Status: Estimated: 50 to 90 pages perfect bound. 1Sept--30 Sept 2026

• Submissions by invitation only. 
• Submissions accepted from a former contributor or someone recommended by a former contributor.
• Only one submission per poet/writer.
• Poem may not exceed 38 lines (includes title author's name and a blank line prior to the poem) flash fiction or nonfiction should not exceed 325 words (bottom line is that the submission  must fit on a 5.5"x8.5" page with .5 top and bottom and .75 right and left margins) 
• NOTE: Contributors may purchase the book at a reduced rate upon publication. 

• Author must have rights to the poem (previously published OK). 
• Poem may not exceed 38 lines flash fiction or nonfiction may not exceed 325 words (this includes title, spaces, and author's name). 
• Poetry lines that  exceed 55 letters and spaces will wrap and count as two lines.
• Initially, only one poem/flash fiction or nonfiction per writer, so give it your best shot:-)
• Sample title and first line below

About the cover photo: 

Upcoming Anthologies

About the book

Sample of the work:

The Christmas Cat Brenda Kay Ledford   MY BEAUTIFUL BLACK lab, Pepper, got cancer. The veterinarian gave my dog only a few weeks to live. He suggested I put my best friend down. That would be the most humane thing to do. I finally relented to animal euthanasia. It was the hardest decision I ever made. I grieved for Pepper and vowed to never own another dog. He was just like family.      Christmas came on the heels of my pet’s death. It would be the worst holiday ever. I decided to not decorate my house. I just couldn’t get into a jolly mood. Without my beloved dog, I didn’t want to observe the holiday. The stores stocked Christmas items before Thanksgiving. Whenever I walked into a business, the upbeat songs made me cringe. What was so merry about this holiday?      A week before Christmas, I glanced out the window as snowflakes twirled across the Blue Ridge Mountains. When Pepper was alive, I wrapped a scarf around his neck and he went sledding with me. Back then, I looked forward to celebrating Christmas.      As I gazed out the kitchen window, a creature slunk through the snow. It froze in the yard, and our eyes locked. The cat mowed, jumped, and clawed my window. She was actually pretty with her ginger stripes and white paws. I tossed food outside. On Christmas Eve, I was sweeping my porch when she appeared. I reached out my hand and she licked it. I stroked her fur and she purred. She wrapped around my legs and begged to be my animal. That’s how Gingerbread became my special Christmas present.   BRENDA KAY LEDFORD resides in Hayesville, NC. Her work has appeared in all of the Old Mountain Press anthologies and many other journals. She received the Lighthouse Award from North Carolina Society of Historians for her writing. Ledford’s poetry collection, The Rain Crow’s Calling, is forthcoming with Kelsay Books.

Oh Puppy, My Puppy      Anne Gruner   Oh puppy, my puppy who barks and cries and seems to grow before my eyes. You roll and rumble and run so fast, you trip and stumble in the grass.   You chew my socks and eat my shoes and often do whatever you choose. So many toys, you play and play, and don’t quite master the meaning of stay.   But please go potty outside, not in. On this one matter my patience grows thin. You tug your leash to go where you please, and soon I know you’ll bring home fleas.   There’s a distant dog you want to see, you flip your collar and then run free. You shed and shed, but are the sweetest, even if you’re not the neatest.   You howl for no cause and beg for food, but most the time, you’re pretty good. Dog is God backwards, there’s a reason for that. Don’t know what it is, but for that I will clap.   Oh puppy, my puppy, I’m so glad you’re mine. I’ll love you forever, to me you’re divine. ANNE GRUNER’S is a Pushcart nominee. Her poetry has appeared in over twenty publications, including Amsterdam Quarterly Review, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Wayfarer Magazine, The Raven Review, New Verse News, Humans of the World, Spillwords, and Written Tales." Her stories can be found in Dogwood Journal, Third Flatiron’s Rhapsody of the Spheres, Persimmon Tree, Constellations Journal, Hippocampus Magazine, and others. A former CIA analyst, Anne lives in McLean, VA with her husband and two golden retrievers. https://www.annegruner.com/

B

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. Her poem, “Virga” Honorable Mention in 2025 Pinesong Awards, was also included in Had I a Dove (Redhawk Publications 2025) this Anthology will help with hurricane and flood relief efforts. Jenny has been featured on NPR’s Dante’s Old South with Clifford Brooks, 2025.

Glenda Beall now lives in Roswell, GA, but her heart remains in the mountains. She teaches memoir writing on Zoom for adults who want to tell their life stories. She co-authored Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins and published Now Might as Well be Then, a poetry book. Her poetry and her creative non-fiction are widely published in magazines. Her interviews with writers and poets are available online. Visit her at https://www.glendacouncilbeall.com

Sam Barbee’s newest collection is Apertures of Voluptuous Force (2022, Redhawk Publishing). He served as President of the Winston-Salem Writers, and also NC Poetry Society; and is an originator of the Poetry In Plain Sight—now in its fourteenth year—a poetry initiative featuring NC poets on broadside posters and display them in NC towns statewide. His poems currently appear in Cave Wall, and The Christian Science Monitor.

S. G. (Sandy) Benson’s 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 2024. She is currently working on a memoir in short story. Check out her blog: https://www.sandygbenson.com/ or subscribe to her Substack newsletter: https://sgb212739.substack.com/. She lives near Warne, NC.

 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 completed his memoir, The Most Fun I ever Had With My Clothes: On A March from Private to Colonel. He lives in Sylva, NC.

Nancy Dillingham—Big Ivy poet—is a sixth-generation Dillingham from Dillingham in the Big Ivy section of WNC. Her poetry collection Home was nominated for a SIBA.  Her latest publications include No Time Like the Present: A Memoir in Essays, Curves: Collected Stories, After Helene, On Love: Collected Poems, and On Music: Collected Poems.  She lives in Asheville, NC.

Dena M. Ferrari is a regular contributor to OMP, Dena’s poetry are featured in Westchester Community College of NY Phoenix (1975), Writers Alliance Poets World-Wide anthologies has many of her published works. Dena's 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.

G

Bob Garrett lives in Sylvester, GA. He is an avid outdoorsman, enjoying the outdoors at every opportunity. He is a previous contributor to the Old Mountain Press Anthology series.

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.

Anne Gruner’s is a Pushcart nominee. Her poetry has appeared in over twenty publications, including Amsterdam Quarterly Review, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Wayfarer Magazine, The Raven Review, New Verse News, Humans of the World, Spillwords, and Written Tales.” Her stories can be found in Dogwood Journal, Third Flatiron’s Rhapsody of the Spheres, Persimmon Tree, Constellations Journal, Hippocampus Magazine, and others. A former CIA analyst, Anne lives in McLean, VA with her husband and two golden retrievers. https://www.annegruner.com/

L

Brenda Kay Ledford resides in Hayesville, NC.  Her work has appeared in all of the Old Mountain Press anthologies and many other journals.  She received the Lighthouse Award from North Carolina Society of Historians for her writing.  Ledford’s poetry collection, The Rain Crow’s Calling, is forthcoming with Kelsay Books.

M

Valerie Macon finds poetry and prose woven into the fabric of everyday life. She has six poetry collections (Shelf Life, Sleeping Rough, A String of Black Pearls, The Shape of Today, Page Turner, and Chasing After the Wind). Her work has found expression in a variety of forms from print to podcasts. She runs a garden to feed the hungry, sings in the  Fuquay-Varina Chorale, and is a writer for Suburban Living Magazine.

Cindy Mernin, by profession a registered nurse, spent her first twenty-five years on the east coast, middle fifty years out west, and returned to Asheville, NC. An avid reader, she edited and assisted in the publication of her husband’s memoir, Yellowstone Ranger.

Celia Miles, a Jackson County native, retired from the community college system and lives and writes in Asheville. She is the author of several novels, women and Appalachia-oriented (plus Scotland), some poetry and short stories. Her latest novel is Eight Nights at the Harris Hotel, set in Scotland's Outer Hebrides.

Mona Miracle, born in Kentucky, thrust onto Florida beaches at age seven, settled into her Asheville forever-home 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 listings at Amazon is her novel Wesley’s Gift. MonaRaeMiracle.com  

O

Bev Ohler is an artist/theater designer/teacher and mother who loves to write. When she left the North she came with her husband to work at Warren Wilson College. She has published eight books and written for publications in many forms including this one. She lives in Black Mountain, NC  with her dog, Callie.

R

Mary Ricketson, Murphy NC, loves nature, growing food and flowers, and her long career helping people as a mental health counselor.  She is a mother, grandmother, and poet with nine published collections including Lira, Precious the Mule, Stutters, and Tall Flowers and Living Long.  Her newest, Tara, The Healing Power of Nature, is forthcoming from Seed Bed Press. Her poetry has won awards and has been set to music by a London-based composer.

Dwight Roth is a retired elementary school teacher of 29 years. His work appears in several Old Mountain Press anthologies. He has self-published four memoirs and several books of poetry, as well as children’s books. Some of his books are published on Amazon Kindle. Dwight and his wife Ruth live near Monroe, NC. He writes regularly on his poetry blog: https://rothpoetry.wordpress.com/

Maria Rouphail is the author of the This Is How I Will Save My Life, her fifth poetry collection. It is forthcoming from Redhawk in 2027. She lives in Raleigh, NC.

S

Lois Greene Stone, writer and poet, syndicated worldwide, had a novel published summer 2026. 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.

V

Wayne A. Vander Byl lives in Williamson, NY. His work has been published in previous Old Mountain Press anthologies, The Bond Street Review, and Bluff & Vine: A Literary Review. Wayne’s two pages/two voices plays have won in community play writing competitions sponsored by Writers & Books and Wayne Writers Guild.

W

Barbara Ledford Wright is a retired educator and award-winning author.  She is a graduate of Gardner Webb University and writes about nature and her experience living on a farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Wright was associate editor of Moonshine and Blind Mules.  Her work has appeared in many print and online journals including: The Best of North Georgia Mountains, Muscadine Lines: A Southern Journal, Kaleidoscope, Yesterday's Magazette, 57 Old Mountain Press anthologies, and many other publications. She’s residing with her sister in Shlby, NC.

Y

Tanya K Young received first prize in the 2025 Malovrh-Fenlon Poetry Contest, sponsored by Orchard Street Press, LTD. She is a member of Wildacres Writers of Asheville, NC; Fla. Writers and Poets Association and published in Kakalak, Swwim, Persimmon Tree, Fla. Poets Cadence, Fla. Bards Anthology, Old Mountain Press Anthology, Mobius, Magazine1, and Yellow Arrow Publishing. She lives in Sarasota, Fla.