April 2004


Spring is here! Spring is here! Life is skittles and life is beer! I think the loveliest time of the year is the spring, I do. Don’t you? ‘Course you do.

— Tom Lehrer, “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park”

Barring any unpleasant late season surprises — a not unprecedented possibility here in New England — we’ve put winter behind us for the next several months. The days are getting longer, snow melt is making its way into catch basins, streams and rivers, and the commencement of my annual doomed love affair with the Boston Red Sox is right around the corner. There’s a whole big circle of life thing going on, you know?

We’ve got a lot of ground to cover this month, so much so that I’m going to hijack the calendar and begin presenting our April news before March has even given up the ghost. This is by way of making sure you have ample advance notice of our Celebration of Poetry event on Saturday, April 3.

Before I get to April, though, let me recap where Inkberry has been during the month of March. We kicked off our month on March 6 with a reading by novelist Maureen Howard. The audience found the reading enthralling, and Ms. Howard was insightful and generous with her time during the Q&A period after the reading. March also saw the continuation of February’s online “Short Fiction Workshop,” which has impressed students and instructor alike. We also launched the online “Letter as Literature” course this month. Finally, March saw the conclusion of the first session of our “Wednesday Night Writers” workshop. Never fear, though; we’ll be picking up that program again during our summer session. For now, however, on to April!

Let’s begin with a cool non-Inkberry event: On Friday April 2 at 8pm, MASS MoCA presents a literary cabaret with celebrated authors Jessica Hagedorn and Susan Choi.

Prize-winning Filipino playwright, poet, and novelist Jessica Hagedorn, National Book Award nominee for Dogeaters reads from her latest work, the highly acclaimed Dream Jungle, a novel which examines the relationship between Filipino and American cultures. Joining her for the evening of literary fireworks is Susan Choi, reading from her recently released second novel, American Woman. This intellectually provocative and wickedly funny reimagining of the Patty Hearst kidnapping takes as its heroine a little known Japanese-American bit player in the drama. Tickets are $12 in advance, and $15 the day of the show. For tickets call the MASS MoCA box office at 413-MoCA111 or visit http://www.massmoca.org.

Hey, did you know that April is (cue fanfare and James Earl Jones-style vocal inflection) National Poetry Month? Would I lie to you about something like that? In honor of National Poetry Month, Inkberry is hosting a day-long Celebration of Poetry on April 3.

Please join us at our 63 Main Street location on - have I already mentioned this? - April 3, when four terrific poets - Sandra Kohler, Diane Lockward, Shin Yu Pai and Scott Withiam - will share their love of words, verse, and the transformative power of language during a day of readings, workshops and more readings. The full schedule for the day is as follows:

1:00 p.m. - Readings by Shin Yu Pai and Scott Withiam

2:30-6:00 p.m. - Workshops: Creating a Process, Trusting the Creator (taught by Sandra Kohler) or Playing in Poetry (taught by Inkberry’s own Rachel Barenblat!)

8:00 p.m. - Readings by Sandra Kohler and Diane Lockward

The cost to attend the readings is $5, with Inkberry members receiving a sliding scale discount. Either workshop costs $40 ($36 for members), and students who register in advance for the workshops will be admitted to the readings free of charge. For more information or to register for the workshops, please visit http://www.inkberry.org or give us a call at 413.664.0775.

If that’s not enough poetry for you — and, really, is there such a thing as too much poetry? — there’s also our two day “A Poem a Day” workshop on Thursday, April 8 and Friday, April 9. The course, taught by Michelle Gillett, focuses on the process of writing a poem. Through discussion of form and technique, craft strategies and strategies to organize material, readings, and in-class writing exercises that build poems, we will generate work and try out new approaches. We will also discuss the revision process. Again, give us a call or visit inkberry.org for more information.

Rachel and I also devoted our April “Inkberry’s Bookshelf” public access show (recorded at Willinet on Spring Street in Williamstown, but syndicated on community access outlets throughout the county) to the subject of poetry. I tell you, folks, it’s a real barnburner of a show, so catch it now before we get picked up by one of the cable networks and you have to pay a premium to watch us blither and blather. A few comments about the program: Rachel does a lovely job of reading some selected poems, and since the taping, I’ve rectified my Unfortunate Facial Hair Situation.

The more we do “Bookshelf,” the more I realize I have a face that was made for radio. How fortunate, then, that Rachel and I will be on WAMC’s Roundtable program on April 1, from 11:07-11:22 a.m., or thereabouts. We’ll be talking about Inkberry, The Celebration of Poetry, and other Inkberry events I have yet to mention but will get around to plugging in a paragraph or two. This is something of a dream come true for me, as I am a big ol’ public radio nerd. The chance to get out the word about Inkberry throughout WAMC’s vast broadcast radius is like winning the scrappy arts nonprofit lottery. I’m giddy, positively giddy. Look out, Ira Glass; I’m comin’ for YOU!

April isn’t just about poetry. It’s also a month in which we launch a bold new programming experiment. On Wednesday, April 21 and Friday, April 23 (right in the middle of school vacation week) we’re presenting ‘ZineBerry, our first workshop designed for a teen (or Young Adult, or High School; I’m never sure about the most appropriate umbrella term, but it’s, you know, for kids) audience.

And what, you ask, are ‘Zines? They are rudimentary, self-published pamphlets usually dedicated to a very specific subject, most commonly the writer’s thoughts and feelings on a particular cultural or artistic topic - music, politics, comic books, film, television, etc. In recent years, the ‘zine has made footholds in the online world, in the form of personal web sites and weblogs (or ‘blogs). During this course, we will discuss various print and online examples of the ‘zine phenomenon and assist students in selecting a topic and producing a print ‘zine for distribution and sale. The course fee is $75, with financial assistance possible in cases where this cost presents a hardship. As always, information and registration can be had at http://www.inkberry.org, or by calling 413.664.0775.

Sadly, into each life some rain must fall. Even more sadly, Inkberry’s spring rain has taken the form of the postponement of one of our scheduled online workshops. We hope to offer Shin Yu Pai’s online poetry workshop during a later season, perhaps this fall.

And that brings us through April. Our next trimester begins in May, and our summer season is shaping up to be our busiest yet! Look for more details in the coming weeks, but for now, consider these teasers:

  • A reading of original works by Inkberry students on June 5, presented in conjunction with the publication of Inklings, our first publication!

  • “What Makes Theater Tick?” a workshop in which we’ll read screenplays, scripts, and lyrics; watch shows and rent movies; write responses; and then discuss!

  • Online courses in poetry, mystery writing and food writing (this last taught by none other than yours truly)!

  • And much, much more!

Until we go live with the summer calendar, I’d invite you to visit Inkberry Online (http://www.inkberry.org) to check out our expanded slate of exclusive, members-only content. With memberships beginning at $35 per year (and available for purchase online), you get a lot of online bang for your membership buck. While you’re there, you can:

  • Join one of our online discussion forums, and talk about books, reading, and writing. We’ll be launching our latest forum, “Shot out of a (Western) Canon” in a few days. This is the place to discuss all those “classic” books you were forced to read in school, or that you resisted reading for years, only to be amazed at how good (or bad, or transcendent or overrated) when you went back and read them again or read them for the first time. It’s one thing to read a book because you’re told to, and quite another to read one by choice. This is the place to talk about that experience.

  • Try a generative writing exercise. The rules for generative writing are quite simple. Read the exercise. Follow the directions. Take a moment to consider the challenge the exercise presents. Write for thirty minutes on the subject of the exercise. As an example, consider the following generative challenge: Close your eyes and think back to second grade lunch. Remember what you ate, what the other kids ate, the sounds and sights and smells of the lunchroom. Then open your eyes and write as much about it as you can remember. (Thanks to Anne Lamott, who initially inspired this exercise.)

With so much going on, I’m still finding time to read the occasional book. I’ve accepted an online challenge to read 50 books in 2004. I’m currently locked in a Ben-Hurstyle chariot race of letters with a friend of mine, as we engage in a white-knuckled struggle to cross the finish line first. This challenge has taken me all over the literary map over the past months, reading childhood classics I never got around to (The Wind in the Willows), giving books I rolled my eyes at in high school another chance (Walden), and enjoying new works like the video game inspired poetry collection Blue Wizard is About to Die! (which I reviewed in my other identity as contributor to the site http://www.bookslut.com) and Project X, the latest novel from Inkberry advisor Jim Shepard.

I also had a chance to read a galley of Karen Joy Fowler’s soon to be (if it hasn’t already been) released The Jane Austen Book Club. Not being a huge Jane Austen fan, I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Fowler pulls off the trick of imitating Austen’s style in a way that is recognizable, accessible and enjoyable to a non-Asutenite, and takes what could be a predictable story around some interesting twists and turns.

If the book sounds interesting, you can see Karen Joy Fowler in person on Saturday, May 1 at 7:30. Our good friends Chris and Deb at the book and game store The Space-Crime Continuum in Northampton are moving to a great new location on Strong Avenue in April. They’re kicking things off in style with a book-signing event featuring Fowler. They’re been working overtime for months to make a great independent bookstore even better. I’d encourage everyone who’s interested to support them as they settle into their new space. To find out more, check out http://www.spacecrime.com.

And so, like spring itself, Inkberry offers plenty to see, hear and do as we finally emerge from the depths of winter. I hope you’ll join us in person or online during the coming month to see all we have to offer between now and the lusty month of May.

Bob bob bobbin’ along,

Tom