Nancy Posey

Nancy the Writer

Nancy is a freelance music writer in Nashville, contributing reviews and feature articles to Bluegrass Unlimited, No Depression magazine, and Music City Music Magazine, covering live music events, interviewing performers, and reviewing recorded music in the Nashville area and the bluegrass and roots music world. With Sandy Coomer, she is a co-host of Black Dog Open Mic Poetry, a monthly online event.

She shared the Poet Laureate honor with her friend Jane Shlensky on Poets Asides in 2015. Her first chapbook Let the Lady Speak (Highland Creek Books) won the Poetic Asides November Chapbook Challenge in 2009. Her poetry and poetry reviews have been featured in a number of publications, including Oxford Poetry, Rivers Within Them, and Poetry South Journal. She was an organizer of the Fall Face-to-Face in the Foothills Poetry Festival at Hickory Museum of Art, September 2015.

An avid lifelong reader and member of three book clubs, Nancy blogs about the books she reads at Discriminating Reader. Her book reviews have appeared in The Los Angeles Review, English Journal, The Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News and Observer, Y’all Magazine and more. She volunteers at the Southern Festival of Books each October in Nashville.

Nancy the Teacher

Currently an adjunct at Lipscomb University, Nancy has taught English at the secondary, community college, and university levels since 1990. In 2023, she earned her Ed.D. in educational leadership at Lipscomb, with a focus on mentorship. She has presented papers at the Christian Scholars Conference on such diverse topics as John Prine, Dolly Parton, Margaret Renkl, and Naomi Shihab Nye.

Nancy also taught childbirth education for eighteen years, a class for which the "final exam" produced immediate results. She has spoken at ladies' days and retreats solo and with her four sisters. A strong believer in legitimate, practical professional development and lifelong learning, she is available for staff development, writing workshops, and women's events. She also works with students on the college admissions and scholarship application process.

Nancy the Artist

Nancy has exhibited art works at Caldwell Arts Council (Concertina exhibit), Hickory Museum of Art (Printmaking), and had her first solo show “Thousand Words: Images and Recollections” at Bethlehem [NC] Branch Library; Organizer of The 2015 Fall Face-to-Face in the Foothills Poetry Festival. She has enjoyed continuing printmaking in Nashville. She has also used photography and graphic design skills for book, poetry, and music publicity materials.

Nancy the Music Lover

Nancy currently serves on the Songwriting Committee for the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). She regularly conducts recorded interviews of songwriters for “The Songwriter’s Story” series. Her interviews with such songwriters as Dan Tyminski and Megan Mullins, Becky Buller, Mason Via, Bob Minner and Jon Meador, members of Sister Sadie and more are available on YouTube (and on this website). With Kristen Davidson, she formed Music in Community Network to support artists with their print and online presence. They have also facilitated webinars for IBMA.

Nancy has always loved music and continues to build on her skills, writing songs, playing mandolin, and singing. One of her favorite endeavors is Louisa Branscomb’s Lyric Mountain songwriting retreats in Western North Carolina.  Nancy also participates regularly in the Swannanoa Gathering Old-Time Music and Dance Week at Warren Wilson College.

She can be found at such festivals as MerleFest in NC, ShoalsFest in Florence, AL, and AmericanaFest in Nashville. In Music City, she finds unlimited opportunities to enjoy live music.

She is married to Richard Posey, and they have three grown children, seven grandchildren, and are currently helping to raise two granddogs.