Is Carden's Kephart play controversial?

Gary Carden's play, "Outlander," receives a "staged reading" in the Reuter Center, UNC Asheville, 2 p.m., Sun., July 31.  Carden will be on hand to discuss the play with the audience.  

It is a controversial play in that it has been criticized by the descendants of Horace Kephart who felt that the play "demeaned" Kephart.  "Ironically," Carden says, "my original purpose in writing…

BRING BACK THE GAME

     Anna and I basically spent a month in Asheville, NC this summer. We returned to Georgia a few days ago, and while we were glad to get home, as we got out of the car, we were met with the suffocating heat that I still have not become acclimated to even though we have lived in Middle Georgia for over 30 years. Every plant in our backyard had dried up and only the belligerent squirrels had survived the summer’s inferno.

      We had a great…

Saluda Grade From Top to Bottom Presented at Saluda Train Tales

from press release

Matt Bumgarner will share the research behind his newest release, Saluda Grade From top to Bottom at Saluda Train Tales on Friday, May 20, 2016, at 7pm at the Saluda Historic Depot.

Matt is an award-winning writer and the regional publisher of Tarheel Press…

UNC Asheville Offers Creative Writing Summer Camps in June and July

from press release

UNC Asheville will offer two creative writing summer camps – Write Now for high school students, and All Things Writing for middle school students – with separate sessions for each age group in June and July.  These week-long programs are designed for writers of all skill levels and offer instruction and experience with many different…

Joe Epley recently was elected to Board of Directors of the Military Writers Society of America.  The MWSA has around 700 members around the country. Details on the website: http://www.mwsadispatches.com.  ; The organization's purpose is to help military service members, veterans, their families, supporters of the military,and historians record history and the complexities of military life--and encourage writing as therapy. The…

Author of key book of our times comes to Asheville

Andrea Wulf makes Malaprop's Bookstore one her stops, Sun., May 1, 5 p.m., in talking…

The 8^th Annual Blue Ridge Bookfest brings authors to Flat Rock

There are a few oases where writers congregate to share wares and wisdom, and Apr. 22-23, the place is Blue Ridge Community College, featuring 19 readings and workshops, and many more opportunities for conversations with authors at exhibition tables.  See full schedule at…

Yesterday, on the Ides of March, my book, Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Journey through the National Parks of the South, was officially launched – a soft launch.

It’s now available on Amazon in both…

Many thanks to Edge Magazine for publishing this excerpt "Wear the Right Garb" from Plant Whatever Brings You Joy in their March issue! http://www.edgemagazine.net/2016/03/wear-the-right-garb/ Copies of my book are available at Malaprop's! xoxo

Dennis Covington's Revelation

Dennis Covington, author of Salvation on Sand Mountain, has a new book out: Revelation: A Search for Faith in a Violent Religious World, for which he visited "places where people are subject to extremity."   As Jesus instructed, he says, he is a witness to suffering in a search for holiness.

Covington presents his book at…

2016 Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition

Tuesday, March 1, the submission window closes. 

The Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition accepts one-poem submissions. The contest awards the winner $200 and publication in "storySouth." The final judge is Sarah Rose Nordgren, author of the poetry collection "Best Bones" (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2014), which was selected by Ed…

VANCE SCHOOL

What I remember the most about Vance Elementary School in West Asheville , NC is the color red. I could remember lots of other things about my first school. It was at Vance that I said my first curse word. Also, I got into my first fight, saw my first professional yo yo performance and was caught breaking into the concession stand. I learned a lot at Vance. I learned that there are good teachers and not so good teachers. I learned that the world is inhabited by…

“Unveiling Our Treasures” program

Pauline Johnson and Roman Blevins present "North Carolina History:  From the Archives to the Classroom,” based on their research in the Southern Appalachian Archives, at the Liston B. Ramsey Center for Regional Studies, Thurs., February 18^th at 3 p.m. , Mars Hill University. 

The…

Key Appalachian studies publications now going online

from press release, Jan. 27. 2016 

Appalachian studies scholars and those interested in regional history will have greater access to out-of-print works thanks to a two-year National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Open Book Program grant totaling $88,000 awarded to Belk Library and Information Commons at Appalachian State University.…

Two articles leapt at my consciousness this week, both about writing. And suddenly, I know how to go forward from here.



The first, The Price I Pay to Write, by Laura Bogart and published online…

Black Mountain College artist--from obscurity to rediscovery

Ray Spillenger: Rediscovery of a Black Mountain Painter

Exhibition: January 22, 2016 – May 21, 2016

Opening Reception: Friday, January 22 from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m., FREE Admission

Curated by Dr. Theodore E. Stebbins Jr., Curator of American Art, Emeritus, Harvard Art Museums

Gallery talk by the curator at 6:45 p.m., January 22, 2016

See…

Writer's Workshop Poetry Contest  

26th ANNUAL POETRY CONTEST

The Writers' Workshop of Asheville is sponsoring its 26^th Annual Poetry Contest, open to any writer regardless of residence. The deadline is: postmarked or emailed by Feb. 28, 2016. Mail…

Fire and Ice Roses has been interviewing gardening bloggers and gardening experts and were kind enough to include this short interview recently which was quite fun and very much appreciated! http://fireandiceroses.com/ask-an-expert-kathryn-hall/

History in the making: items of note, January 2, 2016

It was reported in today’s print edition of the Asheville Citizen-Times that a new state law went into effect, requiring people who’ve filed for unemployment benefits to make at least 5 job contacts a week.  It had been 2.  How will that work?  Are there that many jobs for which a person is qualified?  Can you apply to the same job twice if it continues to be…