On Saturday, Jan. 20, the N.C. Poetry Society, in conjunction with the Friends of Weymouth. will present a day-long blend of poetry readings, discussions, and workshops at Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities in Southern Pines.

Registration for this free event, which is open to the public, will begin at 9:15 a.m. Refreshments will be served. Following a brief NCPS business meeting, three concurrent morning workshops will be offered by award-winning, highly acclaimed teaching poets.

Tom Heffernan, co-founder of the bi-lingual haiku magazine Plover/Chidori and winner of numerous international prizes for haiku will lead "Exploring Japanese Poetry," a workshop examining three Japanese literary forms -- tanka, haiku, and senryu, their differences and relationships. Heffernan currently teaches at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg.

Robin Greene, author of three books and professor of English at Methodist College where she co-runs Longleaf Press and teaches English and writing, will lead "Present Tense Poetry," a discussion of the elements of prosody and the ways in which to categorize poems. Participants with all levels of skill will be encouraged to write and share their own poetic sketches during the workshop.

Ron Bayes, award-winning writer-in residence at St. Andrews College and author of 14 books of poetry will lead "T.S. Elliott: Slicing Through Time and Space," in which examples from Elliott's "The Wasteland," "The Journey of the Magi," and "Gerontion" will be discussed. Participants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these works in advance and will have the opportunity to share an original poem in which they deal with "wrinkles in time."

Following a break for lunch, Friends of Weymouth will sponsor an afternoon reading by poet Jaki Shelton Greene as part of the Ragan Writers Series. Green's highly acclaimed writing has been choreographed by renowned dance companies, appeared in numerous journals and magazines, and is featured in her books "Dead on Arrival," "Dead on Arrival and New Poems," "Masks," "Conjure Blues," and "Blue Opal," a play.

She has performed her poetry and taught workshops extensively throughout the U.S., the Caribbean, Europe, Central America, and Brazil.

She holds a master's degree in community economic development, maintains an independent consultancy specializing in nonprofit board training, arts and education, and humanities, teaches creative writing to marginalized populations, and collaborates as a creativity coach with human services groups.

Anyone attending the NCPS Winter Melange of Poetry event will have the opportunity to share an original poem during open mic readings throughout the day.

Participants may order a box lunch during morning registration, go out for lunch, or bring a bag lunch to enjoy at Weymouth. Activities should conclude some time after 2 p.m.

For more information, contact Sue Farlow at Sue_NCPS@yahoo.com.