THIS BLOG IS NO LONGER OPERATIONAL. PLEASE ENJOY WHAT IS HERE, AND DO LEAVE A COMMENT IF YOU WISH. NORTH CAROLINA'S NEW POET LAUREATE IS CATHY SMITH BOWERS. SHE WILL SOON HAVE HER OWN WEBSITE THROUGH THE NORTH CAROLINA ARTS COUNCIL SITE. I WILL BE SHIFTING MY ATTENTION TO HERE, WHERE I AM, (SEE SIDEBAR)USING IT TO DRAW ATTENTION TO WRITERS WHOSE WORK DESERVES ATTENTION. I INVITE YOU TO VISIT ME THERE.

For a video of the installation ceremony, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xAk6fOzaNE.

HERE, WHERE I AM HAS BEEN NAMED ONE OF THE 30 BEST POETRY BLOGS.

How a Poem Happens: http://www.howapoemhappens.blogspot.com/

Go to http://www.yourdailypoem.com/, managed with finesse by Jayne Jaudon Ferrer, who says, "Our intent is to make visitors to Your Daily Poem aware of the joy and diversity of poetry."

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

CHRISTMAS PRESENCE: edited by Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham



Dillingham, Nancy and Celia H. Miles. CHRISTMAS PRESENCE. North Carolina: Catawba Publishing Company, 2008. 221 pages. Trade paperback. $18.00.

From Celia Miles: "This anthology features writings about the Christmas season from 45 western NC women writers, some published (Sherry Austin, Susan Reinhardt, Julia Nunnally Duncan, for example); others published in local venues and anthologies, and some published for the first time. We did a quick count when finalizing the bios and saw that the contributors have over 45 books published (Nancy and I account for 10 or 11); counties represented range from McDowell to Swain, with Buncombe and Henderson having the most."



(The editors--Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham)

For orders, send to these addresses: Celia Miles-- 104 Clubwood Court Asheville, NC 28803 or Nancy Dillingham: 48-A Dunstan's Rd. Asheville, NC 28803. Email: celiamiles@fastmail.fm

“Christmas is a special time, an intense season when emotions are heightened, memories are made, hearts are warmed or broken, illusions blanketed or shattered. Relationships reveal their soft and sharp edges; joys are magnified and so are losses. These stories, memories, reflections, and poems by western North Carolina women shine with the sincerity of a Christmas star and glow with the warmth of a winter’s fire. They invite you to come into the presence of Christmas.”

-----Joan Medlicott author of "Ladies of Covington Series"

"You'll smell the cedar, feel the warmth of a fireplace, watch snowflakes twirling through the mountains, taste gingerbread, and hear "Jingle Bells," in CHRISTMAS PRESENCE. This is a wonderful collection of stories, essays, and poems by 45 western North Carolina women writers. Many of these contributors describe the Christmas customs of mountain people during the Great Depression."

--Brenda Kay Ledford, from blueridgepoet.blogspot.com


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Glenis Redmond --Presence
Sherry Austin ---The Edge of Night
Nancy Purcell ---I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Penny Morse ---Grandpa and the Snowsnakes
Dare Freeman Ford ----Colored Angels
Barbara Ledford Wright ---Purple Violets
Jeri Senor --The Eve of Christmas
Lana Hendershott-- Rhella Jobe
Susan Reinhardt-- An Open Letter to Mr. Claus
Mary D. Marsh-- Memories of Wartime Christmases
Carole R. Thompson --A Bag of Sugar for Paula
Glenda Barrett--The French Harp
Jessica Heriot --Jewish Christmas
Nancy Dillingham --At Christmas
Janice Norman --Solace of Solstice
Marian Gowan --Connections
Brenda Kay Ledford --Miss Bessie and the Christmas Biker
Sonja Contois --The Year of the Socks
Nancy Sales Ca The Christmas Catalog
Cecily Hamlin Wells --Southside Diner
Louise K. Nelson --Most Memorable Christmas
Celia H. Miles-- And the Animals Knelt
Marijo Moore --Western North Carolina: Winter’s Silent Theatre (in ten acts)
Pam Shuford Murray-- O Holy Night
Cynthia Stewart --The Doll Who Came to Christmas Dinner
Mona Rae Miracle --Where’s the Spirit?
Mary Louise Welther --Elves in Our Attic--
June Bare --The Midwife of Bethlehem
Polly Kent --The Magic of Snow
H. Byron Ballard --A Season of Light: How We Celebrated a Hillbilly Yule
Cheryl Dietrich --Mavericks
Sherry W.Boone- The Silk Handkerchief
Pat Riviere-Seel -My Mother, in the Last Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease, Comes Home Christmas Day
Beverly Ohler -Tannenbaum and Stollen
Martha O’Quinn -Christmas in July
Karen Luke Jackson -Elves for Santa
Peg Rhodes -A Copper Christmas Pot
Exie Wilde Henson -A Logging Camp Christmas
Gwenda Ledbetter -Not Even a Mouse
Joan Blessing- We Didn’t Do Christmas without You
Susan Snowden -A Hair-Raising Holiday
Joan Crook- A Tiny Red Stocking
Tonya Staufer -I Believe
Cecily Hamlin -Wells Weathering Christmas
Nancy Dillingham -Santa Redux: Afterthoughts on Giving
Dee Dee Parker -The Yellow-Haired Doll
Julia Nunnally Duncan- Experience to Fiction: A Christmas Memory

2 comments:

Nancy Simpson said...

I've read CHRISTMAS PRESSENSE from cover to cover.
I give it credit for boosting my Christmas spirit on these gloomy days.

nancy said...

Thanks, Kay-and thanks, Nancy!