April is Poetry Month - Let us Celebrate!

This is what my friend, the poet Scott Owens says about poetry in his poem inspired by Heath’s Orange Moon. He says the art of poetry “is what won’t sit still inside your head / what wakes you up at night / what calls memory back from darkness / what gives words the shape they take / what makes you wonder how much more you could do / and just why you haven’t been doing it.”

Most poets can't help themselves. They must write poetry. I have said that Scott thinks and dreams in poetic verse and language. Poems flow out of him like an artesian well.

In the most recent class I taught at Tri-County Community College, I could not interest my students in poetry. I mean they simply said no. They did not want to write poetry. They were not interested in reading it either even though I told them how much reading poems could help their prose writing. 

I like this statement by Samuel Taylor Coleridge on the subject of writing poetry and prose.

"I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is prose; words in their best order; - poetry; the best words in the best order."   ... Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Choosing the best words is an important part of making a good poem. I think my favorite part of writing a poem is going back, revising and finding the best word I can to put my reader right where I am when I am writing. 

The poem below tells how a handsome young ski instructor in Colorado teased me, a young married woman and a complete novice at snow skiing. I blame most of this on the altitude.

     High in Colorado

He poses, hip cocked in red and blue,

sun-glistened face of Eros turned to me,

a fledgling atop the icy slope. My

breath quickens in foolish adoration

at the sound of my name from his mouth.

Knees bent, I push on poles and slide

down to him, past him, racing for the edge.

"Sit down," he cries.  My legs collapse,

long shoes shoot sidewise.  I try to rise,

but can't.  He twirls, zips toward me,

digs in.  You know a mogul is a South

Georgia girl who falls and can't get up.

He laughs, his teeth like sparkling icicles.

Giddy Aspen air heliums my brain,

overflows my heart that dances in triple time.

He yanks me up, skims powder to the lift.

At sea level, snow dreams

melt into arrogant soap bubbles

as his smiling face yellows
on a faded brochure beneath my ski apparel.

                                         ... Glenda Council Beall

What do you think? Did the words I used help your image of what happened?

Writers Night Out in Blairsville, GA

Fink and Moore read at WNO in Blairsville, GA 

Read more: http://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/2016/04/fike-and-moore-headline-writers-night.html

Bradley and Howard featured at Coffee with the Poets and Writers in Hayesville in March

A group of writers and poets met at the Moss Library in Hayesville, NC for Coffee with the Poets and Writers, monthly literary event sponsored by NCWN West, a program of the state organization NC Writers Network. 

This day was unusual because we had a mother and three children visiting with us. We also had an author from Hendersonville, NC read today. Miriam Jones Bradley is author of several nonfiction books and a children's mystery series. We love Miriam because she is a delightful person to hang with. Miriam stayed for lunch with us and we all got better acquainted. Miriam speaks in schools on the writing process, so if you want a wonderful speaker and teacher for your school, visit her website and contact her. Or contact me and I will put you in touch.

Miriam Jones Bradley

Our local reader today was Joan Howard, wonderful poet, who lives in Hiawassee, Ga and in Athens, GA. Joan has published in some excellent publications in recent years and her poems today were perfect for the spring weather we experienced.

Joan Howard, poet

Two of the children, eleven and nine years old, read at Open Mic. We were delighted to see they were well mannered, poised and comfortable reading before adults. They are home-schooled by their mother who is evidently doing a great job.  

Joan Gage, a NCWN West member who manages the blog, www.netwestwriters.blogspot.com recorded some of the reading today. She post ed them on www.netwestwriters.blogspot.com. I am so glad Joan Gage moved to Hayesville and joined our writing organization. She is a wonderful volunteer.

We hope other writers and those who just enjoy hearing good writers and poets read their original work, will join us next month on the third Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Our Open Mic welcomes anyone who wants to read a poem or two or a short piece of prose. 

We enjoy the writing and the social atmosphere at Coffee with the Poets and Writers in Hayesville, NC.

Writers' Conference in Blue Ridge, GA April 8-9

Local writers, in WNC and north Georgia, have a great opportunity in April to attend a writers conference near us. In Blue Ridge, GA, Carol Crawford has brought together a fine group of presenters who will cover poetry, nonfiction, fiction and writing for children.  

Stephanie Fretwell-Hill, agent, has vast experience in choosing and  selling books  for children. She  has worked for several publishers in this  field. Stephanie is the keynote speaker.

Blue Ridge Writers' Conference, April 8-9. 

Robert Brewer, senior content editor of the Writer's Digest Community, will speak on poetry.

Steven Harvey, author of The Book Of Knowledge and Wonder, a Memoir, and  other nonfiction books, is  on the program.

Tara Lynne Groth, expert on social media, freelance writing, and marketing, is also a presenter.

Now click HERE to see who else will be there. 

We begin Coffee with the Poets and Writers March 16

Coffee with the Poets and Writers

Hayesville, NC

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 10:00 a.m.

MOSS MEMORIAL LIBRARY

Our first meeting this year of Coffee with the Poets and Writers will feature two members of the North Carolina Writers’ Network West.

Joan Howard, well-published poet from Hiawassee, Georgia will share her poetry with us.  Her poems have been published in the Aurorean, Miller's Pond, The Road Not Taken:The Journal of Formal Poetry, Lucid Rhythms, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Eclectic Muse, Victorian Violet, the Deronda Review, Our Pipe Dreams, The Lyric, GPS The Reach of Song, a chapbook, Red Fox Run, and POEM. 

From Hendersonville, NC, we welcome Miriam Jones Bradley, author of a children’s book series, The Double Cousins Mysteries, a memoir, All I Have Needed-A Legacy for Life, and You Ain’t From Here, Are Ya, Reflections on Southern Culture from an Outsider. The latter is a collection of articles by Bradley, from a South Carolina newspaper. She will read and speak about her writing experience.

Glenda Beall, a Clay County Representative for NCWN West, facilitates this monthly event each year from March – December.

Everyone is invited. You can meet other writers, learn about writing events in the area and read a short prose piece or a couple of poems during Open Mic. There is no charge.

Join us for lunch after the meeting at Angelo’s on the square.

We appreciate the Moss Library providing a room for us. Coffee with the Poets and Writers is sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network West which is a program of the NorthCarolina Writers’ Network.

For more information contact Glenda Beall, 828-389-4441.

Need an agent? Look here.

If  you  have written a book and are looking for an agent, visit this site to see agents seeking authors.

https://medium.com/@ericaverr/7-established-agents-looking-for-writers-e558c25f207f#.ktyp24pol

Even self published authors can find agents that will help them out.

Poetry Class for Beginning Poets and Intermediate Poets

It has been requested that we hold a basic poetry class at Writers Circle.

With enough interest, we will hold a series of poetry classes for beginning and intermediate poets. We will meet for three two-hour sessions over three weeks.
Fees: $25.00 for six hours of class time. Date and time to be announced when we have enough interest. 

In this class we will discuss free verse, other forms of poetry, what a poem needs to get the editor's attention, how to find a poem, prompts from everyday items in your life and much more.

You will learn how to submit poetry for publication and how to search for the best places to send your poetry.

You will have access to books on writing poetry that you may check out.

If you want to write poetry or if you already write poetry but have not taken classes before, this course of study will be beneficial.

Our Studio is located in Hayesville, NC convenient to Hiawassee, GA, Blairsville, GA, Young Harris, GA, and Murphy, NC.

Writers Circle around the table for one of our many classes

Photographs - wonderful prompts for writing

Helen Beall

 The above photograph was taken on a trip from California to Georgia in the early sixties. The woman in the picture is Helen  Beall, mother of the man I would later marry. Several things about this photo provoke memories for stories. She had flown out to San francisco where her son had been living. He was about 25 at the time. When she and Barry decided to come back to Georgia, they climbed into his little MG.  The two of them rode across country in the winter time in a two-seater convertible in which the heater quit working. Somewhere in Texas they encountered a blizzard. I can go on and write the entire story, but I won't do that here.

Barry Beall at my parent's home in Georgia

I was not a fan of the tiny sports car, but Barry loved it. 

Often in my classes I will ask my students to make a list of all the cars they have owned. Our automobiles are like family, close friends, and we often name them. A car is such a personal attachment they live on in our memories long after they are gone. 

The photos above bring to mind a significant time in my life. Barry, my husband, loved convertibles and he loved small sports cars like this Austin Healey. Before we met, he and I had just bought new cars. The white Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible I bought with my own money. As a first year teacher, I splurged and purchased the car of my dreams, a car no one ever thought I would drive. 

When it became obvious we could not afford two car payments, he traded down to the used Austin Healey. I don't think he felt a loss because he still turned heads when he passed, and he loved the thrill of shifting  gears and speeding down country roads. 

Anytime I feel I need to motivate myself to write, I only have to look through my old photograph albums. They hold the key to hundreds, maybe thousands, of stories and poems. 

Have you used pictures to jump-start your writing?