Welcome to where I am, where my kitchen's always messy, a pot's (or a poet) always about to boil over, a dog is always begging to be fed. Drafts of poems on the counter. Windows filled with leaves. Wind. Clouds moving over the mountains. If you like poetry, books, and music--especially dog howls when a siren unwinds down the hill-- you'll like it here.


MY NEW AUTHOR'S SITE, KATHRYNSTRIPLINGBYER.COM, THAT I MYSELF SET UP THROUGH WEEBLY.COM, IS NOW UP. I HAD FUN CREATING THIS SITE AND WOULD RECOMMEND WEEBLY.COM TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN SETTING UP A WEBSITE. I INVITE YOU TO VISIT MY NEW SITE TO KEEP UP WITH EVENTS RELATED TO MY NEW BOOK.


MY NC POET LAUREATE BLOG, MY LAUREATE'S LASSO, WILL REMAIN UP AS AN ARCHIVE OF NC POETS, GRADES K-INFINITY! I INVITE YOU TO VISIT WHEN YOU FEEL THE NEED TO READ SOME GOOD POEMS.

VISIT MY NEW BLOG, MOUNTAIN WOMAN, WHERE YOU WILL FIND UPDATES ON WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MY KITCHEN, IN THE ENVIRONMENT, IN MY IMAGINATION, IN MY GARDEN, AND AMONG MY MOUNTAIN WOMEN FRIENDS.




Friday, October 9, 2009

CLOTHES LINES



Can you believe that communities have gotten into brawls over clotheslines? Some folks seem to think they make a yard look "trashy." I've always had a clothesline; hanging out the wash is one of my favorite activities. Then I can enjoy the pay-off-- sheets dancing, shirts waving in the wind, underwear mincing its way along the line, and later, I like the way sun-dried laundry smells.

Well, here's another look at clotheslines, but it won't get you into a brawl, nor do you have to worry about bringing your clothes in at night, in case of rain. What I'm talking about is a whole bunch of clothes lines strung together by Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham. This anthology of work about clothes and how we women get tangled up in them has just been published and its cover looks like a writer's shawl, don't you think? One she'd throw around her shoulders before heading out for the cafe, the salon, the bookstore, the poetry reading! The 75 western North Carolina women in this book would probably love to fling such a shawl round themselves and head out to make the literary scene in style.

Here is Nancy Dillingham's poem on the back cover. If your local bookstore doesn't have this collection on its shelves, gather your shawl around you and demand that it be ordered at once! It's from Catawba Publishers, and the ISBN is just below Nancy's poem.

Finding Our Line

Every day
we shape our clay
from the inside out
giving it cachet.

But sometimes
it’s the clothes we wear
that give us away
that give us sway

Curves, straight lines
diagonals, in-your-face style
au courant, de rigueur
faux, retro

Similarly
we define ourselves as writers
shape our style

The curve of the plot
the turn of the phrase
the tone of the prose--
it’s the pattern of patter that matters

We preen, we pose
give color to character
and landscape
decorate and align

weaving a provocative story
stitching a tall tale
spinning a yarn
threading a theme

piecing a poem
with precision and panache
punctuating with élan
finding our line

Nancy Dillingham

CLOTHESLINES
Edited by Celia H. Miles and Nancy Dillingham ISBN 978-1-59712-355-690000

6 comments:

Kaye Wilkinson Barley - Meanderings and Muses said...

I'm tickled pink to see this post, Kay!!!

I am proud,SO proud,to be a part of this lovely book.

And may I mention, please, just so your other visitors know - our Ms. Kathryn Stripling Byer has two of her poems included in CLOTHES LINES - - - "River Shawl," and "Sewing Lesson." Wonderful, of course - just as you'd expect.

Vicki Lane said...

This sounds like such a terrific book! I'm proud to say I know several of the contributors!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

I just saw a post about this on the Netwest blog. Sounds like a fabulous Christmas present.

My first career was in fashion merchandising and I got to meet some designers (Diane von Furstenburg, Bill Blass, Claude Vuitton & Bill Blass) as well as some aging movie stars. I miss all of the wonderful truck shows and the gorgeous clothes.

Best of all, I know some of these writers.
Sam

Kathryn Stripling Byer said...

Hey Sam, Vicki, and Kaye, thank you for getting back in touch. I've let this blog go for a good while, for all sorts of reasons, but I hope to keep it going now, even if not as "regular" as you three keep yours going. Kaye, I loved your post about the Clothes Line Party. Thank you for the lovely words about my poems. I wrote River Shawl esp. for this anthology.
Vicki, I mailed my chapbook to you yesterday! I have a bunch to sew. I need a "book sewing bee" to help me out!
Sam, here's something most folks don't know. I wanted to be a fashion designer as I was growing up, so I'm envious of your first career. I love clothes, I can't deny it, and I have too many of them, esp. shawls. Mostly they just hang in my closet or turn into piles on the floor when I run out of space for them. They have to compete with the piles of paper I generate--and books.

Brenda Kay Ledford said...

Kay,
I appreciate very much your posting this about CLOTHES LINE. I'm grateful my mother, Blanche L. Ledford, and sister, Barbara Ledford Wright, and I are part of this anthology. I also enjoyed your poem very much as well as all the other outstanding writers who contributed to this book.

Jessie Carty said...

what a great idea for a collection!