The North Carolina Poetry Society (NCPS) will celebrate poetry, music and Sam Ragan at Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities Saturday, March 13.

After a short business meeting at 10 a.m., Kathryn Stripling Byer, immediate past poet laureate of North Carolina will entertain and educate the audience, combining a reading of her own work with a craft talk and reflections on Sam Ragan, the state’s poet laureate from 1982 to 1996. Ragan was the owner, publisher and editor of The Pilot from 1968 until his death in 1996.

Byer has published five books of poetry: “The Girl in the Midst of the Harvest,” “Wildwood Flower,” “Black Shawl,” winner Brockman-Campbell Award, “Catching Light” and “Coming to Rest.”

Her essays have appeared in numerous newspapers and anthologies.

The 2007 recipient of the Hanes Award for Poetry from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, she lives in Cullowhee, surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Her blog, “Here, Where I Am” (http://kathrynstriplingbyer.blogspot.com), was chosen as one of the 30 best poetry blogs in 2009.

What happens when two arts and artists are brought together?

After lunch, Larry Sorkin and Tanja Bechtler will introduce audience members to the synergy of a poet and cellist.

For this program, Sorkin and Bechtler will meet in the spirit of play with a program ranging from the works of Sam Ragan and Bach to original and improvised pieces for the occasion.

Sorkin is a part-time businessman, sometime poet, and occasional performer. Bechtler was a longtime cellist with the Charlotte Symphony, who now chooses to find new form and avenues for her talents. Her latest adventure is the creation of the Bechtler Ensemble performing in the new Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte as well as other community venues.

Before lunch and at the end of the day, there will be an open mic and recitation.

“Whether you’re reciting from memory or reading your own work, please adhere to our one-poem-or-one-page-whichever-is-shorter rule and keep any introductory comments to a bare minimum so we’ll be able to hear from as many of our talented members and guests as possible,” says a spokesman.