May 2003

April’s when spring finally hits the Berkshires: from snowfall to forsythia blooms, all in the span of a month. This April also marked the second anniversary of our first season of workshops and book groups. One of the students from that first season is getting an MFA in creative writing now; another just joined the Inkberry team. We feel so proud! More on that in a moment.

April also brought us a truly fantastic reading by Mark Doty, with local poet Aaron Beatty. Mark’s been on our wish list since the reading series was just a glimmer in our eyes, and his reading was surely one of the highlights of our year. The two read to a packed house (standing-room only), and in the end when Mark opened it up for questions, all people could say was, “Will you read one more poem?” We taped the reading, and it should be airing on local cable-access television stations soon; if you live in the area, keep your eye out for that.

As the saying goes, you can’t win ‘em all. One of the events we’d planned for May, a collaborative fundraiser with Images Cinema and the Contemporary Artists Center (A Moveable Feast, slated for May 10) has unfortunately been cancelled. Still, we’ve got a lot of great other stuff planned for the month of May.

On May 4th we’ll kick off a six-week intermediate mixed-genre online workshop, taught by Sandy. The workshop is designed for people who are already writing, but want feedback and constructive criticism and encouragement to finish pieces up and get them out the door. It will take place entirely online, so all you need is a ‘net connection and a dream (and, ideally, some writing you want to polish up). Email rachel@inkberry.org or call 413-664-0775 if you want in on that.

On Wednesday May 7th (note the delayed start date) I’ll be kicking off a four-week poetry workshop, focusing on the Lyric Poem (a particular kind of short poem that may exalt memory, loss, nature, and/or a moment in time), and space is still available there, so if you’re interested, give a call.

On May 15th, Emily will begin the first of two book-and-movie discussion groups we’re co-presenting with Images, this one on Nabokov’s Lolita. And on May 17th, we’ll be presenting a reading by Lawrence Raab and Wyn Cooper, which should be fantastic. Larry Raab is author of six collections of poems, including What We Don’t Know About Each Other (a National Book Award Finalist) and most recently Visible Signs: New and Collected Poems (2003); Wyn Cooper’s most recent book is Secret Address, a chapbook of postcard poems, though he may be best known for his poem “Fun,” which was turned into Sheryl Crow’s grammy-winning hit “All I Wanna Do.” The reading is free, and will be held at 7:30 on the 17th.

Now I’ll turn the virtual microphone over to Sandy, to give you some news about what’s going on at Inkberry behind the scenes.

— Rachel

When I helped found Inkberry, back at the beginning, it was out of my commitment to the craft of writing, my insistence that everyone can learn to say what’s inside of them, and my unending fascination with how stories — true ones and myths — can change our world.

None of that has changed. But my life has undergone some serious changes, and I no longer have the resources to commit to Inkberry in the role of Community Outreach Director. So I’ve been stepping back. This was a change we’ve been making over time, but which left Inkberry feeling a little bit like a band without a drummer.

The role of Community Outreach Director is an important one — making the connections and collaborations that highlight Inkberry as an intergral part of our setting. Unfortunately, it’s also a commitment of volunteer time and energy that I simply can’t afford right now.

I’ll still be a big part of Inkberry — for now, I’m still on the staff, still part of the board of directors, and still teaching — but we’ve found a great new drummer for our band, and I’m thrilled about that. To introduce herself, here she is: ladies and gentlemen, Kate Abbott!

— Sandy

Hello! I’m a reporter for the Berkshire Advocate; I’m also a freelance writer, and I had a story published in the last Berkshire Review. I’ve known Inkberry since I took their New England Voices book group in the green room at the Main St. Stage in the spring of 2001. I’m delighted to be working with Rachel and Emily this year.

William Zinsser wrote, “Writing is thinking on paper. Anyone who thinks clearly should be able to write clearly — about anything at all.” The first writing workshop I took with Inkberry confirmed for me that teaching people to write may be the hardest and most important job anyone can do. One of the other students was a young mother looking for a better job. One worked with Alzheimer’s patients. Writing can preserve culture, ease pain, mediate, save. It will be a privilege — and a lot of fun — to help Inkberry reach farther out toward the community.

My newest book discovery is Jean Rhys’ Sleep It Off, Lady, a collection of stories set in the West Indies. I end each story wanting more, and listen to the echoes of it for hours afterward. They touch on hidden prejudices, deftly, at the back of plain actions: a man beating a child; a nun refusing to leave an island; a guest patronizing his host’s wife; a man hiding behind anger; a bishop sticking to a chair; a West Indian girl playing on the British stage; an Englishman dying in the thick West Indian forest.

Come visit us soon!

— Kate