February 2005

Greetings from Inkberry!

The big news this month is that we’ve moved up in the world. In mid-January, we moved into our new office space, conveniently located directly above our old office space. The new office is located at 61 Main Street, Suite 223 in North Adams. Our phone number remains the same, at 413-664-0775.

(We’ve had some troubles with voicemail since moving into the new digs; we’re working on them now. So if you’ve left us a message and haven’t reached us, our apologies for the delay in response; please call again.)

While we didn’t have to pack our stuff in a truck and bring it to a new site, getting it all upstairs still took time, and, in the case of some of our heavier furniture, a modicum of elbow grease. My thanks to our board members, interns and volunteers who gave up part of a very cold Saturday morning to schlep all Inkberry’s worldly possessions into our new digs. While it’s conceivable we could have done it without you, the process wouldn’t have been nearly so quick and easy.

I’m incredibly excited about our new space. It combines an office, sitting room/library and classroom space into something that is comfortable, functional and welcoming. We’ve lost some square footage, but that just gives us an impetus to continue developing new venues for our readings. Since one of our goals for 2005 is to take Inkberry’s show on the road, this becomes the very definition of a win-win situation.

Besides, in the case of our online workshops, our physical site becomes irrelevant. A new online course just started yesterday. Taught by Martin Blackman, the workshop, titled Sustaining Ourselves as Artists Through Transitions, examines the spiritual renewal that attends life transitions, and the sources of inspiration and sustenance that can help us slay the monsters we find in our existential closets in times of change. Students will explore these issues through readings of Thomas Moore’s The Soul Arts, Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowolf, and poems by WS Merwin, Mary Oliver, and Fleur Adcock, after which the group will delve into their own work. There are still a couple of spaces in this workshop, so please call or visit us online today for more information, or to register.

I’m definitely curious to see how our students will respond to our new location. I’m cautiously optimistic that they’ll like it as much as we do, but Emily Banner will be the first member of Team Inkberry to find this out. The next session of her Wednesday Night Writers workshop begins on February 2, 2005 (that’s this Wednesday). The workshop meets from 7-9 p.m. until April 6; again, call or visit the online store today to opt in!

Then, on Monday, February 7, 2005 at 7 p.m., Williams College professor William Darrow will present an evening dedicated to discussing the work of early 13th-century Persian poet and Sufi mystic Jelaludin Rumi. This session serves as an introduction to Rumi in advance of noted Rumi translator Coleman Barks appearance at Williams. As someone who had the privilege of taking a college course with Professor Darrow, I cannot recommend this one highly enough.

On February 19, 2005, we have two events with special guest Ken Waldman, Alaska’s Fiddling Poet. Ken Waldman has drawn on his 18 years in Alaska to produce poems, stories and fiddle tunes that combine into a performance uniquely his own. A former college professor, Waldman has had more than 400 poems and stories published in national journals, and has worked full-time since 1994 as Alaska’s Fiddling Poet, performing at some of the nation’s leading clubs, bookstores, universities and arts festivals.

Ken has agreed to lead an afternoon workshop he’s calling Write, Have Fun (& Change, Maybe). Open to writers at any level of experience, the workshop will cover topics like how to get started, and how to finish; genre-specific strategies; how to think (and live) like a writer; and resources/opportunities (including publication). The workshop fee is $60, but students in this workshop receive free admission to the day’s second Waldman-centric event.

At 7:30 p.m. on the 19th, we’ll see Alaska’s fiddling poet in action when Ken Waldman takes the stage at The Railway Café at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Summer Street. The performance is an Inkberry-Railway co-presentation, and we’re excited to be collaborating with one of our favorite local arts organizations. Besides, how can you pass up on Alaska’s Fiddling Poet?

Then, on February 26, 2005 at 7:30, we’ll present a reading at the Main Street Stage with Dan Tobin and Williamstown poet Trudy Ames. Martha Rhodes was originally scheduled to read at this event, but unfortunately had to bow out due to a scheduling conflict. Dan Tobin is author of two books of poems, Where the World is Made and Double Life, with a third collection, The Narrows, on the way this year. He has won numerous awards for his poetry, and has been published in several anthologies. And Trudy Ames is a fantastic poet, one of our favorites in the area; we’re thrilled to have her on our slate, too.

For information about any of these workshops, readings or performances, please call us at 413-664-0775, or visit us online at http://www.inkberry.org. (And hey, while you’re at our website, check out the new article about us from last week’s Berkshire Eagle, archived here.)

Inkberry has moved up into a new office, we’re moving forward with great programming, and before I leave you this month, I’d like to give the last word this month to a member of the Inkberry team who is moving on, intern Tracey Samuelson. See you soon!

— Tom

It seems a bit funny to be introducing myself just as my time with Inkberry comes to a close, but I hope to stay involved with Inkberry and meet all who read these Inklings and attend Inkberry events. I have been helping out in the Inkberry office—the new Inkberry office—on Wednesdays over the course of January. As senior English major at nearby Williams College, I have been using my last Winter Study period to finish up a creative writing thesis, but with so much free time, I also decided to look into an internship at Inkberry.

I like to think of my role at Inkberry as “Rachel’s third and fourth hands.” I’ve floated under her feet, doing everything from writing press releases and updating the database, to going on post office trips and participating in the bucket brigade that moved Inkberry to its marvelous new space. Most interestingly, Rachel and I discovered the North Adams Transfer Station in a part of the town that neither she nor I had ever been to when we recycled about fifteen boxes of old calendars that had lived in the former Inkberry basement. The metal container that holds the paper recyclables looked a lot better when we left: crisp blue, violet, salmon and yellow leaflets spread throughout. A big thanks to Leo Senecal for waving the entrance fee for us, and a bigger thanks to Rachel and the Inkberry team for letting me into the Inkberry family.

— Tracey