| Mountain Lakes: A Poetry and Prose Anthology
This 90 page anthology contains the work of 66 poets and prose writers with the theme of anything relating to the mountains, beach, ocean, lake, towns or people, on or in the water/mountains, and/or Spring.
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B Sam Barbee live is Winston-Salem, NC. His newest collection is
titled, Apertures of Voluptuous Force (2022, Redhawk Publishing), and
three previous poetry collections, including That Rain We Needed (2016,
Press 53), a nominee for the Roanoke-Chowan Award as one of North Carolina’s
best poetry collections of 2016. A
two-time Pushcart nominee, his poems recently appeared in Salvation South,
Verse Virtual, Ekphrastic Review, and Grand Little Things; plus
on-line journals Dead Mule School of Literature, and Medusa’s
Kitchen. Jenny Bates, seven poetry books, published in numerous NC and
international journals. Presented at the 2023 Ecopoetics and Environmental
Aesthetics Conference, London. ESSENTIAL, Redhawk Publications 2023: nominee
Pushcart Prize 2024. From Soil and Soul, Redhawk Publications 2024. Award
winning poem, Again (Flying South 2024): nominee Pushcart Prize 2025. Donna Beal lives in Hayesville, NC. She is a graduate of Winthrop
University where she majored in Philosophy and Religion. Donna was a Director
and Senior Vice President with a large financial institution. Since
retirement, she been published in
numerous journals and is a member of The North Carolina Writer
Network West and the SistaWRITE group founded by North Carolina Poet
Laureate Jaki Shelton Green. Marcie Behm-Bultz is a population scientist and demographer whose writing is
based in human geography and exotic locations. Marcie’s literary work has
been featured in numerous publications such as the BorderLines Anthology,
Old Mountain Press anthologies, The Deadly Writers Patrol Anthology,
the Catfish Stew annual magazine, and the SC Writer’s Association
Petigru Review. She is a 2018/2019 Pushcart Prize nominee and a member of
the CSRA/Savannah River Poets. She
resides in South Carolina. S.G. (Sandy) Benson, a regular contributor to OMP, lives in Warne, NC.
Her articles and stories have appeared in magazines and newspapers nationwide
since 1971. She published her first book, My Mother’s Keeper: One
Family’s Journey Through Dementia in 2021 and her second book, Dear
Folks, a collection of her dad’s letters home during WWII, in August
2024. She is currently working on a collection of short stories. Kerri Habben Bosman is a writer living in Cape Carteret, NC. She is a
graduate of Peace College and North Carolina State University. Her work has
been included in the News and Observer and regularly appears in
publications throughout the US and Canada. L. Clare Bratten lives in Nashville, TN. She has worked as a professional
writer of journalism, advertising, public relations, speech writing until
(with great relief) pursuing graduate work and finally working as a professor
of media. Harry Brown holds degrees in English from Davidson College, Appalachian
State University, and Ohio University. He has published six poetry collections and co-edited an
anthology of Kentucky writing. After
teaching for over forty years in the Eastern Kentucky University English
Department, Brown has returned to NC and lives with his wife Alice in
Burlington. Ina Claire Bryant, known as Sam, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the Univ.
of SC. and holds a Masters in
English. Her poetry collection is
entitled The Fruit of Years. She was privileged to teach African-American
students many years. Currently
she resides in Arden, NC. Toby Bunton’s credits include Winston-Salem Writers’ POETRY IN PLAIN
SIGHT PROGRAM, also five anthologies for Old Mountain Press. In September
2023, his poem “Mowing Mayberry” was published as a finalist for Winston
Salem Writers’-Flying South 10th anniversary anthology. Three poems were
included in the Heron XI Clan’s 2024 poetry collection, with two more coming
in 2025. Toby is a UNCG graduate in Literature. He is married with two
children in Mt. Airy, NC. C Caroline Cottom’s poetry collection, Asylum, was published in 2023.
Her poems have appeared in various journals and anthologies including Silk
Road, Mandala Journal, Santa Fe Literary Review, and others.
She is the former director of the coalition that brought an end to nuclear
testing in Nevada, recounted in her memoir, Love Changes, Things even in
the World of Politics. Caroline lives in Greensboro, NC, with her husband
Thom and two cats. Eloise Currie’s publishing credits include pieces in the Personal Story
Publishing Project, Fall 2024 and Personal Story Publishing Project,
Spring 2025 anthologies. She has edited books as well as short stories.
She has kept a journal for thirty years and uses it as source material for
short stories and nonfiction. Eloise lives in Raleigh, NC. Steve Cushman is a writer from Greensboro who thinks this may be the
year he picks up the bass guitar again! D Tom Davis’ publishing credits include Poets Forum, The Carolina
Runner, Triathlon Today, Georgia Athlete, The Fayetteville Observer’s
Saturday Extra, A Loving Voice Vol. I and II, Special Warfare., and
Winston-Salem Writers’ POETRY IN PLAIN SIGHT program for 2013 and 2021. He
has authored several books. Tom, a retired Special Forces soldier, has written
and published his memoir, The Most Fun I Ever Had With My Clothes On: A
March From Private to Colonel. Nancy Dillingham is a sixth-generation Dillingham from Dillingham in the
Big Ivy section of western North Carolina.
She is the coeditor of four anthologies of writings by western North
Carolina women writers. Her
collection Home was nominated for a SIBA. Her latest publications are Curves:
Collected Stories, No Time Like the Present: A Memoir in Essays, and her
chapbooks Promise and Longing. She
lives in Asheville, NC. Sandra Dillingham’s work has appeared in Victoria Press and the
anthology It’s All Relative from The Tree from 50 WNC Women. Sandra
was the editor of Haywood Press at Haywood Community College for five years.
Sandra lives in Asheville, NC. David Dixon is a physician, poet, and musician who lives and practices
in the foothills of North Carolina. His
work has appeared in Rock & Sling, The Northern Virginia Review,
Connecticut River Review, Bear Paw Arts Journal, The Greensboro Review,
Kakalak, Atlanta Review and elsewhere. He is the author of The
Scattering of Saints (Hermit Feathers Press, 2022). E Terri Kirby Erickson is the author of seven collections of poetry,
including Night Talks (Press 53), which was a Finalist for an
International Book Award and a Best Book Award. Her books and poems have won
multiple awards, including the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize and the Annals of
Internal Medicine Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in “American Life in
Poetry,” Rattle, The SUN, The Writer’s Almanac, and many others.
She lives in Pfafftown, NC. Kathy Ellis has three collections of poetry. To her delight, Kathy has
received numerous awards and honorable mentions, and her poetry has been
published at various venues. Kathy resides in Sandy Springs, GA with her
multilingual cats. F Dena M. Ferrari is a regular contributor to OMP, her poetry is featured in
Westchester Community College of NY Phoenix (1975), Writers Alliance
Poets World-Wide anthologies has
many of her published works. Her own books, Poems From the Hearth
(2010) Come Closer My Dearies (2013), Charmed Times Three
(2015), and her newest book Wyld Earth Magick (2018) shows diversified
writing styles, leaving a Living Legacy for her grandchildren. She and her
husband, Peter live in Vass, NC. Mari Fitz-Wynn teaches online writing classes for the Muse Writers Center
in VA and presents writing workshops at conference events around the globe.
She is the author of four creative non-fiction books and a poetry collection, RISE
UP! Poems of Protest Poems of Praise. Her essays and poems appear in
numerous anthologies and magazines. Mari, a 2018 United Arts Literary Grant
recipient, resides in Raleigh, NC, and is working on a second poetry
collection. Joanne Kennedy Frazer, a retired peace and justice director and educator
for faith-based organizations, began writing poetry in her third stage of
life, and has now been published more than 80 times in a variety of literary
venues. Five poems were turned
into a song cycle, Resistance, by composer Steven Luksan, and performed in
Seattle and Durham. Her last chapbook, Seasonings (Kelsay Books), was
nominated for the Eric Hoffer Book Award. She lives in Raleigh, NC. Peggy Dugan French is a California girl with Minnesota roots. She has
been the editor of the small print zine Shemom since 1997.
Her work has appeared in Lilliput, bear creek haiku, Shemom and Whispers.
She has worn many hats over the years, but raising her children has
been one of her greatest pleasures. Peggy lives in Cardiff, CA, with her
husband, cat and wild garden and blogs at peggyduganfrench.com. G Bob Garrett is an avid outdoorsman. He lives in Sylvester, GA. He
enjoys writing about his outdoor adventures. He has contributed to multiple
editions of the Old Mountain Press anthologies. Michael Gaspeny’s recent books are Flight Manual: New and Selected Poems
and the novel A Postcard from the Delta. He has also published a
novella in verse, The Tyranny of Questions. For hospice service in his
hometown, Greensboro, NC, he received the NC Governor’s Award for Volunteer
Excellence. He loves to romp in the OMP. James Gibson, a native Tennessean,
private pilot, scuba diver, and auto industry retiree, is happily
retired in Northville, Michigan. His first five novels featured Native
American culture in the “Anasazi Quest” series. Searching with Pei for the
Meaning of Life was published in 2016 based on his experiences living in
Taiwan. His eighth novel, To
Live or Die in Taiwan was published in
2018. Linda M. Gifford lives with her new husband in a log house on 37 acres
within the Nantahala National Forest, north of Murphy, NC.
She has written many poems reflecting this new chapter of her life. The
huge waterfall in the backyard, the forest and new friends have been an
inspiration that rekindled her love of writing. Her poems and essays appeared
in many anthologies compiled by Old Mountain Press, John C. Campbell Folk
School, N.C. Writers Network West and others.
Marian Gowan is a regular contributor to Old Mountain Press
anthologies. During her sixteen
years living in western NC, her work appeared in several southern
publications. She returned to
western NY in 2017 to be near family. H Mary Ellen Hammond lives in Swain County, NC. For 27 years she was co-founder
and editor at Milestone Press, now a part of The University of Georgia Press.
Her articles, essays, and poetry have appeared in regional and national
publications including WNC Magazine, Our State Magazine, Welcome Home,
Senior Hiker, and The Wall Street Journal. In 2024 she was named an
emerging poet in the North Carolina Poetry Society’s Gilbert–Chappell
Distinguished Poet Series. Debbie Hooper travels and writes poetry to go along with her
professional aerial and nature photography.
This will be her seventh time in this Old Mountain Press Anthology.
You can see her photography on her website JoeBay.com under Portfolio.
She and her husband have finished their house in Andrews, NC. J Jill Jennings’ work has appeared in Atlanta Review; Oberon; Calamaro,
Reach of Song, Encore, and Please See Me journals. Her 3
full-length books include The Poetry Alarm Clock, Dead Man’s Flower;
and Pineapple Wine: Poems of Maui.
Jill has served as Vice President, Interim President and Secretary of
the Georgia Poetry Society. The recipient of many awards including The U.S.
Congressional Commendation, the GA native now lives in Fort Myers, FL. Bonnie Johnson is the author of the following books: THREE TURNS OF
THE KALEIDOSCOPE: Healing the Victim Within and a children’s book What
Would You Do If Sammy Hit You? aired on Alabama Public Radio. She
occasionally writes poems and is currently writing a memoir centered on her
relationship to her spirited Scot Irish grandfather. Bonnie lives in
Nashville, TN. L Patsy Kennedy Lain continues residing in Hubert, NC near the Crystal Coast.
She has published short stories in a local anthology and newspaper,
poems in 40 Old Mountain Press anthologies and a few in magazines.
Patsy has published three poetry collections, BACKROADS, FLASHBACKS,
BLENDED, one short story collection, SMORGASBORD, and seven
children’s books. Currently she
is working on her fourth poetry and second short story collections.
Patsy continues to write, paint and receive awards for her writings as
well as paintings. Brenda Kay Ledford is a seventh-generational native of Clay County, NC. She's
a retired educator and award-winning author. Her work has appeared in all of the Old Mountain Press
anthologies. Her poetry book, Persistent
Trillium, is upcoming with Finishing Line Press. K. A. Lewis writes poetry, flash memoir, fantasy, and SF. Since 2014,
her work has been published in over 30 anthologies, most recently Reading
& Writing During the Holidays, Eastern Sea Bards, Gathering 2024, NoVA
Bards 2024, Good Old Days, Minute Musings and the upcoming Dawn
Horizons. Katy and her husband live with four demanding cats in a small
book-stuffed house in Falls Church, VA. Learn more at: KA-Lewis.com Natalia Luckyanova has been writing poetry her whole life, originally in her
native Russian. She works in the mobile game industry and, along with her
husband, is the co-creator of the popular game series Temple Run, with over
two billion downloads worldwide. She lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband,
two daughters and two very loud dogs. M Mark Marshall moved from West Virginia to Nashville, TN in 1977. He
worked for 40 years as a career coach, sharing stories with thousands of
people from every walk of life, feeding his interest in the power of
storytelling. His essays draw on how growing up among the mountains of
Richwood, WV, a small lumber and mining town shaped his life, and have been
featured by The Tennessean, Personal Story Publishing Project, WV Writers
Association. Preston Martin has published poems in numerous journals and anthologies.
He facilitates classes in poetry and literature at Duke Continuing Education.
He lives in Chapel Hill, NC. Beth McNichol’s work has appeared in two previous OMP anthologies and County
Lines: a Literary Journal. She is a freelance journalist and publishes a
Substack about belonging and estrangement, Other People’s Parents. A
West Virginia native, she lives in Raleigh, N.C., with her family. Celia H. Miles, a retired community college instructor, lives in and
sometimes travels from Asheville, NC. Her thirteen novels and two short story
collections reflect her interest in old grist mills, Neolithic circles, and
her Appalachian heritage, women-oriented. Her latest novel, Eight Nights at
the Harris Hotel is set primarily in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.
website: celiamiles.com Mona Miracle, born in Kentucky, was thrust onto Florida beaches at
seven, but settled into her mountain forever-home in Asheville in 1989.
She was a featured presenter at South Florida Poetry Society, and a
four-category winner in Florida Freelance Writers Annual Competition.
She earned degrees at Univ. of Florida and Nova Univ.
Among her books at Amazon is the novel Wesley’s Gift, set in
Asheville, Charlotte, and Tokyo, Japan. www.monaraemiracle.com
O Stephanie Oakey grew up in Andrews, NC, where nature and people tied to
her like bootlaces. She has always loved to write but stopped for a while to
focus on a career in health and human services. After her mother passed, she
returned to Alarka to reconnect with her roots. Her recent anthology, Poems
of a Southern Nobody, honors her mother, her heritage, and her family. She
was featured in USA Today and POWER Magazine, but the local,
hometown newspapers that feature her work hold the most significance to her. Bev Ohler grew up in the Northeast and spent part of each summer at
the ocean, continuing that when she moved to NC, where she taught, designed,
worked mostly in the theater at Warren Wilson College. She has written six books and has been published in a
plethora of magazines, journals, playbills and publications. Martha o’quinn has been a contributor to the anthologies for many years.
It has been one of many highlights in her life.
She has been privileged to
have her non-fiction prose published in three books by Celia Miles and Nancy
Dillingham. She enjoys her six
great-grandchildren, and lives near her daughter in Loganville, GA. P David W. Plunkett's poems and stories have appeared in many Old
Mountain Press anthologies. His
latest collection of poetry is The Blue House, poems about dreams, loss
and hope, and, of course, the Georgia and North Carolina mountains where he
lives. Michael Potts is the author of the novels, End of Summer, Unpardonable
Sin and Obedience. He has also published three poetry anthologies, From
Field to Thicket, Hiding from the Reaper and Slipknot and other
Dark Poems and a collection of short stories, Death Rattle and Other
Dark Tales. He lives with his wife, Karen, and six active cats near Coats,
North Carolina. R Mary Ricketson’s poems reflect the healing power of nature.
Published collections: I Hear the River Call My Name, Shade and
Shelter, Mississippi: The Story of Luke and Marian, Keeping in Place, Lira,
Poems of a Woodland Woman, Precious the Mule, and Stutters, A Book of
Hope. She won first place,
2011 Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest 75th anniversary national poetry contest.
She is a mental health therapist in private practice in Murphy NC. Dwight Roth is a retired elementary teacher from Eastern, NC. He lives
in Monroe, NC with his wife Ruth and publishes a poetry blog on Word Press.
https://rothpoetry.wordpress.com/ He has poems published in Old Mountain Press
poetry anthologies and North Carolina Bards Anthology. His self-published
books of poetry as well as children’s books that can be found on Amazon.
Dwight lives with his wife Ruth near Monroe, NC. Maria Rouphail’s most recent book is This small house, this big sky,
published by Redhawk in March, 2025. The NCPS 2024-25 Gilbert-Chappell
Distinguished Poet for Central North Carolina, Rouphhail lives in Raleigh. S Garry Schaedel lives in Burlington, VT. He worked many years in public
health. In 2014, he was the sole recipient of the National American Academy of
Pediatrics Child Health Award. He has published
a memoir, Dreams and Mirrors. He is a runner and has been published in VT
Sports Magazine. He was published in the MT Business Quarterly.
When traveling, he likes to run in local road races. Rishan Singh, a Literary Laureate, is the author of two books of poetry.
His prose and poetry appears in publications in South Africa and abroad. Some
of his best work is titled What I Would Do for Love, Being Indian and Love
and Honesty. He received an Ethekwini Municipality Award for placing in an
essay competition in 2014. Paul Sherman lives in Yancey County, North Carolina. As a child he
lived in the town of Sandpoint, Idaho, built on the shore of Lake Pend
O’reille. He learned to snow ski on Schweitzer, the ski resort mountain
overlooking town and lake, and he still remembers his elation skiing Vagabond
in a tuck, trees whipping past, onlookers for the jump ahead. Lois Greene Stone, writer and poet, has been syndicated worldwide. Poetry
and personal essays have been included in hard & softcover book
anthologies. Collections of her
personal items/photos/ memorabilia are in major museums including twelve
different divisions of The Smithsonian. The
Smithsonian selected only her photo to represent all teens from the 1950's; a
large showcase in its National Museum of American History featured her photo.
hand-designed clothing, and her costume sketches. ‘Girlhood’ exhibit
opened 10-2020 and then toured from Jan. 2023 to 2025. T Carroll S. Taylor is a writer, poet, and playwright. She is the author of
two young adult novels and two children’s books. In June 2024, she published
her first poetry collection, Facing Toward the East.
Her one-act play, Midnight, was performed on stage at The
Peacock Performing Arts Center, Hayesville, NC, in February 2025. Her books
emphasize generational storytelling and reflect her love for reptiles and
amphibians. She and her husband live in Hiawassee, GA. Jo Barbara Taylor lives in Raleigh, NC, where she writes poetry and fiction,
and leads a poetry writing workshop, the Funshop. Her poetry and short stories
have appeared in journals, magazines, anthologies, and online. She has
published four poetry books with small presses. Rebekah Timms, a deeply rooted South Carolinian, lives in Greenwood, SC,
fifteen miles from the place where she was
born. Although she is nearing the end of her ninth decade on this earth, she
is still full of life and stories to tell. Ashley Tunnell is pursuing an English degree at the University of North
Georgia with a concentration in writing and publication. Her work has appeared
in UNG’s literary magazine, the Southern Literary Festival’s anthology
of Poetry and Short Stories, and Well Read Magazine. Outside of
writing and studying, she enjoys music and spending time with her friends and
family. Ashley lives with her family in Blairsville, GA. W Carmen Dressler Ward lives in Durham, NC, and is a retired college
educator who loves writing poetry, playing piano, and family gatherings. Her
poems have won NCPS awards and have been published in Bay Leaves, Pinesong,
Kakalak, and Eno River Literary Journal. In 2024 she was a Finalist for
the annual Poems of the Plains and Prairies Award from NDSU Press. Elizabeth Watson is a frequent contributor to old Mountain Press, prose and
poetry. She has her own lending library of editions from the past. Often it
takes considerable thought to relate to the designated theme, but in time
ideas bloom before the deadline. Natives of Massachusetts, the Watsons have
accumulated thirty-five years in three southern states. They are still
recognized as northerners by their Boston accents. They live in Greenville,
SC. Penny L. Weaver is a creative adventurer, paper artist, art instructor,
event designer, and poet residing in southeastern NC among the whisper of pine
trees and the rustling of paper. She
routinely examines the world around her through the lens of “handfuls of
Haiku.” Her poetry has appeared
in three previous Old Mountain Press Anthologies (Vols 38, 40, and 42).
Her art and words can be viewed at her website:
www.artpaperlove.com William Wehunt, a peripatetic Appalachian-born Zen Buddhist edits, writes
copy, news and for poetry journals (thank you, OMP). He wants to thank:
Buddha, Hui Neng and Rinzai; his sweetheart Denise, his cat Yuki, his parents;
Nam Vets; Yeats, Frost, Snyder, Guy Lail and more; Jefferson, Uecker, Dave
Bowman, Rabelais, Mencken, HS Thompson, Kerouac, Emerson, PK Dick, RD Laing,
Diogenes, the Greeks, Yes, Metheny and the I Ching: all of whom inspire. Find
at decemberfan.wordpress.com. Jennifer Weiss was awarded the 2022 NC State Poetry Prize. Her work has
been featured in the NC Poetry Society Poetry in Plain Sight series and in Qu
Literary Magazine, NC Literary Review, Kakalak, Minerva Rising and other
journals. A lawyer and former state legislator, she works as a literacy tutor
at a Title I Elementary School and loves reading to children. She lives in
Cary, North Carolina. Cheryl
Wilder’s poetry collection, Anything That Happens, a Tom Lombardo
Poetry Selection, was named Second Finalist in the Poetry Society of Virginia
North American Book Award and received Honorable Mention in the
Brockman-Campbell Book Award. Singing Riptide, companion volume to her
first collection, is forthcoming Summer 2025. Owner of BornWilder LLC, Cheryl
is a coach and speaker who helps others realize their aspirations, embrace
purpose, and strengthen their resolve. She lives in Haw River, NC. Kelley White has worked as a pediatrician in Philadelphia and New
Hampshire. Poems have appeared in Exquisite Corpse, Rattle and JAMA.
Her most recent chapbook is A Field Guide to Northern Tattoos (Main
Street Rag Press.) Recipient of 2008 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant
she is Poet in Residence at Drexel’s Medical School. Her newest collection, NO.
HOPE STREET, was recently published by Kelsay Books. Barbara Ledford Wright lives in Shelby, NC. A retired teacher that writes
about her family, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. She has been published in many
journals, magazines, and anthologies. Y |
