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CARRBORO—Poets must continually hold tangible language in one hand and the more abstract, artistic intent of their work in the other. It's no small feat. The most effective poems balance these two polar opposites; it's often through the tangible that the abstract moves us.
If you've ever struggled to turn your artistic intent into a flesh-and-blood poem, the next online class in the North Carolina Writers' Network online series is for you.
On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, at 7:00 pm, poet and educator Gideon Young will lead the online class "Balancing the Concrete and Conceptual" (Poetry).
Registration is open.
This course is capped at forty (40) registrants, first-come, first-served. There is a $45 fee to register.
In this workshop, we’ll study the poetry of Sandra Lim, Jake Skeets, Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Penn Warren, Richard Wright, and Crystal Simone Smith, examining aspects of the real and ethereal, matter and imagination, the world and the mind. We’ll write poems, engage in dynamic and positive discussion and critique, and have fun!
Gideon Young is a member of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective and the Carrboro Poets Council. His poetry has appeared/is forthcoming in Backbone Press, Haibun Today, Modern Haiku, Obsidian: Literature in the African Diaspora, Sons & Daughters Literary Journal, and The Elizabeth Keckley Reader: A Determined Life, Vol. II. Gideon is a co-author of One Window’s Light: A Collection of Haiku, edited by Lenard D Moore and published by Unicorn Press in2017, winner of the Haiku Society of America Merit Award for Best Anthology. Gideon is a Teaching Fellow for A+ Schools of North Carolina, a K-12 Literacy Specialist, and stay-at-home dad.
"Balancing the Concrete and Conceptual" (Poetry) is the North Carolina Writers' Network's third offering in their 2019-2020 series of online classes.
"This program is a great way for writers from all over North Carolina to connect without having the hassle of driving somewhere and finding parking," said NCWN communications director Charles Fiore. "Online classes offer top-shelf instruction for a fraction of the cost, and the software itself is very intuitive and easy to use."
The online class "Balancing the Concrete and Conceptual" (Poetry) is available to anyone with an internet connection, or who even owns just a telephone. Instructions for accessing the online class on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, will be sent to registrants no less than twenty-four hours prior to the start of class. The class will be archived and made available to registrants for repeated viewings.
The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.
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ASHEVILLE--If you've always dreamed of having a bestselling author and inductee of the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame read your work, now's your chance.
Randall Kenan will serve as final judge of The Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize. This competition awards $1,000 and possible publication in The Thomas Wolfe Review to a piece of fiction under 3,000 words.
Submit here.
Sponsored by NCWN and administered by the Great Smokies Writing Program at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, The Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize is open to any writer regardless of geographical location or prior publication.
The deadline is January 30, 2020.
Randall Kenan is the author of a novel, A Visitation of Spirits; two works of nonfiction, Walking on Water: Black American Lives at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century and The Fire This Time; and a collection of stories, Let the Dead Bury Their Dead. He edited and wrote the introduction for The Cross of Redemption: The Uncollected Writings of James Baldwin. Among his awards are a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Mrs. Giles Whiting Award, the North Carolina Award, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Rome Prize. Kenan is a 2018 inductee into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. He is a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at UNC-Chapel Hill.
The Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize honors beloved North Carolina writer and Asheville native Thomas Wolfe. He was the author of Look Homeward, Angel, considered one of the great coming-of-age novels. His novels and collected short stories go beyond autobiography, trying to, in William Faulkner’s words, “put all the experience of the human heart on the head of a pin.” His intense poetic language and thoughtfully developed symbology, combined with his uncanny ability to enter the minds of his other characters and give them powerful voices, elevate the books from memoir to undeniable literary art.
He was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame with the inaugural class of in 1996.
The full competition guidelines for the 2019 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize are listed below and can be found at www.ncwriters.org.
Postmark deadline: January 30 (annual)
Submissions accepted: December 1 – January 30
The Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize honors internationally celebrated North Carolina novelist Thomas Wolfe. The prize is administered by the Great Smokies Writing Program at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The winner receives $1,000 and possible publication in The Thomas Wolfe Review.
Eligibility and Guidelines
- The competition is open to all writers regardless of geographical location or prior publication.
- Submit two copies (if submitting by mail) of an unpublished fiction manuscript - short story or self-contained novel excerpt - not to exceed 3,000 words, double-spaced, single-sided pages (1" margins, 12-pt. Times New Roman font).
- Author's name should not appear on manuscripts. Instead, include a separate cover sheet with name, address, phone number, e-mail address, word count, and manuscript title. (If submitting online, do not include a cover sheet with your document; Submittable will collect and record your name and contact information.)
- An entry fee must accompany the manuscript: $15 for NCWN members, $25 for nonmembers.
- The entry fee is per submission. You may submit multiple entries.
- You may pay the member entry fee if you join the NCWN with your submission. Checks should be made payable to the North Carolina Writers’ Network.
- Entries will not be returned.
- The winner is announced each April.
- Simultaneous submissions ok, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
- To submit online, go to https://ncwriters.submittable.com/submit. Submittable will collect your entry fee via credit card ($15 NCWN members / $25 non-members). (If submitting online, do not include a cover sheet with your document; Submittable will collect and record your name and contact information.)
- To submit by regular mail:
Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize
Great Smokies Writing Program
UNC Asheville
1 University Heights - CPO 1915
Asheville, NC 28804
Questions? Please contact Tommy Hays at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The non-profit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to all writers at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.
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ALEXANDRIA, VA—You've known for a while now that you have a book inside you. But it seems like such a massive undertaking. The scope is so much larger than those essays or short stories you've published, you wonder where to even begin.
And yet, deep down, you know that you can write a great one.
On Tuesday, December 17, at 7:00 pm, National Book Award Finalist Shelia P. Moses will lead the online class "Techniques for Writing Your First Book."
Registration is open.
This course is capped at forty (40) registrants, first-come, first-served. There is a $45 fee to register.
A good novel, memoir, or children's book should be filled with great images to draw readers into the story. This is achieved via great language. This workshop will explore the art of descriptive writing and how to create memorable narrative.
Workshop discussions will include:
- Prewriting
- Developing characters
- First Draft
- Revising you manuscript
Shelia P. Moses, is an African-American writer whose subjects include comedian Dick Gregory and the legend of Buddy Bush. In 2004, she was nominated for the National Book Award and named the Coretta Scott King Honoree for The Legend of Buddy Bush. In 2009, her novel Joseph was nominated for the NAACP Image Award.
Shelia is currently working on a novel titled Yardsale, and she lives in Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia.
"Techniques for Writing Your First Book" is the North Carolina Writers' Network's second offering in their 2019-2020 series of online classes.
"This program is a great way for writers from all over North Carolina to connect without having the hassle of driving somewhere and finding parking," said NCWN communications director Charles Fiore. "Online classes offer top-shelf instruction for a fraction of the cost, and the software itself is very intuitive and easy to use."
The online class "Techniques for Writing Your First Book" is available to anyone with an internet connection, or who even owns just a telephone. Instructions for accessing the online class on Tuesday, December 17, will be sent to registrants no less than twenty-four hours prior to the start of class. The class will be archived and made available to registrants for repeated viewings.
The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.