Join me for “Writing is for the Birds” on Tuesday, February 17 from 2 – 4 pm ET

Posted on by Ashley Harris

Did you know that February is National Bird Feeding Month? Writers and bird lovers, I bet you can barely keep your feeder full, especially if you got as much snow as I did today. Recently, I was honored to write “Wings to Words,” an article about the powerful connection between birds and writing for the introduction to the February newsletter for Women on Writing. Read it here.

If birds enchant and inspire you, I hope you’ll consider joining me for a 2-hour workshop, “Writing is for the Birds” on February 17 from 2 – 4 pm ET. For more information and to sign up, see below.

WRITING IS FOR THE BIRDS: A WORKSHOP INSPIRED BY OUR AVIAN FRIENDS with Ashley Harris

WEBINAR DATE: Tuesday, February 17, 2026

WEBINAR TIME: 2pm – 4pm ET

DURATION: 2 Hours

LOCATION: Live webinar via Zoom

FEEDBACK: The last 15 minutes of the lecture will be open to Q&A. Students can also send questions ahead of time, to be addressed during the lecture.

SPECIAL OPTION: Receive a personal critique from the instructor of 3 double-spaced pages of your work within two weeks of the class for an extra fee. This includes at least one submission recommendation.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Did you know that cardinals symbolize fidelity and that their appearance may represent a visit from a lost loved one? Did you know the wood thrush has a Y-shaped voice box, allowing the last two notes of its song to fork off and harmonize? It’s no wonder that our avian friends find their way into the work of so many writers, from John Keats to Jane Kenyon to Amy Tan. In this special workshop, we’ll uncover the many ways that birds can elevate both poetry and prose through sounds, sights and themes.

This live Zoom webinar starts and ends on Tuesday, February 17, 2026.

Time: 11 AM – 1 PM PT | 12-2 PM MT | 1-3 PM CT | 2-4 PM ET

The webinar can be viewed on a tablet, phone, or computer (both Mac and PC).

We’ll record the class and have it available for anyone who would prefer to view the class at a different time and date.

Format
This course is offered via Zoom webinar. Webinars are workshops given online, where you can view the workshop and websites/materials I share on my screen, making it an interactive experience. Webinars make learning from your home or office convenient.

COST: $40, which includes one two-hour webinar with a 15-minute Q&A with me. Enrollment is limited to 10 students so I encourage you to register early.

Register here by clicking and scrolling to the bottom of this page.

Hope to see you there, but in the meantime, please stay warm and safe!
Ashley

The Wood Thrush Flies to McIntyre’s in Pittsboro!

Posted on by Ashley Harris

mcintyre-s-books-in-fearringtoJoin us on Sunday, August 25 at 2 p.m. for a special reading featuring poets from the N.C. Poetry Society at McIntyre’s Fine Books in Pittsboro. I’ll be there too, reading from Waiting for the Wood Thrush, my first poetry collection.

I’ll be reading the title poem, along with several others inspired by my life in the Uwharries, including “Samarcand,” “Old Pine Door,” and “Eulogy of the Northern Red Oak.” Other poems include “Napoleon and Antosia,” the tale of two star-crossed donkeys in love and “How to See a Ghost,” a poem describing a true-life ghostly encounter.

Memory_Ashley_COV_EM Waiting for the Wood Thrush will be available in November, but Finishing Line Press is taking pre-orders right now. You may also order by sending a check for $14.99 (please include $2.99 per copy for shipping) to Finishing Line Press at P.O. Box 1626, Georgetown, KY 40324.

If you’ve ordered a copy already, I sincerely thank you.

In the meantime, please join us for this special event on Sunday!

Listen for the Wood Thrush!

Posted on by Ashley Harris

wood thrushHave you heard the wood thrush this summer? He is an unassuming little bird in terms of appearance, but don’t be deceived! The wood thrush is unique for his Y-shaped voice box! This means that his voice magically splits and harmonizes with itself on the final notes of his trademark song, what humans have anthropomorphized as follows: Come to me. Here I am. Right near you. 

The wood thrush spends his summers in the Eastern U.S., where he sings to attract a mate and together they raise their young in the deep woods, where he is far more likely to be heard than seen. We have a very vocal wood thrush in the woods outside our house and his voice sails through the air like the first notes of a flute, which makes him stand out from the cacophony of the other birds. Click here to hear him sing.

For all of these reasons, I chose to feature the wood thrush in the title poem of my first-ever poetry collection, Waiting for the Wood Thrush, which is being published by Finishing Line Press and has been described by celebrated poet and fiction writer Ruth Moose as “Witty, wise, overflowing with life and color, grace, and the goodness in our lives….”

Waiting for the Wood Thrush is now available for pre-order through September 13 by the publisher, Finishing Line Press. Pre-order sales help the author and publisher because they help determine the quantity of the first press run. As a personal favor, I hope you’ll order my book soon, but I wouldn’t ask you unless I believed you might enjoy it.

Memory_Ashley_COV_EMClick here to order Waiting for the Wood Thrush online. You may also order by sending a check for $14.99 (please include $2.99 per copy for shipping) to Finishing Line Press at P.O. Box 1626, Georgetown, KY 40324.

If you’ve ordered a copy already, I sincerely thank you. Finishing Line Press will be shipping all copies around November 8, which means it will arrive well in time for your holiday shopping.

And who wouldn’t like to get a book of poetry for Christmas? 🙂

 

A Wood Thrush is Waiting for You!

Posted on by Ashley Harris

Memory_Ashley_COV_EMA little wood thrush has just taken flight! See the official cover of my new poetry book to your left. Waiting for the Wood Thrush is currently available for presale at Finishing Line Press.

Advance sales help the author and the publisher, and I’d be so very grateful if you ordered early. Click here to order Waiting for the Wood Thrush online. 

Waiting for the Wood Thrush includes 23 poems united by the themes of love and longing, through the lens of nature.

A handful of the poems have been previously published through the years, and they’re happily united under one cover with many new ones, including “Eulogy of the Northern Red Oak,” a long-form poem that was named a finalist for the N.C. Poet Laureate Award by the N.C. Poetry Society earlier in the year, along with “Lost and Found of the Dead,” another long-form poem that offers a surrealistic journey through the intangible things we often leave behind.

“Memory’s poems are fully human, and therefore fully real; they are moral poems, in that they lift the reader to a higher level of appreciation for the human world and the world of nature.”

– Joyce S. Brown, author of the poetry collection Vital Signs, Orchard Street Press and former instructor, Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars

“Ashley Memory’s poems take matters of the soul and make them breathable. She does what a poet must—she takes what hurts in life and makes us laugh, sigh, think, then turn the page. The hurting, of course, doesn’t go away, but Waiting for the Wood Thrush reminds us of the whole brilliant spectrum of emotion that poetry brings us.” – Matt Swain, Co-founder and Poetry Editor of Turnpike Magazine

“Witty, wise, overflowing with life and color, grace, and the goodness in our lives.  You go from the natural world, to how to see a ghost to an antiques fair to sin town. What joy! What word pleasure! Read and remember, then read again.” – Ruth Moose, Pushcart Prize-winning author of two novels, four collections of short stories and six collections of poetry, including Tea and The Librarian.

Waiting for the Wood Thrush is available for pre-order through September 13, with publication on November 8, 2019. My pressrun (the number of copies printed) is determined by advance sales, and it would help me tremendously if purchases are made during this time.  Thank you so very much for your support!

Cat in a Wheelbarrow! Interview on the Muffin

Posted on by Ashley Harris

cat in a wheelbarrowToday I’m honored to be interviewed on “The Muffin,” the daily blog of the award-winning Women on Writing site.

Here I discuss the inspiration behind my “onion” essay, my forthcoming poetry collection (“Waiting for the Wood Thrush”) from Finishing Line Press, and my favorite writing tip.

For more and to find out the story behind the picture of the cat in a wheelbarrow, read it here.

Poem #10 – Waiting for the Wood Thrush

Posted on by Ashley Harris

We made it to Day 10 – whew! Only twenty more days to go. But I have to say that I’m thoroughly enjoying this poetry challenge. As I mentioned to a friend, it’s a little like documenting your daily life through a diary of poetry.

In keeping with yesterday’s poem about the delights of spring, today we’ll anticipate the arrival of the wood thrush, a rather woodthrushnondescript bird in terms of appearance, but with a song as ethereal as the nightingale. Have you heard it?

Want to read my poem? Scroll down the list for Day #10 to read “Waiting for the Wood Thrush.”

If you love poetry, I hope you’ll consider supporting a poet this month.  Please do read my work (and those of the other poets) if you can, and consider supporting me with a small donation. Supportive comments on this blog are also very welcome because they inspire me to keep going!

Many, many thanks to all of you have contributed to the cause so far — either through a monetary donation or moral support, which are equally valuable.

Please know that your contributions are going to a great cause. Tupelo Press is a prestigious non-profit press, and for 17 years their mission has been to publish new voices. They are giving my work some exposure, and bringing me into a community of over 350 alumni helping each other publish our work.