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SYLVA—NCWN-West and the Jackson County Regional Public Library will host A Day for Writers in Sylva on Saturday, August 24.
In 2017, this one-day conference brought together nearly sixty writers. It has always been the goal of this program to bring the "best to the west" with reasonable fees so all writers in the mountains can benefit from membership, even when they can’t travel long distances or stay in hotels overnight. This year's conference fees include coffee, pastries, soft drinks, water, and lunch.
Registration is now closed.
C. Hope Clark, author of two mystery series and founder of Funds for Writers, will be the keynote speaker. Clark’s Funds for Writers Newsletter has 35,000 readers, many who give her credit for their success. She will present two sessions at the conference, one on marketing and one on writing fiction, which authors will not want to miss.
Poets will enjoy the sessions with Joseph Bathanti, former poet laureate of North Carolina, 2012–2014. He is Writer-in-Residence of Appalachian State University’s Watauga Residential College, in Boone. Bathanti is recipient of the 2016 North Carolina Award in Literature. He is the author of ten books of poetry. His most recent volume is The 13th Sunday after Pentecost (LSU Press, 2016). He will answer qestions at the Author Panel on Marketing and Publishing.
Karen Paul Holmes, poet and teacher, will discuss "Metaphors, Images and Similes," plus she will sit on a panel of authors to share her experience of publishing and marketing. Holmes has two full-length poetry collections, No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin, 2018) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich, 2014). She was chosen a Best Emerging Poet by Stay Thirsty Media and appeared in their 2019 collection of twenty-two poets, including Billy Collins and Robert Pinsky.
Patricia Vestal and Katie Winkler will teach how to write a ten-minute play. Both of these writers have had their plays produced. NCWN trustee Katie Winkler has taught English composition and British literature as an adjunct and full-time professor for over twenty-three years at Blue Ridge Community College. During that time, she has been active with the college's drama department as a writer, actor, and director.
Vestal has taught play-writing at the college level and in workshops she developed as Literary Manager of an Orlando theater group. Vestal, a member of the Dramatists Guild and the NC Writers' Network, for which she is former co-Henderson County representative, holds an MA in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Her plays were produced off-off Broadway and on NYC TV.
Carol Crawford, who owns www.carolcrawfordediting.com and is a well-published nonfiction writer, as well as poet, will explain to writers what to do before they submit a manuscript. Crawford teaches annually at the John C. Campbell Folk School as well as at conferences. She has been teaching creative writing for two decades. She is the author of The Habit of Mercy, Poems about Daughters and Mothers, and has been published in the Southern Humanities Review, Appalachian Heritage, the Concho River Review, the Chattahoochee Review, and the Journal of Kentucky Studies, among others. Crawford has been program coordinator for the annual Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference since its inception in 1996.
Acclaimed author David Joy will present "Writing Centered in Place/Landscape as Character." His books have been highly praised as a voice of Appalachia. He hails from Jackson County, and his characters could live down the road from him, but, in fact, they are fictional. Joy is the author of the Edgar-nominated novel Where All Light Tends to Go (Putnam, 2015), as well as the novels The Weight Of This World (Putnam, 2017) and The Line That Held Us (Putnam, 2018). He is also the author of the memoir Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman's Journey (Bright Mountain Books, 2011), which was a finalist for the Reed Environmental Writing Award and the Ragan Old North State Award. He is known for writing flawed characters, showing the bad and the good in them. Authors can learn a great deal from David Joy.
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ASHEVILLE—For the second year in a row, the North Carolina Writers' Network will offer the Elliott Bowles Screenwriters Scholarship, allowing up to four aspiring screenwriters to attend the annual Fall Conference of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.
“The Elliott Bowles Screenwriting Scholarship was created in remembrance of our son’s screenwriting passion and generous nature,” Beverly Nipper Bowles, Elliott’s mother, said. “This scholarship seeks to lend support to aspiring young screenwriters as they continue to learn and refine their craft, develop connections with industry advisors and production companies, and pursue their dreams in the love of film.”
This scholarship will pay for full Fall Conference registration and two nights’ lodging in the conference hotel. Recipients also will receive a one-year complimentary membership in the North Carolina Writers’ Network.
Any North Carolina resident who has written an unproduced/unoptioned screenplay may apply for the Elliott Bowles Screenwriting Scholarship. Applicants will submit a twenty-page sample of their screenplay, along with their resume or C, and a cover letter describing their habits and goals as a screenwriter. Applicants will submit these materials to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., with “Elliott Bowles Screenwriting Scholarship” in the subject line.
The 2019 NCWN Fall Conference will be November 8-10 at the DoubleTree Hilton Asheville-Biltmore. The conference will offer sessions for writers for screen or stage, including "Screenplay: Fact vs. Fiction" with Maryedith Burrell and "Improv's Increasing Role in Comedy Writing" led by Tom Chalmers.
Full details and registration for the 2019 Fall Conference will be available on or before Sunday, September 1.
“The inspiration for this scholarship sprang to mind during my darkest day,” Beverly Nipper Bowles said. “I was planning the memorial service. The initial thought was a dim but emerging ray of sun, mixed with the tiniest sparkle of joy. When I heard myself share the idea with my husband and saw his face, it was suddenly obvious that this was the path we were intended to take as a way to preserve the memory and share the dream of our beloved Elliott.”
Others can donate to support the Bowles Scholarship, either with a check made out to “NCWN-Bowles Scholarship” and mailed to P. O. Box 21591, Winston-Salem, NC, 27120; or with a VISA, MasterCard, or Discover at www.ncwriters.org.
The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to all writers, in all genres, at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.
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GREENVILLE—The North Carolina Writers' Network 2019 Squire Summer Writing Workshops run Thursday-Sunday, July 18-21, on the campus of East Carolina University in Greenville.
The deadline to register is Wednesday, July 3, by midnight!
The Squire Summer Writing Workshops offer an intensive course in a chosen genre (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry), with ten ninety-minute sessions over the four days of the program. Space in each workshop is limited, so that registrants can work in-depth on their own manuscript samples, as well as their colleagues’, while also studying the principles of the genre with their instructor.
This year's instructors are Alex Albright (Creative Nonfiction); Emily Colin (Fiction); and Dr. Lenard D. Moore (Poetry).
Other features include faculty readings, panel discussions, and open mic sessions—and training sessions—for registrants.
"I have been away from writing for a long time," said a recent attendee. "This weekend was about determining whether or not writing was something I could begin again. As a result of the quality of the instruction, the quality and insightfulness of my fellow students, both my writing and my critical skills have grown and I am committed to writing again. As a result of this residency, I want to be the best writer I can be."
Each registrant should be ready to handle the intensive instruction and atmosphere of the workshop.
Space is limited.