We’ve interviewed the woman of the hour, new Carteret Writers president Meganne Smith, to learn what makes her tick. Meet Meganne and other local writers August 21st 4-6pm at Reed’s Coffee.

1. How long have you lived in Carteret County?

I moved to Carteret County in 1990 as a child. I moved away to attend college in Chapel Hill and then returned in 2004 to stay and raise a family. In total, I have been here for about 30 years.

2. What kind of work do you do?

I am an English teacher by trade. I started my career as a substitute teacher. Then, I taught middle school for 14 years. In 2019, I took a hiatus from teaching public school to pursue a different path; however, COVID happened and made my pursuits a little complicated. I went back to teaching, and now I teach high school English and work as an adjunct professor of English at the local community colleges.

3. Do you explore any other creative mediums besides writing?

I also play piano. I serve as the full-time pianist for the Unitarian Coastal Fellowship. I love to play all genres of music – jazz, classical, blues, rock, mariachi, tango, pop, etc. I am also trying my hand at musical composition recently.

4. When did you discover your love of writing?

I learned to read at the fairly young age of 4. Ever since then, when I picked up books, I realized that I loved writing, too. I wrote poems as a young child and into high school. When I went to college, I majored in English and minored in Creative Writing. In that program, I wrote short stories, poems with and without traditional form, plays, essays, creative nonfiction, etc. The more I learned about writing and the more I tried writing in different styles, the more I loved it. In 2007, I took a writing course via correspondence. Then, in 2015, I earned my Master’s in English and Creative Writing. Now, I get to teach college Composition courses and an AP Language and Composition as well as a Creative Writing elective; in teaching, I am given the privileged ability to watch other people develop ideas for a piece of writing, craft that idea, and share it with the world.

5. Favorite book:

It is nearly impossible for me to pick a favorite book when asked that question! However, I have read Barbara Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible about three times, so I think it is safe to say it is, at least, one of my favorites. I also love Anthony Doerr’s short story “The Hunter’s Wife.” Oh, and how could I forget how much I loved The Overstory by Richard Powers! In general, I love stories that use words in beautiful and creative ways; plus I love historical fiction.

6. What are you reading right now?

Right now I am reading Salman Rushdie’s Victory City, the Earth’s Children series by Jean M. Auel, and anything about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster.

7. Tell us about your work(s) in progress

I have a few pieces in progress. I actually have three novels in progress with these working titles: Hannah, The Exchange, and Vigilantes. The first is the story of Hannah who learns how to go back in time and does so to try to save an ex-boyfriend from dying; the second is the story of Rose who “sees more of death” than most people due to the way she dies and whose story shows readers how much of our lives is in the hands of mystery; the last is . . . not one I’m fully prepared to talk about here. I have one poem in progress and, perhaps, you could say I’m working on a musical about the life of International Workers of the World’s great song writer Joe Hill, nee Joel Hagglund, who was executed for murder in 1915.

8. What have you accomplished as a writer that makes you proud?

I have had three poems and two short stories published in my life so far. I have also written several pieces (rhetorical and not musical) for the Unitarian Church. While I am very proud of those publications, I am also proud to say that I continue to grow as a writer every year, I continue to practice, and I lead others (my students) in their writing journeys. To grow and to share are the biggest blessings of my life.

9. How did you get involved in Carteret Writers?

I got involved with Carteret Writers Group through their annual writing contest. I entered it a few times; I won in 2019 with my poem “Rite of Passage Raging.” At that time, I wanted to get more involved with the group and attend their meetings, but most of the events were during working hours and, thus, I was unable to attend. In 2022 or 2023, I began to attend more meetings, though, and more events with Carteret Writers.

10. What have you learned since joining Carteret Writers?

I believe I learned the most from the Carteret Writers’ Spring Conference in 2023. There I attended a workshop on Setting and one on Epistolary Poetry. While both workshops were excellent and enlightening, what I gained the most from the conference was networking. It was there I learned about the NC Writers Network and became a member; I have since attended one of their Fall Conferences and found numerous contests and publishing opportunities. I got to meet one of our local authors (and community college professor) Tom Kies; I also talked more to Melissa Kelley, Emily Carter, and Autumn Ware–members of our former Board; I took Autumn’s “Author’s Platform” course in the Fall of 2023 and entered her EPIC Carteret Winter Hauntings Contest, too. Carteret Writers has been a great source of inspiration.

11. What do you see in the future of Carteret Writers?

In the future, I see Carteret Writers continuing to grow, hopefully expanding to groups of writers who we may not see much at our gatherings in the present. I also see us returning to hosting our annual writing contest. I look forward to all the creative individuals who will branch off from our “homebase” or will attach to Carteret Writers and bring untold activities and ideas to our writing community.

* Pitch your ideas for the future of Cartertet Writers in our SURVEY *

Thank you, Meganne, and see you at the meet-up! – Jessi Waugh