In support of the North Carolina Writers’ Network “Nobody Writes Alone” campaign, we’ve asked beloved authors to weigh-in on what the North Carolina Writers’ Network means to them.
“In my travels over these United States, I am often asked why North Carolina has so many good writers—and my answer never varies. No other state has a comprehensive support system anything like our own incredible North Carolina Writers’ Network, offering help all the way, all across the state from Murphy to Manteo: from classes and workshops and readings and conferences and contests, to job opportunities and residencies for every genre and writing for every age level. There is, quite simply, nothing else out there like it!
“Because writing, you know, is a two-way proposition: a means of communication requiring both a writer and a reader. The NCWN helps us complete that equation. Its groups, conferences, and like-minded writer friends supply us with that reader we need.
“Maybe you’ve gotten used to this. Maybe you don’t understand what a necessity this is, what a privilege this is, to have our own NCWN. In a time when traditional publishing, arts funding, and even freedom of speech are imperiled, please join me in supporting the NCWN. We may not be able to write one of those elusive bestsellers, but we can certainly write a check!”
—Lee Smith, Hillsborough
Lee Smith is the author of seventeen works of fiction including Fair and Tender Ladies, Oral History, and her most recent novel, Guests on Earth. She has received many awards including the North Carolina Award for Literature and an Academy Award in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; her novel The Last Girls was a New York Times bestseller as well as winner of the Southern Book Critics Circle Award. She was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame in 2008. Dimestore, a collection of personal essays, was published in 2016 by Algonquin Books.
You can make your gift online with a VISA, MasterCard, or Discover; over the phone by calling 336-293-8844 or 919-308-3228; or by mailing your check to:
NCWN
P.O. Box 21591
Winston-Salem, NC 27120
Your contribution, in any amount, will help keep the Network as vibrant and accessible as the literary culture we promote.