A Blogger who teaches and writes prose and poetry

http://www.danawildsmith.com/everglades-log.html

The writer, Dana Wildsmith, is a favorite blogger of mine. I have never met Dana in person, but I feel a kinship to her. She lives in Bethlehem, Georgia outside Atlanta, and she lives on a farm, loves dogs and was devoted to her mother. 

She has been to many places writing and working and she writes about her experiences there.

The link above is to a post she wrote while at the Everglades National Park in Florida.

Presently, she is on a writing retreat in north Georgia, and like many of us, she is trying to get motivated to work on her next writing project. If anyone thinks it is easy to sit down and write, even though we love to write, they are mistaken. I think it is especially hard when you write poetry and prose. Changing from one to the other takes time and lots of work. 

I have enjoyed Dana's books of poetry and prose. She teaches a writing workshop each year at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC very near where I live. The writing classes I took at JCCFS from 1995 - 2005 helped me be who I am today. However, it would be almost impossible for me to attend a full weeklong class now. I don't have the stamina I once had. 

Because of the pandemic, they were closed most of last year. Now open again with all CDC guidelines in place, they also offer online courses. Dana is one of the teachers for the online courses.

It is very hot here and almost everywhere in this country, it seems. Climate change is proving to be a concern for all of us. I heard today that Lake Powell out west is falling low because of the drought. What must we do? 

My subscribers to this blog, I hope you are still getting my posts in your Inbox, but if you are not, please let me know. 

The Way We Were

Today while reading Dana Wildsmith's blog post, I realized that my writing has changed or evolved over the years. I don't write the way I used to write. I sometimes find documents, stories or memoir pieces that I think I wrote but am not sure because I did not put my name on them at the time. I would never want to plagiarize someone's writing, so I can't share it as my own since I am not sure. I wonder if my readers have had that happen to them.

I don't have problems with my poetry because so much of it is autobiographical, and I recognize it as my own. Dana writes about how her writing has changed over the years and even if she knows it is her work, she doesn't recognize that writer that she once was. 

I am using this weekend to gather my writings, memoir and short stories, into files where I can self-publish them one day soon. I don't plan on reaching a large audience, but I would certainly like for my family to have the pieces I have written about my parents, my siblings and my ancestors I have researched over the years. 

My neighbors said they don't think their adult children would be interested in their family stories. I think they would be interested, but it might be after their parents have passed on. I notice that it is not until the parents die that their children and grandchildren wish they had asked more questions and had written down the history of the family for generations to come. 

Every time I talk with my older brother on the phone, I ask him to tell me his memories about our family and I learn something new each time. He was born years before I was, so he remembers the day I was born and the place I was born. He remembers when and how our family moved to the farm where I grew up, and he can tell me details I never heard before. I hope his own children are hearing his stories and will remember them always. 

Max, Gay and me at 2013 family Christmas party

My brother, Max, has composed beautiful songs in his life. Some of them he sang with his brothers when they were the Council Brothers Quartet, and many of them he sang with his lovely wife in their later years. Even today after her memory has diminished, she will sit down to the piano and play music they sang together. Max says she remembers the words better than he does.  I wish his children or grandchildren would record them before it is too late. 

I often think Max is more of an artist than any of his siblings. He has drawn and painted birds that are perfect. He creates poetry and song lyrics, sings and is a story teller. He has never been taught by an artist, a poet or a song writer. Completely self-taught, he amazes me. 

This photo goes way back to when Max, and his wife, Salita, were young. Their first two sons are in this photo. I babysat these kids. 

I reached out today to a long time friend I haven't seen in years. She and I plan to meet in October some place where we can social distance and catch up on our lives. Even if we are not able to get together as we once did, we must keep up our connections with those we care for and enjoy. 

Well, this gloomy looking day is about over and I still have many things to do. I hope you are enjoying your weekend, my friends. Stay well and safe.

Visit www.glendacouncilbeall.com for an interesting post by my friend, Roger Carlton. 

Dana Wildsmith's new novel

DANA WILDSMITH'S NEW NOVEL

Dana Wildsmith returns to City Lights Bookstore on Saturday, March 25th at 3 p.m. to present her novel, Jumping. Her novel portrays with great skill and finesse the collision of the two worlds of a Georgia school teacher and a small charming Mexican boy. 

I look forward to reading this book that sounds so interesting. 

Click on the link below to learn more.

http://www.citylightsnc.com/event/dana-wildsmith-present-her-novel

Poet and novelist, Dana Wildsmith

Dana Wildsmith reading and singing - makes you laugh and sing with her

Delightful writer, Dana Wildsmith from Bethlehem, Georgia loves to sing as well as she loves to write. See her on this video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jG-fLs0KLY

A reviewer says of her poetry book, A GOOD HAND,
"Great read on simple joys of life including seasons, dogs, and community. Dana has a true voice that sings, on and off the page!"


BACK TO ABNORMAL: SURVIVING WITH AN OLD FARM IN THE NEW SOUTH:

I purchased the book directly from Dana when she read at Writers' Night Out in Blairsville, GA, and I'm so glad I did. While it's true that it's theme is that of preserving, and not destroying, I honed in on Dana's wise advice to aspiring writers like me. I aspire to write about my family history and make it interesting to folks who don't know us. In Dana's words, like, "... Writers write to figure out the why of what is.", I found considerable insight into why I want to write, as well as how to go about it. I recommend the book as a writing handbook as well as a treatise on how to take care of our earth. Thank you to Dana for her sage advice. --- Ellen Schofield

A reviewer says of her poetry book, A GOOD HAND,

"Great read on simple joys of life including seasons, dogs, and community. Dana has a true voice that sings, on and off the page!"

The intertwined essays in BACK TO ABNORMAL: SURVIVING WITH AN OLD FARM IN THE NEW SOUTH spin out from author Dana Wildsmith's daily life on an old farm in the foothills of the north Georgia mountains, to the regional world of the ESL classes she teaches, to the national scope of her work as a writer and a teacher of creative writing.

The chapters read like a string of summer front-porch evenings with the author - talking about her past, her work on the farm, the people she lives among, and the eternal puzzle of how to make sure her time on this spot of earth continues whole, healthy and life-sustaining.

Environmental writer Jeff Biggers calls BACK TO ABNORMAL "a testimony to what we risk to lose."

Philip Lee Williams, a Georgia Author of the Year, says, "The rural world needs all the friends it can get, and it has here found the champion it deserves."

Writer & teacher Darnell Arnoult says BACK TO ABNORMAL is "a sharp and compassionate anthem and prophetic elegy to the pastoral standing ground against the hungry and devouring teeth of suburban sprawl." www.MotesBooks.com ~

Register for Dana's writing class, Words are All We Have, at Writers Circle on April 25, Saturday 10 - 1:00, by calling 828-389-4441 or emailing glendabeall@msn.com

Print the registration form found at www.glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com 
Mail with your check to address provided.

January Writing Classes at JCCFS

I'd like to sign up for every single writing class at John C. Campbell Folk School in the month of January. Google these instructors and you will find out why I expect each class to be fun, fun, fun!


January 7-9 (Weekend $308)
What is Memoir Anyway?
Instructor: Dana Wildsmith
Ready to embark on writing the story of your life? Before you start, it’s
helpful to learn the difference between memoir, autobiography, and
family history. Our focus will be on memoir methods as we delve into
contemporary examples and classic memoirs for direction. Explore how to work parts of your life into very readable prose. All levels are welcome.


January 16-22 (Advanced Week $596)
Creating the World that Isn’t There
Instructor: Patricia Sprinkle
In good fiction, the imaginary world is so real that the readers feel
they’ve been there and know those people. Learn to create such
characters and settings. Bring the first chapter of a novel or one short
story on which you want to focus. Class consists of instruction, writing,
group critique, and revision, with pauses for laughter and learning
exercises. Designed for intermediate to advanced fiction writers, but
writers of memoirs, biography, and history can benefit.

January 30-February 5 ($546)
Sing and Paint with Words: A week of writing inspiration
Instructor: Karen Paul Holmes
Come get inspired. Through music and other arts, we’ll stir the creative
juices. We might listen to Beethoven or Elvis, look at paintings by Monet
or Finster, read literary masters or contemporary writers—all to generate
ideas for our poems, fiction, or essays. You’ll receive editing tips and
one-on-one critiques to make your work stronger and more readable.
Open to anyone who needs inspiration and help perfecting the art of
writing.

(Karen is volunteer editor and publisher of Netwest News. She has published in top literary journals and has a successful business.)

2010 classes for JCCFS have been published on their website.

I took this photo behind Orchard House where our writing classes are held.

The John C. Campbell Folk School has published classes for next year, 2010, on their website and in their new catalog.
See the sidebar of this post to find my classes for 2010. I will teach in February and again in December of 2010. We are nearing the end of 2009.
Register for 2010 classes.

Nancy Simpson, Jayne Jaudon Ferrer, Dana Wildsmith, and many other good writers and poets will be teaching at JCCFS next year. If you haven't taken a class at the Folk School in Brasstown, NC, you are missing a wonderful experience.