July 2002

Hello out there! The Berkshires’ famous summer season is in full swing — there’s more to do every evening than you could possibly fit in before dawn. Right now, however, I’m mainly planning to stay in Inkberry’s cool office; we don’t have air conditioning, but we’re out of the hot sun.

July at Inkberry, at least, promises to be very cool. We kick off our summer workshops with well-known cultural critic Seth Rogovoy, who’ll be teaching a two-part review-writing workshop, “Everyone’s a Critic,” starting July 9. Come by and learn how to write professional-quality reviews — or just how to look with a critic’s eye.

On July 20, we’re offering a day-long workshop that’s already lifting a few eyebrows — the fabulous Hanne Blank will be teaching “Sex Scenes for Everyone.” Hanne is a teacher, writer, and editor who focuses on that trickiest of subjects: sex and the body. The more I read of her work, the more I admire her grace and guts. So bring your pen and paper, take that paper bag off your head, and join us for what’s sure to be a highlight of our summer season.

July 27 brings us to poet and memoirist asha bandele’s reading. She’s the author of a volume of poems, as well as her gripping memoir, The Prisoner’s Wife — and she’s also working on a new novel. This should be a very dynamic reading by a writer who’s comfortable across several genres. Prepare to be amazed.

Poet Martín Espada’s reading at the beginning of June set the tone for a riveting month. In addition to bringing on our new (hallelujah!) board and closing out our spring term of workshops, we helped throw a fun-filled cultural salon benefiting Inkberry, the Main Street Stage, the Railway Café, and the Contemporary Artists Center. Towards the end of the month, we celebrated the first anniversary of our reading series with a reading by the three Inkberries — a tremendous lot of fun for us and (we hope!) our audience.

In advance of asha bandele’s reading this month, I’ve been looking again through The Prisoner’s Wife, which is a memoir as beautifully lyrical as it is disturbing. She writes with great presence and confidence about a situation few of us could face: she meets and falls in love with a man serving time for murder. It’s a stunning story told with hope and honesty. Like any of my favorite memoirs, it makes me eager to meet the writer — which is part of why I expect to have so much fun with this gig.

Stay cool, and we’ll see you soon!

— Sandy