January 2004

Happy new year from Inkberry!

We’re excited about the new year: our plans for 2004 include some fantastic stuff, and we’re raring to go. But first, a brief look back at the month just ended. December was a busy month for us. We wrapped up our fall term of workshops and book groups; got our next calendar printed and out the door; printed the first two narratives in our Stories of Strength oral history program (a collaboration with the REACH For Breast Health folks at North Adams Regional Hospital) and handed them off to the women whose stories they chronicle; welcomed associate director Tom Bernard to our ranks (more from him momentarily); and bid au revoir to co-founder Emily Banner. This, on top of the holiday-season chaos that accrues at the end of the calendar year! And now it’s 2004, and time to move forward. We’ve changed to a trimester schedule, and after some discussion about seasons and names (we like thinking about words, after all) decided to call our trimesters Fall, Spring, and Summer. We can’t forget the existence of winter, but we thought it would be more fun to spend the next four months talking about spring, so our Spring schedule is what begins now. January will feature “Lives in Pictures,” our first-ever book discussion group focusing on comics and graphic novels (begins 1/29), a reading from four fantastic regional poets (Shawn Durrett, Adrie Lester, Chivas Sandage, and Kirtland Snyder on 1/17), an online “introduction to creative writing” workshop (begins 1/26) , and the kickoff of our Wednesday Night Writers group (begins 1/21) which will meet weekly year-round with an April hiatus. Our new website is in the final stages of creation, and will début within the next couple of weeks (you’ll hear from us when it goes live). The new Inkberry Online will feature a ton of new stuff, including an expansion of our online workshop branch (we plan to kick off a new online workshop every month this year) and message boards where Inkberry members can discuss writing, publishing, and the writing life, plus a special message board we’re calling “the straight dope” on MFA programs (reviews of programs around the nation, written by current or recent students). Stay tuned for more info on that. Meanwhile, Tom and I are reviving the formerly-defunct Inkberry’s Book Shelf show on Willinet (Williamstown’s cable-access TV station), so if you live locally, keep an eye out for us. Upcoming shows will feature a chat about comics and graphic novels with visiting writer and long-distance Inkberry student Kira Maginnis, and a conversation about freelance journalism with Inkberry board member Gail Burns. The January show will air on Sunday 1/4 at 7pm and Tuesday 1/6 at 7pm, both on channel 17 in Williamstown. And in the “North Adams is increasingly cool and hip” department, we’ve just learned about “Your Message Here,” a collaboration between artists’ collaborative Ha Ha and MASS MoCA. They have a taxicab with a digital advertising sign on the roof; instead of promoting products, it will be used to voice the opinions and thoughts of North Adams residents. Send them your one-liners (serious, funny, whatever), tell them where in North Adams you want it broadcast (your neighborhood, Main Street, in front of City Hall — the possibilities are endless), tell them what you want it to look like (color and style), and let them know if, and how, you want to be credited when the project is documented for the museum. Email the message by January 7th to your_message2004@yahoo.com. I can’t sign off without a few quick book recommendations. If the cold winter leaves you wanting to read something hot, I have two related book recommendations for you: Alexandra Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight, and George Packer’s The Village of Waiting. Both are nonfiction books about Africa, and both are spectacular: there the similarities end. Fuller’s book is a memoir about her childhood as a white girl in east Africa. If you have any interest in Africa, read this book. If you have any interest in memoir, read this book. If you have any interest in the kind of story you don’t think you’d want to read, but once you start you absolutely cannot put it down, read this book. I’m not sure I’ve ever read such an unflinching portrait, of a troubled family or a troubled place — and despite the fact that she doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff, or maybe because of that, it is unendingly obvious that she loves both her family and Africa madly. And that this is the story she had to tell, and the world is richer for it. Packer’s book was written almost twenty years ago, chronicling his time as a peace corps volunteer in Togo, and had been out of print for some time; fortunately for us, it was recently re-released. He captures West Africa, specifically the experience of being a yovo (white man) there, perfectly. I was in love from the book’s memorable first line: “I arrived in Lavi already sick of Togo, sick of Africa, wanting out.” I recommend it highly. I’ll hand the microphone over to my new cohort now. Swing by Inkberry and sample our literary wares soon; we’ll leave the light on for you! — Rachel Greetings, all. It is I, the talented and charming (and thanks to Emily for introducing me thusly) Tom Bernard . It’s been a busy month as I’ve settled into my new responsibilities as Inkberry’s Associate Director. “What does an Associate Director do?” I hear you ask. That’s a very good question, and one we’re hard at work trying to define. We have some ideas about what I’ll be doing but I expect we’ll find that the role of Associate Director is something of a moving target. I’m excited about rolling up my sleeves and seeing what I can contribute in the coming months by way of fundraising, outreach and programming support. We’ve already brainstormed some exciting ideas, and I look forward to working to bring these plans to fruition. Regardless of what I’m doing, I see my ultimate role as playing Sam to Rachel’s Frodo, Sancho to her Quixote, Xander to her Buffy. Like any good sidekick, it’s my job to follow her lead, to shoulder the burdens I can by way of making her job easier, and to provide balance and perspective as needed. When you get down to it, I’m really stepping into the role of Inkberry’s stepfather. With Emily, one of the organizations’ “mothers,” stepping back — amicably, of course — I’m taking on the responsibility of helping to raise a child I had nothing to do with bringing into the world. It’s a labor of love with opportunity for nurturing, guidance, and the pride that comes of seeing how my (hopefully constructive) nurturing guidance helps Inkberry achieve its full potential. Of course, I’m a semi-custodial stepfather at best. While I’ll be on site for a day every other week, I’ll be providing the majority of this support from my secret lair on the outskirts of Boston. Within this Fortress of Inkitutde, or comfortably ensconced at a table by the window of my favorite café, I’ll be hard at work devising not-so-evil schemes to aid in Inkbery’s conquest of the literary world. I can only hope that Inkmails in the months to come will feature news of successes both planned and unanticipated. Since I’m looking toward the future, I’m going to break with tradition and report not on what I’m currently reading, but on what I expect to read in the coming months. This is both by way of reinforcing the forward-looking aspirations for my tenure, and because I feel that that the tripe (The Peshawar Lancers by S.M. Stirling) and fluff (Kevin Murphy’s A Year at the Movies) I’ve been reading of late are not in keeping with my new position. So, I’m looking forward to tackling Ford Maddox Ford’s The Good Soldier (as recommended by Emily) and A Slice of Life: Contemporary Writers on Food, edited by Bonnie Marranca (as part of my gig as the cookbook and food columnist for Bookslut.com). In closing, my sincere thanks to Rachel and Emily — I can fill your shoes, but I can never replace you — for extending me this terrific opportunity. I plan to do you proud. Until next time… — Tom