2020 a Year of Covid, Turmoil, Uncertainties, Heroes & Hope
The year 2020 for better or worst will go down in American history as a pivotal moment. It has been often said that history is written for and by the victors.
But nowadays in a world of overwhelmed with 2-second tweets, forgettable social media, conspiracy theories and online rages; modern history seems to be written by the distracted, the delusional and the destructive.
Here at Mountain Made we are taking a different approach. We are creating a public history journal of poetry, personal musing, thoughtful insights and yes, rants on “The Year 2020”. They could be funny or serious.
Email your one page contribution to us or if you are in the downtown Asheville area, we invite you to bring it by Mountain Made. Be sure to your name on it, city and state but if you want to remain anonymous that is fine too.
Images from Around Asheville, NC 2020
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Our Pubic History Journal & Art Project – How it Works
We have setup two interactive art stations inside the gallery:
* The first one is where you can quickly put down your thoughts on some blank paper (the original “i-pad”) and leave it with us.
* The other is a shared, public watercolor painting where you can lay brush to canvas if you are more a visual person.
Finally around the middle of November 2020, we’re going to put the written contributions, along the painting into a book! A photograph of the painting will serve as the cover.
Now we won’t promise you this printed book will be fancy but it will be for sale!
We will take donations for it and the monies will go to a local charity. We haven’t decided if it will be one or several but your input will help us know where the donations are the most needed!
We all have a lot to think about this year, so put it on paper and share your thoughts with the world.
Nancy Dillingham – one of Mountain Made’s most popular local poets – will be our “virtual demo” artist for the year. This means that Nancy will be sharing her poetry and her 2020 experiences through her writings with our online audience every week.
We will publish one of Nancy’s 2020 poems and a short review of one her book each and every Friday (Lord willing and the Corona don’t raise) right here on the Mountain Made blog. We invite you to sign up for our newsletter for updates.
Now for this week’s submission…
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Nancy Dillingham’s book NEW GROUND is a book of poems and short prose that is strongly evocative of time and place and unified by her unique voice and theme. There is a strong sense of irony throughout her work that resonates like the poignancy of a warm Southern day.
What Readers Say About New Ground
“I have just finished reading this book for the fifth time. I return because its stories haunt my heart. When I spot it on my bookshelf, I wonder if it is as good as I remember, and I pull it down and reread a story, and find that I am keeping it at hand to search for stories and passages which are seared into that place in me which loves words and language. These stories are like snippets of dreams you grope for when you wake. This writer is a master of the subtle, and her imagery can both pull you in and pierce you at the same time”. – Scotty Dockery
“This compilation of short stories and poems is eloquently written with a haunting tone that will remain with the reader long after the book is finished. Dillingham begins with the story of a young woman given to an older man by her father in exchange for land, setting the tone for this collection dealing with relationships, familial and not, each so elegantly presented the reader will not be satisfied with one reading but, rather, will want to return again and again simply to absorb the exquisite poetic cadence of her prose.” Christy Tillery French
While we aren’t able to do our live demos so far this year, we have another idea! Nancy Dillingham – one of Mountain Made’s most popular local poets – will be our “virtual demo” artist for the year!
Nancy will be sharing her poetry and her 2020 experiences through her writings with our online audience. We will publish one of Nancy’s 2020 poems each every week right here on the Mountain Made blog.
Nancy is the author of twelve books of poetry and short fiction, the co-editor of four anthologies of women’s writing and is the poetry editor at the online literary magazine “The Speckled Trout Review“.
Her collection of poems Home was nominated for a Southern Independent Booksellers’ Alliance Award (SIBA). And her latest book is Like Headlines: New and Selected Poems. Acclaimed North Carolina poet and novelist, Fred Chappell says about Dillingham’s new book, “Poetry is news that stays news…we wait both for the future to appear and for the past to subside.”
We invite you to sign up for our weekly newsletter for updates or if you prefer check out our blog to read published posts of Nancy’s work.
As part of our continuing series, Inside the Artist’s Studio, this month we will be pulling back the curtain and learning more about the creative process behind Nancy Dillingham’s poems from the heart.
But first, did you know that Nancy Dillingham is a sixth-generation Dillingham from the Big Ivy community in Barnardsville, North Carolina? She is the author of twelve books of poetry and short fiction and the co-editor of four anthologies of women’s writing.
Her poems, short stories, and commentary have appeared in many regional literary journals and local newspapers such as the Raleigh News & Observer and the Asheville Citizen Times. Her collection of poems Home was nominated for 2019 Southern Independent Booksellers’ Alliance Award (SIBA).
Her latest book is titled Like Headlines: New and Selected Poems.
Here is sampling of Nancy’s other books available at Mountain Made:
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Nancy along with co-editor Celia Miles have herded a lot of cats and published four anthologies of WNC women writers…
Reminder…Father’s Day is this coming Sunday, June 21, 2020!
Father’s Day Gift Ideas
We naturally understand why you put such thought and effort into your Mother’s Day gift giving.
So why not Father’s Day?
We have been told time and time again that men only want a nice breakfast in bed and a quiet Sunday off for Father’s Day.
We feel that this is a cop-out…just an excuse to save face because the average person really doesn’t know what gift they should get for dear old dad. So they default to handing out brand name gift cards instead.
But if you want to give him something special; something that he will love and cherish then check out…
3 Surefire Ways to Find the Perfect Father’s Day Gift for Him
1) Make a list of all the things he is interested in.
Does he like sports? How about enjoying the the great outdoors? Or is he a “foodie” who loves to cook and bake?
Here at Mountain Made we have a wonderful selection of cookbooks, local books on hiking the Highlands as well as walking sticks.
And until baseball gets its act together we invite you to check out one of our favorite baseball books…
2) Ask Yourself What He Needs
Does he work in an office or remotely from home? What about getting him a desktop storage box or two? Made from rare woods yet fully functional and just the right size to hold thumbtacks, stick pins or paper clips. Or what about a one-of-a-kind ink pen? A perfect gift to reward him for all hard work he does. Or what about a coffee mug? What guy wouldn’t like a mug of hot java, tea or cocoa before heading off to work?
wooden whatnot boxes
3) Make Him laugh
All right we admit that this is really a last minute (OMG!) what am I going to get him type of gift. But artist name’s work always brings joy and humor to anyone’s day. Giving him a deck of here Happy Ass playing cards or a collection of her magnets for his toolbox or office will make even the grumpy guy laugh out loud.
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You’re safe to shop with us because we’re following the 3 W’s = Wear, Wait, Wash…
Nancy Dillingham’s Poems from the Heart As part of our continuing series, Inside the Artist’s Studio, this month we will be pulling back the curtain and learning more about the creative process behind Nancy Dillingham’s poems from the heart. But …Read More »
Bio/Artist Statement Asheville writer and educator Nancy Dillingham is a sixth-generation Dillingham from Big Ivy in western North Carolina. Her poems, short stories, and commentary …Read More »
Nancy Dillingham – one of Mountain Made’s most popular local poets – will be our “virtual demo” artist for the year. This means that Nancy will be sharing her poetry and her 2020 experiences through her writings with our online audience every week. We will publish one of Nancy’s 2020 poems …Read More »
While we aren’t able to do our live demos so far this year, we have another idea! Nancy Dillingham – one of Mountain Made’s most popular local poets – will be our “virtual demo” artist for the year! Nancy will be sharing her poetry and her 2020 experiences through her …Read More »
2020 a Year of Covid, Turmoil, Uncertainties, Heroes & Hope The year 2020 for better or worst will go down in American history as a pivotal moment. It has been often said that history is written for and by the victors. But nowadays in a world of overwhelmed with 2-second …Read More »
Nancy Dillingham’s Poems from the Heart As part of our continuing series, Inside the Artist’s Studio, this month we will be pulling back the curtain and learning more about the creative process behind Nancy Dillingham’s poems from the heart. But first, did you know that Nancy Dillingham is a sixth-generation …Read More »
Reminder…Father’s Day is this coming Sunday, June 21, 2020! Father’s Day Gift Ideas We naturally understand why you put such thought and effort into your Mother’s Day gift giving. So why not Father’s Day? We have been told time and time again that men only want a nice breakfast in …Read More »
