan, Karen Holmes and I will teach from March through September.

Rosemary Royston, Poet, teacher, and Program Coordinator for NCWN West.

Add to those talented writers and teachers, Scott Owens, Maureen Ryan Griffin and Joann Dropp who are from Hickory NC, Charlotte NC, and Kennesaw, GA.

We promise you some great writing classes.

Estelle Rice kicks off the season on Saturday March 12 with Polish Your Prose and Poetry. Register now. Call 828-389-4441 or email glendabeall@msn.com

The three hour class fee is $30. Coffee, tea and pastries will be served.