This week we’ve been highlighting the many exhibitors who will join us November 2-4 for our 2018 Fall Conference.
If you missed parts 1 and 2, they are here and here.
We are admittedly partial to organizations with “North Carolina” in their name. But here are four that will exhibit at this year’s 2018 Fall Conference in Charlotte.
North Carolina Arts Council (www.ncarts.org)
The North Carolina Arts Council is a sponsor of the NCWN 2018 Fall Conference. This year, the NCAC has nominated a new poet laureate for North Carolina, Jaki Shelton Green, who will be among the panelists at Fall Conference following the staging of Ian Finley’s new play, Native. The NCAC has also been instrumental in connecting individuals and organizations in need of disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Florence with the appropriate resources. Over the years, the NCAC has been at the forefront of bringing arts tourism to North Carolina, publishing several guidebooks to heritage trails and designating the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. The NCAC also offers fellowships to artists and organizations each year. The deadline for the next Artist Fellowship grant is November 1. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and learn much more on their website.
North Carolina Literary Map (www.library.uncg.edu/dp/nclitmap)
The mission of the North Carolina Literary Map is to highlight the literary heritage of the state by connecting the lives and creative work of authors to real (and imaginary) geographic locations. Through the development of a searchable and browseable data-driven online map, users are able to access a database, learning tools, and cultural resources, to deepen their understanding of specific authors as well as the cultural space that shaped these literary works. The NC Literary Map also offers apps for literary walking tours. New walking tours this year include Blowing Rock, Wilmington, and Wilson with more in the works. There is, of course, a literary walking tour of Charlotte. Make sure to find time before or after the conference to explore the literary side of the Queen City! They’re on Facebook, Twitter, and you can visit them on the web.
North Carolina Literary Review (www.nclr.ecu.edu)
Published since 1992 by East Carolina University and the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, the North Carolina Literary Review facilitates the annual Doris Betts Fiction Prize for the North Carolina Writers’ Network and sponsors the annual James Applewhite Poetry Prize. The most-recent issue (#27!) includes an essay by NC Literary Hall of Fame inductee Margaret Maron; poems by Catherine Carter, Dannye Romine Powell, Marty Silverthorne, and NC Literary Hall of Fame inductee James Applewhite; and fiction by NC Literary Hall of Fame inductee Allan Gurganus, as well as Robert Wallace’s story “The Science of Air,” which won the 2017 Doris Betts Fiction Prize. NCLR publishes interviews and literary criticism about North Carolina writers and high-quality poetry, fiction, drama, and creative nonfiction by North Carolina writers or set in North Carolina. Their definition of a North Carolina writer is anyone who currently lives in North Carolina, has lived in North Carolina, or uses North Carolina as subject matter. Follow them on Facebook and learn more on their website.
North Carolina Poetry Society (www.ncpoetrysociety.org)
The North Carolina Poetry Society was founded in 1932. With more than 350 members from North Carolina and beyond, NCPS is an all-volunteer organization devoted to poets and lovers of poetry. The Poetry Society holds regular meetings four times a year in Southern Pines at the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities. In addition, NCPS sponsors annual contests for adults and students, which offer cash prizes and award certificates; the annual Poet Laureate Award, judged by the state’s poet laureate; the annual Brockman-Campbell Book Award, recognizing the best book published by a North Carolina poet; and the annual Lena M. Shull Book Award, selecting for publication the best full-length unpublished poetry manuscript by a poet living in North Carolina, where the wining manuscript is published by St. Andrews University Press, and the winning poet leads a workshop and gives a reading at Poetry Day Hickory in April. In 2003, the NCPS Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series, where three distinguished North Carolina poets are selected annually to mentor student poets in the eastern, central, and western regions of the state. Now in its 8th year, this program is thriving as a significant expansion of NCPS outreach. They’re on Facebook, Twitter, and on the World Wide Web.
Pre-registration for the North Carolina Writers’ Network 2018 Fall Conference closes Friday, October 26. Don’t miss out!