Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Mary Ricketson's March 'Woman to Woman' Column

Cherokee County NCWN/NetWest Representative Mary Ricketson writes a monthly column for the local newspaper, the Cherokee Scout. She has graciously shared her March column with us:
"March is women’s history month.  We are amazing people.  I am inspired by literally every woman I meet.  Every one of us has something to offer the world in some dimension.  All of us are unique, no one like us in the whole universe.  But unless we are famous, our stories get lost in the shuffle. 
One way to inspire girls and women is to tell stories of accomplished women.  Famous women like the pilot Amelia Earhart and astronaut Sally Ride inspire all of us.  We should keep telling the stories of famous women and their accomplishments.  But we should tell our local stories too.  Women in our families and those next door, and in the next county leave footprints every day for the rest of us to follow.  Each of us leaves footprints.  We are known for our courage, self-sacrifice, accomplishments and sometimes for our cooking.  We are known for our brains, our smile, our guts, and our stubbornness.
I remember a story of my mother.  I was a little girl, and my sister was a toddler.  We were walking in the park on a sunny afternoon, and there was a duck pond.  This duck pond was very special and inviting, and the sun shined on the deepest spot.  Somehow my mother got distracted, looked away, and did not see my sister walk into the pond.  She wanted to pet the ducks.  Now, my sister didn’t know how to swim but my mother did not either.  Quickly my mother turned around to see her youngest daughter sinking in the water.  Mother, armed only with adrenaline, rushed right in that pond, grabbed her precious child, and got back to shore before either of them drowned.  My sister does not walk into duck ponds anymore, but she does walk daily into difficult projects with single minded determination.  And she learned how to swim.
This story gets told over and over, for the memory, for the laughs, for the courage, and for any other reason that comes to mind.  Most of our stories are not pilots, astronauts, politicians, or anyone famous.  Our stories are about women in our lives, salt of the earth women, women who keep life going anyway we can.
Let’s tell the history of women, our women, and keep ourselves inspired.  Let’s tell our stories to girls and also to boys.  Let’s tell stories of women with a spirit of respect and admiration.  We are not courageous all the time, and we are not perfect.  We are ordinary women, and special and wonderful and unique, every one of us.  Keep our stories alive."
Thank you, Mary. We also hope that women everywhere will be inspired.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Poet and Writer, Dana Wildsmith teaches at Writers Circle in April

Workshop at Writers Circle around the Table in Hayesville, NC
CHANGING FACT TO FICTION,
OR: CHANGING I TO US

   All we have to work with when we set out down fiction's road is the stuff of our lives, but that's enough. Every one of us has  a couple of horror-story-worthy relatives, and we've all lived through years of high drama in our lives. The material is there, for sure, but the rub lies in figuring out how to use that material when memoir is not our aim. In this class, we'll talk about ways to use those three crazy uncles of yours to flesh out one strong character for a story or novel, how to conduct and make use of interviews, and a little about scene-writing. This will be a class for all levels of fiction writers.

Bio:
Dana Wildsmith's  environmental memoir, Back to Abnormal: Surviving With An Old Farm in the New South, was Finalist for Georgia Author of the Year. She is the author of five collections of poetry, including most recently, Christmas in BethlehemWildsmith has served as Artist-in-Residence for Grand Canyon National Park, as Writer-in-Residence for the Island Institute in Sitka, Alaska, and she is a Fellow of the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences. 

April 12, Saturday, 1 - 4 p.m. 2014:

Fee: $45

Friday, March 21, 2014

Sharpen Your Pencils for the 2014 Silver Arts

Every spring, thousands of people participate in the North Carolina Senior Games. SilverArts is a major component of the traditional athletic competition of the Games, uniting athletes and artists in a program that recognizes the similarities of both endeavors: discipline, dedication, and pride in one's accomplishments.

SilverArts, "a celebration of the creative expression of seniors in North Carolina" provides a stage for the creative talents of the visual, heritage, literary, and performing artists. It's held locally between February 1 and June 15. 

The literary category for SilverArts is divided into these sub-categories: Essays, Life Experiences (autobiographical), Poems, Short Stories (fiction).

Qualifiers in each category are invited to participate each fall in the Senior Games State Finals held in Raleigh. Every two years, the State Finals winners qualify to represent North Carolina at the National Senior Games and 2014 is the National Qualifying event in North Carolina.

Each county or region facilitates a SilverArts competition in conjunction with the Senior Games. Because the dates vary, it's best to contact your county or region here, for complete information. 

So sharpen those pencils and get ready! Click here for complete guidelines for the literary arts category. And here for an informative booklet, including information on how to become a qualifier.

For a complete list of categories available in your county or region, click here. 


Tuesday, March 18, 2014

"Singing It Forward" With Kathryn Stripling Byer at the Lanier Library Poetry Festival


What: Lanier Library Poetry Festival

Where: 72 Chestnut Street, Tryon, North Carolina 28782

When: April 26, 2014


April in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains is a beautiful month, one might even say pure poetry. So please join Kathryn Stripling Byer and other celebrated poets, including Joseph Bathanti, at the Lanier Library on April 26, 2014, for a day of inspiration, education and a sociable gathering of creative minds.

The Lanier Library in Tryon, North Carolina will be hosting a new literary festival celebrating one of the most beloved and advanced forms of literature in the history of the written word: POETRY.

They have invited some of the country’s most respected poets to lead a variety of writing workshops; to discuss poetry’s importance in our lives; to offer publication advice; and to give free public readings of their work and autograph their books.

A highlight of the day is a catered luncheon with honored guest Mark Doty. Doty has published eight collections of his poetry, including Fire to Fire, which won the coveted National Book Award in Poetry in 2008.  The festival concludes with a public reception at the Lanier Library to announce the winners of the sixth annual Sidney Lanier Poetry Competition (open to poets in North and South Carolina and Georgia). 

This year’s judge of the competition is current North Carolina Poet Laureate Joseph Bathanti, who will speak at the reception.  In addition, the prize recipients will read their winning poems.  Hors d’oeuvres and wine will be served.

Registration deadline is April 15. For a registration form and full details: www.lanierlib.org/poetryfestival2014

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

NetWest Writers Conference

The NC Writers' Network-West is pleased to announce the NetWest Writers Conference on May 10, 2014 at the historic Jackson County Courthouse Library Complex in Sylva, NC. For more details, please click here or on the Conference tab on our sites.