NC Writers Network & The Brandy Bar host “In the Company of Writers” series with Richard Allen Taylor & Greg Lobas
WED 7/9/26 – 7-9 PM – The North Carolina Writers Network-West and The Brandy Bar + Cocktails present RICHARD ALLEN TAYLOR and GREG LOBAS as next in their series “In the Company of Writers.”
The program offers a series of personal and conversational dialogues featuring guest writers/poets followed by an open mic forum. These inspirational gatherings will elucidate and entertain those attending. The guest authors speak from 7-8 PM with an open mic from 8 -9 PM. The live music of John Longbottom welcomes you, continues during intermission, and closes the evening. Sign-ups for the open mic are at the front door.
Richard Allen Taylor is the author of five poetry collections including, most recently, Geography of One, published by Main Street Rag in 2026. His poems, articles and reviews have appeared in many publications including Aeolian Harp, Litmosphere, Tar River Poetry, Rattle, and Sheila-Na-Gig. Winner of the Passionfruit Poetry Prize 2025, Taylor is a multiple Pushcart Prize nominee, former review editor for The Main Street Rag and a founding co-editor emeritus of Kakalak Anthology of Poetry and Art. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte and currently resides in Greer, South Carolina.
Gregory Lobas is the 2026 winner of the Poet Laureate Prize from the North Carolina Poetry Society. His book, Left of Center, won the Dogfish Head Poetry Prize and placed second in the Delaware State Press Association awards. Other awards have come from the Poetry Society of South Carolina (Marjorie E. Peale Prize and Peter Pan Prize) and the Carrie McCray Award from the South Carolina Writers’ Association. A 2026 Best-of-the-Net nominee, his work has appeared in New Ohio Review, Tar River Poetry, Cimarron Review, Vox Populi, Susurrus, Kakalak, and many other journals. A retired first responder, he lives in the foothills of North Carolina with his wife Meg, dog Sophie, and tractor Bubba.
