New arts organization seeks to locate in downtown N. Adams

Berkshire County is home to a new arts organization. Emily Banner, Rachel Barenblat and Sandy Ryan recently announced the creation of Inkberry, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the literary arts in and around Berkshire County. Through workshops geared towards every level of writer, book groups designed to appeal to every interest, and a reading series that will both bring established writers into our community and promote local talent, Inkberry aims to strengthen connections between writing and life, and to create a place where everyone can discover their voice.

Given the Berkshires’ strong connection with the visual and performing arts, organizers said they think the time is ripe for a literary center which will round out the artistic spectrum in a community-oriented way.

Asked the impetus for the organization’s founding, Barenblat, editor of The Women’s Times, said “We all wanted more of a literary community, a way and a place for writers to come together.”

“In good New England do-it-yourself spirit, we decided that if what we wanted wasn’t here, we would bring it to life.”

Inkberry is named after an evergreen native to northern New England. Inkberries can grow almost anywhere; even in waste places, they bear fruit. (Draw whatever comparisons seem appropriate between that and the writing life.)

Barenblat said partner Banner-all three are Williams College graduates-had been working in Chicago for an arts organization called the Guild Complex, which, among other things, conducts workshops.

“We thought, ‘there’s no reason we couldn’t have something like that here,’” said Barenblat.

“We have such wonderful music, theater and dance out here,” she said. “We’d sort of like to do for reading and writing what Jacob’s Pillow does for dance or Tanglewood for music, except that we’re going to be year-round.”

The specific location has not been decided on, but it will be in downtown North Adams, she said.

Workshops and groups will be held in the evening so people with jobs can participate, she said.

Inkberry’s programming will have three main wings: community writing workshops, book groups, and a reading series. The workshops will begin in April, with a mixed-genre workshop (poetry, fiction and nonfiction) led by Inkberry’s three founders. Starting in July they intend to increase and vary their offerings with proposed workshops including poetry, fiction, personal essay/memoir and more. Book groups will also begin in April, with initial offerings including New England Voices and Classic Science Fiction. (Complete listings of proposed workshops and book groups are available upon request.)

The Inkberry Reading Series, scheduled to begin in June of 2001, will consist of two kinds of readings: those which bring established writers into the community, creating a venue where the public can talk with these writers about their craft; and those which feature local talent, including workshop students.

In the former category, Inkberry’s co-founders have already secured agreements from David Lehman and John Jerome to read during their first season. Mr. Lehman is the author of several books of poetry, including Valentine Place (Scribner, 1996) and The Daily Mirror (Scribner, 2000), and editor of the Best American Poetry series. Mr. Jerome, a former magazine editor and columnist for Esquire and Outside magazines, is the author of Truck (University Press of New England, reprinted 1996), The Sweet Spot in Time (Breakaway Books, 1998), and On Turning Sixty-Five (Random House, 2000), among others.

Planned local readers include Karen Pepper and Michelle Gillett. Pepper holds an MFA in Writing and Literature from the Bennington Writing Seminars, and teaches English at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, MA. Gillett holds an MFA in poetry from the Warren Wilson School; she is author of Rock and Spindle (Mad River Press, 1998) and former editor of The Women’s Times. Her essays have appeared in The Berkshire Eagle and The Boston Globe.

Like the summer stock festivals which already make their home in Berkshire County, Inkberry will provide both education and entertainment, and will nurture an appreciation for, and a sense of participation in, the larger artistic world. Unlike these festivals, however, Inkberry’s programming will continue throughout the calendar year.