Experience the warmth of Fireside Friday Oct. 12th

PHOTO SUBMITTED Local poet and artist Bill Killian reads at Fireside Friday.

Fireside Friday at Shoppes of Murphy, Oct 12 from 5 to 7:30 will feature Dr. Gene Hirsch, who began the writing program at the John C. Campbell Folk School, and two of his students, Paul Donovan and Mary Ricketson, along with Bill Killian.

Killian is a retired engineer and painter who uses observations about nature as a metaphor for the human condition in his poems. Driftwood XIX, XX, and XXI and The Pearl have published his poetry.

Hirsch, who will teach an all-day poetry workshop at Murphy Library Oct 13, is a physician and poet. He teaches his medical students about human dynamics in people and families at the end of life. His poems have been published in literary journals and medical journals. He is a mentor to both poets Ricketson and Donovan.

Ricketson, whose first chapbook, I Hear the River Call My Name, will be released next month, is a certified clinical mental health counselor who is listed in Who's Who in American Women. For 15 years she has written a column, Woman to Woman, for a local newspaper. Paul Donovan is the host of Fireside Friday and his book of poems is Ramblings of an Idiot.

The Daily Grind and the Curiosity Shop will be open late during the performances.