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Finding your voice through written word
A creative writing course will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday from June 18 through July 23, in the Bradford Hall Conference Room at Southwestern Community College in Sylva.
The participants will strive to have at least one completed work by the end of the series. The course will cover “Writing from the Heart,” “Your Precious Heritage,” “Powerful Beginnings,” “Writing with a Purpose/Plot,” “Weaving Fiction into Fact,” “The 4 Keys of Pacing,” “Persuade with Power,” “Selecting and Directing Your Writings” and “Overview of Writing From Your Heart.”
Cost is $40 per person.
Pulitzer Prize novel discussed in Waynesville
Kicking off the Let’s Talk About It Summer Series with The Known World, Friends of the Haywood Library will hold a discussion from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, June 20, at the Waynesville Public Library.
The series, entitled “Journeys Across Time and Place: Mapping Southern Identities,” asks people constantly to rethink their personal and collective identities in the flow of history, and will help explore how the journey that shapes such thinking is likely different for each of us. Written by Edward P. Jones, The Known World won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2003. The novel’s characters have lived in his head since the 1970s while Jones was a student. Much of the story was based on the stories his mother told as family history.
Blake Hobby, professor at the University of North Carolina-Asheville, will lead the discussion. Refreshments will be served. The series is made possible by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council and the Friends of the Library.
828.456.5311 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Book sale in Cashiers
The popular Friends of the Albert Carlton Library Annual Book Sale takes place from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 21-22 at the library in Cashiers.
The sale features previously owned hardcover books, paperbacks, DVDs and CDs donated by library patrons. All items are in fine to good condition and are free. Donations are gratefully accepted.
Bags and boxes will be available for those choosing large quantities of books.
Friends of the Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library is a non-profit group devoted to the support of the library and its staff through funding, free programs and volunteer service. Membership is open to all who believe in the importance of public libraries to individuals and communities. Membership forms available at the front desk.
828.743.5940 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
WNC young writers win awards
As part of “Love Your Library” week, the awards for the “If I Were A Book” writing contest will be presented at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, June 27, at the Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library.
A writing contest for middle schoolers in the Cashiers and Highlands area, 75 students submitted entries, about half prose and half poetry. The judges Ben Eller, Joyce Foster, Eva Hansen, Charlene Homolka and Deanna Klingel had a difficult time selecting winners from the numerous entries, but they did choose the following: Prose - First place, Emma Carter, Summit Charter School; Second place, Raina Sharon Trent, home school; Third place, Sally Bloom, Summit; Honorable mentions, Noah Maxwell, Blue Ridge School and Wesley Hedden, Highlands School. Poetry - First place, Micah Buchanan, Blue Ridge; Second place, Rylie Talmadge, Summit; Third place, Ryan Houser, Highlands; Honorable mention, Abigail Taylor Gilbert, Highlands.
The Friends of the Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library and the Cashiers Writers Group sponsored the contest.
Trio of Haywood County Poets to read at Blue Ridge Books
You might think of them as “the Brothers Grin.” Fellow poets Michael Beadle, William Everett and Charley Pearson will perform original verse of wit and wordplay at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 29, at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville. The event will offer a variety of poetry styles from ballads and playful rhymes to an abecedarium (using all the letters of the alphabet), and the experimental French Oulipo form.
Beadle, an award-winning poet, touring writer-in-residence, and local history author, will be reading and performing from his latest poetry collection, Invitation. The book offers a mix of SLAM poems, parodies and amusing verse. Beadle regularly performs poetry at schools, festivals and special events around the state, including summer evenings at Cataloochee Ranch and 4th of July and Christmas celebrations in downtown Waynesville.
Joining in Beadle’s book release will be William Everett and Charley Pearson. Everett, a retired Christian ethics scholar, novelist and poet, recently produced his first collection of poems called Turnings. Charley Pearson, a retired nuclear engineer with the U.S. Navy, writes fiction and entertaining ballads – a few of which he will recite. Pearson is also president of the Mountain Writers literary group, which provides support, critiques, and writing contests for Haywood County writers.
Books will be available for sale after the reading.
828.456.6000.
Owenby to discuss novel
Local author Roy Owenby will present a talk about his novel, The Owl Knows, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 25, at the Jackson County Public Library Complex in Sylva.
An Appalachian Trail mystery set in Macon County, the novel is about two female teachers hiking the trail, where one is murdered and the other mysteriously disappears. The plot thickens as local law enforcement, aided by the FBI, begin to unravel the mystery.
Owenby is a featured writer for the Burningtown News, an online newspaper. He has written more than 200 short stories, many of which will be featured in an upcoming book titled Taters, Corn Shellers and Lard Buckets, a caricature of Southern Appalachian life.
This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. It is free and open to the public.
828.586.2016.
WNC writer releases latest mystery
Macon County author Morgan James previewed her recently released book, Sing Me An Old Song, at the Blue Ridge BookFest in Hendersonville.
The contemporary novel is set in Atlanta during the bootleg whiskey days of the 1930s, and during the spring of 1996. It stars a very Southern ghost, Mavis Banks Book, and according to the narrative on the cover, tells the story of four characters that are offered a last chance at happiness. This is James’ third novel. The first two are part of the Promise McNeal mystery series and have been reviewed as, “everything a Southern mystery should be.”
Workshop on nature writing in Highlands
A workshop focusing on Appalachia nature literature and telling stories of science through creative mediums will be held July 1-5 at the Highlands Biological Station.
“Literary Journeys through the Western North Carolina Landscape: An Exploration in Cultural and Natural History through Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry,” will be led by Brent Martin of The Wilderness Society. It will introduce the participant to the rich literature of the Appalachian landscape in Western North Carolina, and explore the role of landscape within the literary arts. The week includes afternoon field trips with authors and will be an interesting way to learn and experience the local mountains.
Course fee is $150. It can also be taken for one graduate credit (BIOL) through Western Carolina University, which is $85 plus a one-time $50 application fee or 3 CEUs.
