WRITING CLASS IN MARCH BEGINS MARCH 12

The writing class, Writing Stories for Your Children and Grandchildren, at Tri-County Community College in Murphym, NC will be postponed for one week. 

The classes will begin on Tuesday, March 12, one week later than was originally planned, 3 - 5 p.m. each Tuesday for six weeks. So we will end this course a week later than planned.

We have met our minimum for the class and I am looking forward to meeting new writers and greeting some of my former students.

In spite of the title, this class is for anyone who likes to write true stories. We write narratives about our lives for our family or for publication. 

Back in the fifties friends gathered for a party

My students have run from age 21 to 92. All have had wonderful stories to tell. One young woman is now writing guest posts for a blog, Busted Halo, as well as writing her own story on her blog.

She is being paid for her writing, and had never thought she could do that until she took my class at John C. Campbell.

Another student published her memoir last year. We never know until we try, just what we can do. 

Nadine Justice with her memoir, I'm a Coal Miner's Daughter  But I Cain't Sang

Gread Reading at John C. Campbell last night

For the first time in a while, I went out to a reading last night. Nadine Justice, author of I'm a Coal Miner's Daughter, But I Cain't Sang, was delightful and the audience loved her. She has a sense of humor that comes through in her writing. 

Mary Ricketson, one of my very favorite poets, always brings me to tears when she reads poems about her only child, her son who is super smart and won a scholarship to MIT or one of those big colleges. I feel I've watched him grow up from a boy by reading and listening to Mary read her poems about him. 

I told her last night that, although I've not had a child, she touches my maternal instinct or maybe it is my growing up with a mother like Mary. I saw my mother go through all the angst of teenagers making mistakes she couldn't prevent, seeing hurts she couldn't heal, and just giving them all the love a mother can give. I know Mother prayed for her children. I was one of her main worries. Always wearing my emotions on my shoulders, I came to Mother to ease my pain when I was hurt. 

Mary's son is grown and on his own now, but her poems about him continue to show a strong bond between mother and son.
The Journal of Kentucky Studies has published one of Mary's poems, her first in a literary journal. That was the first literary journal that published one of my poems. In fact the editor, Gary Walton, has published a number of my poems over the years. And I am grateful.

Nadine's book, which I watched develop from the beginning, has memorable stories about her own childhood with a mother she couldn't relate to, and a father she adored. In her memoir about her life growing up in the coal camps, then her travels overseas, and her failed marriages, I see another strong woman like Mary. Nadine has two daughters and I'm sure she has prayed many times for her children. I find her book extremely interesting and by the mail she has received, others find it a good read, too. 

Anyway,  I am so glad I went out to hear these fine writers share their work last night. I appreciate all those who came and really appreciate the Folk School for hosting Netwest each month.

And thanks to Linda Smith who schedules the readings.
  

  

Mary Ricketson and Nadine Justice will read at JCCFS Thursday night

JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL

Mary Ricketson, Poet and writer

              On Thursday, February 21, 2013,  John Campbell Folk School  and  NC Writers Network West sponsor the monthly reading in the Keith House by members of NCWN. The reading is free of charge and open to the public.  Poets Mary Ricketson and writer, Nadine Justice will be the featured readers.  

Mary Ricketson’s poetry has been published in her chapbook, I Hear the River Call My Name, Lights in the Mountains, Freeing Jonah IV, Freeing Johah V, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Future Cycle Press,Your Daily Poem, Journal of Kentucky Studies, various magazines and in Disorgananza, a private collection distributed among family and friends.  She won the gold medal for poetry in the 2011 Cherokee County Senior Games/Silver Arts.  She won first place in the 2011 Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest national poetry contest.

Mary writes a monthly column, Woman to Woman, for The Cherokee Scout.  She is a member of the North Carolina Writers Network, a mental health counselor, and a farmer.

Mary says she writes to satisfy a hunger, to taste life all the way down to the last drop.  She gains perspective from family and friends, her Appalachian home, and her life’s work as a counselor.

Writing poetry places her in kinship with her own life.

Mary Ricketson is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor in Murphy, North Carolina.  She brings more than thirty years experience to her work, with twenty-five years in private practice.  She is a founding board member of  REACH.  She has a special interest in women’s issues, victims of abuse, and family and couple relationships.  She offers innovative ways to effect change in difficult life patterns, including Journey to Intuition and Neurofeedback.  She is listed in Who’s Who in American Women.

Nadine Justice

Nadine Justice divides her time between a mountain-top cottage in north Georgia and her home in Atlanta. For the past few years she has worked on a memoir which was published last year. Excerpts have been published in an anthology by the Georgia Mountain Writers Club. She also enjoys a successful career as an interior designer. Her design work has been featured twice in Better Homes and Gardens and in Atlanta Custom Home magazines.

Nadine grew up in West Virginia and is the daughter of a coal miner. She is married to a retired federal agent, and enjoys spending time with her four “perfect” grandchildren.

Nadine is a new member of the North Carolina Writers' Network. She will share portions of her book, I'm a coal Miner's Daughter, But I Cain't Sang, at the reading on Thursday night. 

POETRY CLASS AT JCCFS APRIL 12 - NEEDS MORE STUDENTS

Check out this poetry class at John C. Campbell Folk School on the weekend of April 12. Sounds amazing, doesn't it?

We hear it will get cancelled unless more students sign up. Take this opportunity, if you live in the local area, to get the 1//2 price fee. Here's the description:

MITAKUYE OYASIN: POETRY AND THE NATURAL WORLD 

"Mitakuye Oyasin" is a Lakota Sioux prayer translated, "We are all related." It's a prayer of gratitude for all living things. In that spirit, enjoy the poetry of Wendell Berry, Mary Oliver, and others as we explore the poetic voices of the natural world. Using science and history, we'll investigate how writing poetry can reveal and deepen our relationship to this amazing planet. We'll gain inspiration from early spring in the mountains by taking our classroom outdoors on peaceful walks. All levels welcome. 

Instructor: Mary Carroll-Hackett: Mary earned her MFA from Bennington College in Vermont in 2003. She now teaches creative writing at Longwood University in Virginia, where she founded "The Dos Passos Review," edits for Briery Creek Press, and administers the Liam Rector First Book Prize for Poetry. Mary's fiction has appeared in "The Carolina Quarterly," "Clackamas Literary Review," "The Pedestal Magazine," and other literary journals. She is the author of several books and chapbooks, most recently "The Real Politics of Lipstick" from Slipstream Press

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LINDA SMITH - reads at Coffee with the Poets Hayesville

Linda Smith of Hayesville, NC is the featured reader at Coffee with the Poets on Wednesday, February 13, 10:30 a.m. at Blue Mountain Restaurant in Murphy, NC. Linda is a published poet. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals. She has been an active member of NCWN West for a number of years. At present she schedules the monthly folk school readings at John C. Campbell Folk School and is an excellent MC for this event.

LINDA SMITH, POET AND WRITER

Linda's poems capture a human feeling or a moment in time here in the southern Appalachian mountains. She says her writing is inspired by the place where she lives. Linda has been a student of Nancy Simpson for years and her writing has blossomed.

Coffee with the Poets will be held in a new venue, Blue Mountain Restaurant corner of Hwy 141 and US 64 Alternate near the Murphy Medical Center across from Tri-County College in Cherokee County. Come out and support this event and enjoy Linda's reading. Open mic is held after the reading so guests are invited to bring a poem or a short prose piece to share. Those who just want to listen are most welcome as well. Stay for lunch. The food is good at Blue Mountain. 

This writing event has been sponsored by North Carolina Writers' Network West, chapter of the state literary organization, NCWN since 2007. 

Another Poetry Book by Robert S. King forthcoming

I have the pleasure of posting an article by my friend Robert S. King. He is to be congratulated, again, for another book of his fine poetry to be published soon. Following are Robert's words.

I am pleased to announce that just this month I signed a contract with Sweatshoppe Publications, a new and very hard-working publisher. They have scheduled my book of poetry, One Man’s Profit, for publication by the end of February 2013. More information is available at the publisher's website.  An order link is forthcoming.

One Man’s Profit is my sixth collection of poetry and contains poems written during the past two years. The manuscript went through many revisions and versions. I wish to thank several folks who read and/or commented on the book, helping me to get it into shape. My appreciation goes to Nancy Simpson, Diane Kistner, Scott Owens, David Chorlton, and Joanne Lowery for their input.

Obviously, a poet must promote his work, so I have already scheduled six reading events and will post those dates on my website's calendar in the near future.

When the book is available for sale, I hope you will support this new publisher and this old poet.

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Robert, with age comes wisdom. We will enjoy One Man's Profit as we have enjoyed all of your poetry.

Keep Dreaming - Reach for your goal - No matter your age.

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
                                           - C.S. Lewis

This week I received a call from a local radio station. A nice woman asked if I could help her get local writers to appear on her morning talk show. I told her I thought I could.

I received a call today asking if writers might be interested in an event with other artists on the square in Hayesville to promote their work. I know I would be interested in promoting my work, my writing studio and my published writing. Perhaps we will have the opportunity.

A writer and dear friend asked me to accompany her to an event in Hendersonville, NC in February where we will both speak to a large group. I look forward to that, and hopefully to seeing some of my friends in Netwest while I am there.

What makes us go on each day, even when life has punched us in the solar-plexus? What makes us continue to dream about what tomorrow holds and what we can accomplish?

Some days I awake with pain in every muscle and tendon in my body. Other days I awake and want to pull the covers over my head and hope I don't have to see anyone all day. But those things have nothing to do with age. I had those same symptoms when I was much younger. Back then I often gave in to those painful days. Now, I know that time is precious. Today is gone quickly and will never be here again. So I force myself to think about the list I have made of things I want to get done today.

Some things on my list are not part of my dreams. I might have to see a doctor, keep an appointment with an accountant, make a call that I've already postponed, take my car in for repairs, but I remind myself that sometime during this day I will have the opportunity to brighten someone's day, with a smile or a word of appreciation. I might receive good news, get invited to read, to teach, to speak on writing. And before I go to sleep, I will take the time to write. Writing always brightens my day.

Dear Readers, I appreciate each one of you who stops in and visits here, and I really appreciate your comments.