The Second Annual
Berkshire
Festival of
Women
Writers
More than 40
events county-wide
throughout the month
of March 2012
See inside for schedule
and check our website
for complete listings:
berkshirewomenwriters.org
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
2 • BFWW • March 2012
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International Women’s Conference, Simon’s Rock College
Welcome to the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers
Welcome to the second annual Berkshire Festival of Women Writers, a collaborative
event sponsored by Bard College at Simon’s Rock, celebrated county-wide in the
month of March, Women’s History Month.
The Festival is a continuation of the decade-long series of annual International
Women’s Day conferences held at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, co-sponsored by
Berkshire Women for Women Worldwide. This year we’ll celebrate International
Women’s Day on Sunday, March 18 with a day-long mini-Film Festival, co-sponsored by the Berkshire International Film Festival and the Berkshire Human Rights
Speaker Series.
From a dance performance by Olga Dunn and Julie Webster, to a new play at the
New Stage Theater by Iranian-American playwright Yasmine Beverly Rana, to a
special Made in the Berkshires performance by Hilary Somers Deely and Barbara
Sims, there will be something for everyone at this year’s Festival!
We’ll end the month on a high note with a Gala Finale hosted by Michelle Gillett,
Nina Ryan and Alison Larkin at The Mount, former home of one of our most illustrious Berkshire women writers, Edith Wharton, and bridge into National Poetry Month
with a special poetry reading on April 1 by a group of women contributors to Orion
Magazine.
As you browse through the pages of this Program, you’ll find all kinds of events, each
one more intriguing and inspiring than the last. Most are free and open to the public, thanks to the generosity of our participants, venues, donors and collaborators.
For complete biographies of participants, please visit our website: http://berkshirewomenwriters.org/.
We look forward to seeing you at many of the outstanding Festival events this year,
and invite you to consider participating actively in next year’s Festival, as a speaker,
workshop facilitator, host, donor or co-sponsor.
Enjoy!
The Berkshire Festival of Women Writers Organizing Committee:
Dr. Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez (chair), Erin Connor, Hannah Fries, Alice Myers,
Anna Myers, Judith Nardacci and Claudette Webster
3 • BFWW • March 2012
From popular and familiar writers like Ruth Reichl and Francine Prose, to less wellknown but no less talented poets, performers and writers in a variety of genres,
nearly 100 women of all ages and from many backgrounds will be sharing their talents this month, inspiring each other and their audiences to engage in the pleasures
of writing and creative expression.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
In this Program you’ll find listings for more than 40 Festival events, including readings, lectures, workshops, performances and screenings, held at Berkshire County
venues from Sheffield to Williamstown.
4 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Date
Page
3/1
Story-Truth: How Writing Keeps You Honest
7
3/2
Out of the Mouths of Babes: An evening of mothers
reading their own writing
7
Women Writers of a Certain Age: A Reading
9
Elephant Tree House Press Poetry Reading
9
3/4
Happiness: Writing as A Path to Positive Transformation
9
3/6
“Death in Shorts”: Women Writing the Mystery Short Story
11
An Evening of Poetry at the Ramsdell Library
11
Nuts and Bolts of Book Production with Tupelo Press
11
3/8
To MFA or Not to MFA
11
13
3/9
Photos Worth a Thousand Words: Successfully Writing
Photo Essays
“Blood Sky”: Benefit Opening at New Stage Theater
13
Writing Workshop: Micro-Fiction
15
3/10
Film Screening: Our History is Our Strength, Ordinary
Chinese Women During WWII
15
3/11
Annunciation: A reading of poetry and nonfiction
17
3/12
Blogging, vlogging, tweeting: A writer’s guide to the
digital arts
17
3/13
Women’s Interfaith Institute: Poetry Reading with
Hannah Fries
17
3/14
Documentary Film Screening: Miss Representation
19
3/15
Women’s Salon Discussion of Miss Representation
19
Karaoke Confessions with JoAnne Spies
21
Gastronomica and Orion Magazines Present: An Evening
of Art, Literature, and Food
21
3/3
3/7
3/16
Workshop: Journaling with Mary Richie
21
Olga Dunn Company Dance Performance
21
3/18
Human Rights, Activism, and the Arts:
A Film Festival in honor of International Women’s Day
22
23
3/19
Reading: Susan Fox Rogers, My Reach: A Hudson
River Memoir
25
3/20
Deb Koffman’s ArtSpace Open Mike:
IWOWWOW (In Words Out Words in Women’s Own Words)
25
3/21
Writing Workshop: Who Do You Think You Are?
25
3/22
Heroic Girlz: Screening & Workshop
27
Reading and Discussion with Jan Conn and Jessica Treat
27
This Woman’s Work, Made in the Berkshires Special Event
29
Break Through Your Writing Obstacles
29
Found Word Collage & Letterpress Workshop
29
Breaking Through Limited Thinking: Coaching Workshop
for Women Writers
31
An Afternoon of International Folktales at The Bookstore
31
3/26
Writing Workshop: What’s Your Story?
31
3/27
Redefining Sex & Power: Why Women Don’t Talk or Write
About Money
31
3/28
Loving Our Girls: A Writing Workshop
33
Letterpress Poetry Reading and Exhibition Opening
33
Workshop: Writing and the Body
33
3/30
Self-Publishing--Wave of the Future? With Carole Owens
33
3/31
Gala Festival Finale at The Mount
35
4/1
Women Poets Celebrate National Poetry Month: An Orion
Poetry Reading
35
3/17
3/23
3/24
3/25
3/29
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Page
5 • BFWW • March 2012
Date
Special Thanks
The Berkshire Festival of Women Writers Organizing Committee extends
sincere thanks and appreciation to all of the Festival participants, hosts,
venues, and contributors, without whom this great event would not be
possible.
6 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
A warm thank you to our generous donors and collaborators, including:
The Berkshire International Film Festival, special thanks to Kelley Vickery
The Berkshire Human Rights Speaker Series, special thanks to Ricky Bernstein
Gastronomica Magazine, special thanks to Darra Goldstein
Orion Magazine, special thanks to Hannah Fries
Quality Printing Company, special thanks to John DiSantis
The Shopper’s Guide
The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, special thanks to Carla Oleska
The Women’s Interfaith Institute of the Berkshires, special thanks to JoAnne Spies
The New Stage Theater, special thanks to Nicki Wilson
Berkshire Women for Women Worldwide, special thanks to Anne Harrison
Tupelo Press
The public libraries of Berkshire County
A very special thanks to The John A. Sellon Charitable Trust, for its sustaining
and generous contributions to our International Women’s Day and Berkshire
Festival of Women Writers events for more than a decade, with particular
gratitude to Mr. Michael Sellon for his unwavering commitment to promoting
the rights and celebrating the achievements of women worldwide.
And with loving thanks to IWD committee members emeriti
Vera Kalm and Zoe Dalheim
for their vision, leadership and lifelong dedication
to the welfare of women locally and globally.
This program is supported in part by grants from the Cultural
Councils of Alford-Egremont, Dalton, Great Barrington, Monterey,
Mt. Washington, Pittsfield, Richmond, Stockbridge, Washington,
and West Stockbridge. These local agencies are supported by
the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Thursday 3/1
This is a workshop for novice writers, or people who have thought about writing
(men and women) but have never had the opportunity. Most of the hour-long
workshop will be devoted to writing activities which encourage memoir-type,
honest writing that gleans from real-life events/memories. Then we will see where
these true events can fit into poetry and/or fiction pieces. All will be invited to share
what they have written, but none will be required to do so. Because of the personal
nature of this workshop, students under 16 are discouraged from attending.
Friday 3/2
Out of the Mouths of Babes: An evening of mothers reading
their own writing
Hosted by Suzi Banks Baum and Matthew Tannenbaum, with readings by Suzi
Banks Baum, Alana Chernila, Michelle Gillette, Janet Reich Elsbach, Gina Hyams,
and Jenny Laird.
Blodgett House, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 7-9:30 p.m.
Fee: $5, free to the Simon’s Rock community
Ranging from young mothers to mothers of adults, these Berkshire writer-mothers
open their journals and hearts to share the bounty that resides behind each apron,
computer screen, or flannel nightgown. Bedtime snacks served. Jammies optional.
Following the readings, the audience will participate in a facilitated discussion about
mothering and creativity hosted by Suzi Banks Baum, author of Laundry Line Divine, A Wild
Soul Book for Mothers, and Matthew Tannenbaum, owner of The Bookstore in Lenox, MA.
7 • BFWW • March 2012
Writing Workshop hosted by Nichole Dupont
Du Bois Center, South Main Street, Great Barrington, 7-9 p.m.
Fee: $10 for the use of the W.E.B. Du Bois Center.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Story-Truth: How Writing Keeps You Honest
8 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Saturday 3/3
Women Writers of a Certain Age: A Reading
Elephant Tree House Press Poetry Reading
The Bookstore, Lenox, 7 p.m.
Elephant Tree House, a small press publisher of contemporary poetry, founded in
2010 and located in Pittsfield, MA, will introduce itself and the three authors of its
first publications: Nan Becker, (After Rain), Susan Hartung, (Inclusion), and Rosemary
Starace (Requitements and Mountain Vows). The reading will feature selections from
the books read by the authors, two of whom reside in the Berkshires, and the other
with family ties here. Coincidentally, all three women began their creative lives in
the visual arts. Their writing spans a range of styles and subjects.
Sunday 3/4
Happiness: Writing as A Path to Positive Transformation
Presented by Maria Sirois
Blodgett House, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 2-4 p.m.
Come spend an afternoon writing with others
determined to craft a life that thrives. As we
write and discuss writing practice we’ll come
to understand how writing allows us to leave
the past behind and create new futures that
include our authentic selves. No prior writing
experience necessary—just a pad, a pen, an
open heart, a sense of humor, and the tiniest
bit of courage.
9 • BFWW • March 2012
We are women writers of a certain age, who grew up in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. If
our mothers lived this long, they were retired, if they had ever worked. Not only do
we continue to write our lives, but we are navigating through the turbulent waters
of e-books and internet ’zines, not to mention facing the challenge of publishing
old-fashioned books. We want to reach out to our younger cohorts and to our age
peers, receive their wisdom, and share ours.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Hosted by Sonia Pilcer with Sondra Zeidenstein (publisher of Chicory Blue
Press), Beth Sack, Joan Embree, and Victoria Sullivan
Mason Library, Great Barrington, 12-2 p.m.
10 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Tuesday 3/6
“Death in Shorts”: Women Writing the Mystery Short Story
Wednesday 3/7
Nuts and Bolts of Book Production
Hosted by Marie Gauthier with the staff and authors of Tupelo Press,
MCLA Gallery 51, North Adams, 7 p.m.
A presentation on book production, book sales, and distribution in the new market,
from marketing, editorial, and creative perspectives, by members of Tupelo Press,
a nonprofit literary press headquartered in North Adams now entering its twelfth
year. The panel includes Rose Carlson, Cassandra Cleghorn and Ellen Doré Watson.
An Evening of Poetry
Hosted by Dawn Barbieri
Ramsdell Library, Housatonic, 6:30-8 p.m.
An evening of poetry by local poets, established and emerging, hosted by Dawn
Barbieri. The poets include Dawn Barbieri, Tammis Coffin, Susan Melot, Jan Hutchinson, Christine Ward and Claudette Webster.
Thursday 3/8
To MFA or Not to MFA
Presented by Sarah Harris Wallman, Krysia Jopek, and Michael White
Blodgett House, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 7-9 p.m.
The faculty of the “no residency” MFA program at Albertus Magnus College, in
New Haven, Connecticut, will host a panel discussion on the usefulness of the MFA
degree. What are the real advantages of getting an MFA? What kinds of MFAs are
there (this is a degree that has gone from 15 programs in 1975 to 199 currently
listed by Poets and Writers magazine), and what are their graduates doing? While
we run a very low residency program, our faculty have attended two- or three-year
residential programs (or, in one case, no MFA at all). This is an exciting degree that
opens up possibilities but should not be entered into lightly: we’d like to give honest
answers about the benefits and pitfalls of an advanced degree in writing.
11 • BFWW • March 2012
In this workshop we will explore how writers plot, construct, and populate the
mystery short story from light-hearted to noir. We will examine the differences
between writing short stories and novels. We will also look at the range of genres within the mystery short story, including flash fiction, caper, thriller, suspense, mystery,
and horror. We will read and discuss the opening lines and paragraphs of published
stories, and participants will have an opportunity to write their own opening lines
and paragraphs for possible short stories. The workshop will conclude with a discussion of short story markets and contests.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Hosted by Leslie Wheeler with Barbara Ross and Katherine Fast
Bushnell-Sage Library, Sheffield, 7-9 p.m.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
12 • BFWW • March 2012
44
Years
strong
Shopper’s Guide,
A “Constant” You
Can Count on
Southern BerkShire
141 West Avenue, Great Barrington, MA
413-528-0095 • Fax 413-528-4805
www.shoppersguide-inc.com
Friday 3/9
Photos Worth a Thousand Words:
Successfully Writing Photo Essays
Special Benefit Opening
Blood Sky, a play by Yasmine Beverly Rana
New Stage Performing Arts Center, 55 North St., Pittsfield, 7:30 p.m.
On-going performances Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at
3 p.m. through March 25.
$45 for opening night; $20 for adults and $18 for students and seniors for all
other performances. Blood Sky is an emotional drama about a young woman coming to terms with sexual
abuse in her past. Set in the Bayou, the play evokes the sultry heat and seductiveness of
the South as the protagonist searches for self-forgiveness and acceptance. Directed by
Mari Andrejco. Opening night performance and post-show reception will benefit the Elizabeth
Freeman Center. Post-show talk-backs will follow each Sunday’s matinee with the
author, director, and representatives from the Elizabeth Freeman Center.
For tickets and information: http://newstageperformingarts.org/2011/12/blood-sky/
13 • BFWW • March 2012
Photo essays are a special breed of communication. Success at composing them
requires a passionate heart, a good eye, a good ear, attention to detail, and a
symphony conductor’s baton. In this 90-minute workshop you’ll learn seven skills
to help you approach the genre with even greater confidence than before. Bring
your writing tools and 5-7 photos to which you have publication rights. You’ll put
them to good use.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Presented by Mary Kate Jordan
Stockbridge Library, 6-7:30 p.m.
Fee $10; limited to six participants.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
14 • BFWW • March 2012
Want to participate in next year’s Berkshire Festival of Women Writers?
Drop us a line at [email protected] for more information.
Saturday 3/10
Writing Workshop: Micro-Fiction
Free, but pre-registration required; workshop limited to 12 on a first come, firstserved basis. E-mail [email protected].
Our History is Our Strength:
Ordinary Chinese Women during WWII
Presented by Dr. Danke Li, Professor of East Asian Studies at Fairfield University, CT
Clark Auditorium, Fisher Science Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 2-4 p.m.
This program will feature a screening and discussion of
the documentary film Echoes of Chongqing: Women in
Wartime China, based on Li’s recently published book by
the same title, an oral history that records the personal
stories of twenty Chinese women who lived in the wartime
capital of Chongqing during China’s War of Resistance
against Japan during World War II. The women featured
in the book came from different social, economic, and
educational backgrounds and experienced the war in
a variety of ways. The accounts of how women coped,
worked, and lived during the war years in the Chongqing
region recast historical understanding of the roles played
by ordinary people in wartime and give women a public voice and face that, until
now, have been missing from scholarship on the war.
Want to learn more about the
events in the Berkshire Festival of
Women Writers? Visit our website:
http://berkshirewomenwriters.org
15 • BFWW • March 2012
How short can a story be and still be a story? What goes into crafting a good story?
What’s the difference between a prose poem and flash fiction? In this workshop
we’ll look at the magic and beauty of the short-short story, from just 100 to 1,000
words. Exercises and prompts will be given for writing our own. Writers will write
in the workshop and go home with lots to work from. Markets—online and print
journals—for flash fiction will also be shared.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Presented by Jessica Treat, Professor of English at Northwestern CT Community College
Mason Library, Great Barrington, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
16 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Why start
college after the
10th or 11th grade?
Because
you’re ready.
We’re a community passionate about learning: independentminded, inquiring, and creatively intellectual. If you’re a
high school student who fits this description, ask us about the
Berkshire Regional Scholarship.
C O N TA C T U S T O D AY:
simons-rock.edu/admit
[email protected]
800.235.7186
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Sunday 3/11
Annunciation: A reading of poetry and nonfiction
Monday 3/12
Blogging, vlogging, tweeting:
A writer’s guide to the digital arts
Presented by bloggers Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez and Michelle Gonzalez
Clark Auditorium, Fisher Science Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 6:30-8 p.m.
In this show-and-tell presentation of some of the digital tricks of the contemporary
writer’s trade, we’ll explore the impetus—both personal and professional—behind
blogging, as well as the relative merits of popular platforms like Wordpress and
Tumblr; the whys and wherefores of social media networking on Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter and other similar sites; and new directions in video logging and film clips
through YouTube. If you’ve ever wondered what all the fuss with digital media is
about, this is your opportunity to find out more! No experience necessary.
Tuesday 3/13
Noah’s Wife: Women at the Fringes of Faith
A poetry reading by Hannah Fries
Women’s Interfaith Institute, Church on the Hill Chapel, 55 Main Street, Lenox.
Potluck 6-7 p.m.; program 7:15 - 8:30 p.m.
(Church on the Hill Chapel is the brown building
down the street from the main church, and
across the street from Nejaime’s Wine Cellar.
Enter through front door.)
A poetry reading featuring the imagined stories
of women characters from the Bible and mythology. Hannah Fries’s poetry has been published
in numerous literary journals, including the
all-women’s journal Calyx. She is associate editor
and poetry editor at Orion magazine.
17 • BFWW • March 2012
A reading featuring nonfiction writer Harriet Brown, author of Brave Girl Eating: A
Family’s Struggle with Anorexia, and short fiction writer Sarah Towers, hosted by
Bard College Writer-in-Residence Celia Bland, author of the poetry collection Soft
Box. “When we talk about mortality,” Joan Didion recently wrote, “we are talking about our children.” These works—stark but optimistic, conferring excitement and promise—celebrate mothers and children and, by inference, mortality.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Featuring Celia Bland, Harriet Brown, and Sarah Towers
Blodgett House, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 2-4 p.m.
food
art
taste
culture
gastronomica
“Best Food Magazine in the World”
18 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
—2010 Gourmand Awards
“A Tale of Two Dairies”
by Barry Estabrook
—2011 James Beard Foundation Journalism Award Nominee
GASTRONOMICA
THE JOU RNAL OF FOOD AND CU LTU RE
Farhad Sarah Illenberger, McForest. Photograph by Ragnar Schmuck.
Wednesday 3/14
Documentary Film Screening: Miss Representation
This powerful documentary illuminates
the often startling facts about women’s
(mis)representation in American culture.
Firsthand experiences of young adults,
and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists, and academics speak to obstacles that
must be addressed, as well as to positive actions we can take towards change.
The film will be followed by a panel discussion exploring many of the critical issues
raised in the film such as: What more can girls and women do to prepare themselves for leadership? What are the most effective actions we can take for positive
change in media, politics, and education? This event is relevant for girls, boys, men,
and women of all ages.
Thursday 3/15
Discussion of Miss Representation
The Women’s Salon of the Berkshires
Blodgett House, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 7-9 p.m.
Join us for the March Women’s Salon to address the issues that are stirred up by the
provocative film Miss Representation. Let’s connect with one another, continue the
discussion started by the panel, and brainstorm next steps. All are welcome!
The Women’s Salon of the Berkshires, facilitated by Wren Bernstein, was founded to
explore questions related to women’s evolution: What are women’s issues today?
Is there a new, contemporary definition needed for women’s liberation, and if so,
what is it and how do we accomplish it? This lightly moderated monthly gathering
provides an opportunity for in-depth conversation and camaraderie among women,
a place to think, speak, and be respectfully heard.
19 • BFWW • March 2012
In our society, the overriding message
that we continually receive from media
today is that a woman’s value and power
lie more in her youth, beauty, and sexuality than in her capacity as a leader. Despite the enormous strides women have
made over the past few decades, they
are still far behind men as leaders and
active agents in creating our culture.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Followed by a Panel Discussion and Q & A with Elizabeth Debold,
Kristine Barnett, Gabrielle Senza and Maura O’Connor
Lecture Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 7-9:30 p.m.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
20 • BFWW • March 2012
In honor of International
Women’s Day 2012 The Berkshire Human Rights
Speaker Series and
The Berkshire Festival of
Women Writers proudly
present BEARING WITNESS:
a screening of the astonishing
new documentary film
GRANITO with an introduction and
commentary by awardwinning director and
filmmaker Pamela Yates
Sunday, March 18, 2-4 p.m.
Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock
Great Barrington, MA
Sometimes a film makes history; it doen’t just document it. Part
political thriller, part memoir, Pamela Yates transports us back
in time through a riveting, haunting tale of the Guatemalan
genocide and returns to the present with a cast of characters
joined by destiny, and the quest to bring a malevolent dictator
to justice at the International Criminal Court.
Hailed as a compelling political thriller, Granito is the winner of
numerous human rights awards. “Granito doesn’t simply relate history; it’s also part of history.” Stephen Holden, the NY Times.
Friday 3/16
Karaoke Confessions
Presented by JoAnne Spies
Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, 2:30 p.m.
Hosted by Darra Goldstein and Hannah Fries, with Patty Crane, Elizabeth
Graver, Francine Prose, Ruth Reichl, and Ellen Doré Watson
Williams College Museum of Art, 6-7:30 p.m.
Fee: $10 Please register in advance by e-mailing [email protected].
Join renowned food writer Ruth Reichl, poets Ellen Doré Watson and Patty Crane,
and fiction writers Francine Prose and Elizabeth Graver for a savory evening of
words, art, and light hors d’oeuvres. The writers will read their creative responses to
the same work of art: a black-and-white photograph by Walker Evans titled “Kitchen Wall, Alabama Farmstead” (1936). The reading will be followed by a reception.
Saturday 3/17
Journaling
Presented by Mary Richie
New Marlborough Public Library, 11 a.m.
Mary will read selections from her journal and those of other writers, encouraging
listeners to trust the importance of their own thoughts and observations when
starting their own journals.
“Memoirs in Motions”
Choreographed by Olga Dunn with members of the Dunn Company, featuring
Julie Webster
Olga Dunn Dance Studios “Up Close Performance Space,” 321 Main Street,
Great Barrington, 7 p.m. Suggested donation $15
The dance performance “Memoirs in Motions” revolves around a central character
played by Julie Webster. Her character provides insight and entertainment as she
pursues a self-promoting memoir divided into seven sections. Her authorship is revealed through the use of spoken text, unique recordings, and dance. As the work
accelerates and disintegrates, our main character responds viscerally through emotions and physically through movement. Five other dancers augment the piece.
21 • BFWW • March 2012
Gastronomica and Orion Magazines Present:
An Evening of Art, Literature, and Food
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Written and performed by JoAnne Spies, this soulful and humorous interactive performance weaves spoken word, song, and visual art in a (literally) moving meditation on forgiveness, Saints Patrick and Joseph, and the spring equinox.
Sunday 3/18
22 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Human Rights, Activism, and the Arts
A Special Daylong Film Festival in Honor of
International Women’s Day
Join us for a special celebration of International Women’s Day,
to honor the power of the arts as a vehicle for human rights
activism.
Co-sponsored by the Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF),
and the Berkshire Human Rights Speaker Series.
In the morning:
BIFF Screening of SARABAH, a new documentary film by Maria Luisa Gambale,
Gloria Bremer and Steven Lawrence
(Women Make Movies, 2011; 60 min.).
Triplex Theater, Great Barrington, 11 a.m.
Rapper, singer, and activist Sister Fa is a
hero to young women in Senegal and an
unstoppable force for social change. A
childhood victim of female genital cutting (FGC), she decided to tackle the issue by starting a grassroots campaign
against the practice. SARABAH follows
Sister Fa back home to her own village,
where she speaks out passionately to
female elders and students alike, and
stages a rousing concert that has the
community on its feet.
Special 10% lunch discounts are available at area restaurants with your
BIFF ticket stub. To receive your discount, please present your ticket stub
before ordering at the following participating restaurants: Aroma, Baba Louie’s,
Bizen, Fuel, Great Barrington Bagel Company, Martin’s, Neighborhood Diner,
and Rubiner’s Cafe.
In the afternoon:
About our co-sponsors:
The Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFFMA or “The BIFF”) is a worldclass festival that is an integral part of the cultural fabric of the Berkshires. BIFF
showcases not only the latest in independent feature, documentary, short, and
family films but also lively panel discussions and special events focusing on filmmakers and talented artists from both sides of the camera. The 2012 Festival will
take place May 31 to June 3 at the Triplex in Great Barrington, and June 1-3 at
the Beacon in Pittsfield. For more information: http://biffma.org/
The Berkshire Human Rights Speaker Series is a catalyst and forum for social
awareness, provocative thinking and meaningful dialogue. The issues raised are
intended to encourage awareness and inspire social action. Series organizers
are committed to working to build a compassionate and informed public, as
a hopeful path toward improving the lives of marginalized citizens within our
local and global communities. For more information about this and other talks
in the Series visit: www.uumsb.org. The talks are free and all are welcome.
23 • BFWW • March 2012
In the early 1980’s, while working on
her first documentary film, When the
Mountains Tremble, director Pamela
Yates filmed the only known footage
of the Guatemalan Army carrying out
mass killings of the indigenous Mayan
people. Twenty-five years later, her
footage was used as forensic evidence
at the International Criminal Court
in The Hague, in a crimes-againsthumanity case against former Guatemalan military dictator Gen. Efrain
Rios Montt. Hailed as a compelling
political thriller set in Guatemala and
The Hague, Granito is the winner of numerous human rights and film awards,
including Best Creative Documentary at the 2011 Paris Film Festival. After the
screening, Pamela Yates will talk with the audience about her experience as a
human rights activist-through-the-arts for more than a quarter-century, and her
vision for the future of arts-based activism in the 21st century.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Screening of GRANITO: How to Nail a Dictator (Skylight Pictures, 2011, 103 min.)
Followed by a discussion with Director Pamela Yates
McConnell Theater, Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 2-4 p.m.
24 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Monday 3/19
My Reach: A Hudson River Memoir
Tuesday 3/20
In Words Out Words in Women’s Own Words (IWOWWOW):
An Open Mike Event
Deb Koffman’s Artspace, 137 Front St., Housatonic. 7-9 p.m.
$6 suggested donation.
Women writers, poets, storytellers, and songwriters share their art for each other
and a supportive audience. Each participant is allotted 5 minutes; up to 20 women
are invited to sign up by e-mailing Deb at [email protected]. Bring snacks to
share afterwards if you like.
Wednesday 3/21
Who Do You Think You Are?
A Reading Hosted by Laura Didyk
Berkshire South’s NOAH Center at The Jenifer House Commons,
420 Stockbridge Rd., Great Barrington, 7-8:30 p.m.
This reading features nonfiction and poetry by women from Laura Didyk’s popular
local writing classes. New talent, original work, and a great diversity of style and subject will inspire and entertain. Readers include Tina Bardwell, Ani Grosser, Laura Didyk,
Anne Harrison, AnneMarie McCormack, Cristie Newhart, Marcia Savage, and others. 25 • BFWW • March 2012
Susan Fox Rogers writes from a fresh
perspective: the seat of her kayak.
The Hudson River and the communities along its banks become
partners in Rogers’s life and vivid
characters in her memoir. In a fluid,
engaging voice, My Reach mixes the
genres of memoir, outdoor adventure, natural and unnatural history.
She integrates moments of description and environmental context
with her own process of grieving the recent deaths of both her parents. The result
is a book that not only moves the reader but also informs and entertains.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
A reading with author Susan Fox Rogers
Blodgett House, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 7-9 p.m.
New for 2012!
Bard College at Simon’s Rock
26 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
SUMMER PROGRAM
Hands-on weeklong
enrichment classes for rising
8th, 9th and 10th graders
Experiential classes offered in science, humanities, social
studies, media studies and the arts taught by accomplished
faculty in a congenial summer setting. Choose from morning,
afternoon or day-long programs July 2 – 27, 2012.
For more information:
www.simons-rock.edu/summer
Think summer
at Simon’s Rock!
Thursday 3/22
Heroic Girlz: Screening & Workshop
The importance of offering girls an embodied experience of self discovery will be
discussed, as well as the need for role models, both living and historic, in order to
counter the powerful negative effects of our culture. After the screening of the film,
members of the audience will be guided through one or two of the writing exercises
the girls did to produce the play and film.
Friday 3/23
Poetry and prose: A reading and discussion
Featuring lyrical and narrative poetry by Jan Conn and short fiction and prose
poetry by Jessica Treat
Mason Library, Great Barrington, 7-8:15 p.m.
Jan Conn has published seven books of poems since 1984, and her work has
appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Her most recent books are Jaguar
Rain: the Margaret Mee Poems (Brick Books, 2006) and Botero’s Beautiful Horses (Brick
Books, 2009).
Jessica Treat’s short fiction, prose poems, essays, and translations have appeared
in numerous journals and anthologies. She is the author of the story collections
Meat Eaters & Plant Eaters and Not a Chance, and a collection of short-short fiction, A Robber in the House.
27 • BFWW • March 2012
Cindy and Meg will introduce and screen Heroic Girlz, their 26-minute award-winning
film, made as part of an educational process developed for 6th grade girls. The film
tells a compelling story of four modern-day 11-year-olds who take on the roles of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Louisa May Alcott, and Amelia Earhart.
Meeting in the afterlife, the girls revisit and recount a formative moment in the
11-year-old life of each of the famed women.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Led by Cindy Parrish & Meg Agnew
Clark Auditorium, Fisher Science Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 7-9 p.m.
Submissions for
FRI 4/20
accepted 3/01 to
5/30!
at the Unicorn Theatre
Stockbridge, MA
MADE IN THE
BERKSHIRES
28 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
(413) 997-4444
www.TheColonialTheatre.org
Pittsfield, MA
8pm
CARRIE
NEWCOMER
Friday 3/23
This Woman’s Work, an evening of performance
Made in the Berkshires co-curators Hilary Somers Deely and Barbara Sims have
gathered together the stories of women writers and composers here in the Berkshire
hills for an evening of performances that will conclude with a glass of prosecco and
a conversation with the writers about their process. The evening is being held as a
benefit for the Made in the Berkshires festival of local art and artists to be held in
October 2012.
Saturday 3/24
Break Through Your Writing Obstacles
Presented by Millie Calesky
The Lichtenstein Center, Pittsfield, 2-4 p.m.
This interactive workshop will explore the obstacles that writers often encounter
and ways to overcome them. Participants will learn 10 strategies to increase productivity and achieve writing goals.
Pre-registration appreciated. Call 413-655-2555 or contact Millie at
[email protected].
Found Word Collage & Letterpress Workshop
Presented by Melanie Mowinski
PRESS: Letterpress as Public Art Project, 105 Main Street North Adams,
10 am - 4 p.m., with a 45-minute break for lunch.
Limited to 12 participants. Fee: $55. BYOL or get lunch at one of the area restaurants. To register, e-mail Melanie Mowinski, [email protected].
Using wood and lead type, stamps, stencil, and collage, participants will create
poems and prose inspired by techniques that the Dadaists used, including collaborations and independent explorations. Finished pieces will be included in a small
exhibition at an opening at PRESS on March 29 (See page 33).
29 • BFWW • March 2012
Stories: they tell us who we are, who we have been, and who we will be. They stir
our imaginations, awaken our senses, confront us with their power, and move us
to act. Join us for a scintillating evening of women and their stories as we present
scenes from “Adjustments: A Gentle Comedy for Cynical Times” by Gloria Miller and
Ilene Tetenbaum; “After Prom” by Jane Denitz Smith; a scene from the new Lifetime
film “Lovesick” by Maria Nation; stories by Stockbridge writers Mary Mott and Susan
Merrill; poems by award-winning poet Elizabeth Elliott, and original music by
Berkshire women composers and lyricists. Share the evening with us as we celebrate,
through stories told and sung, women and their stories.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Presented by Hilary Somers Deely and Barbara Sims, co-curators of Made in the
Berkshires, under the aegis of the Berkshire Theatre Group The Unicorn Theatre, Stockbridge, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
$15 admission will benefit the 2012 Made in the Berkshires Festival.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
30 • BFWW • March 2012
Join us
for a literary house party!
September 14-16, 2012
For more information,
please visit
berkshirewordfest.org
Sunday 3/25
Breaking Through Limited Thinking
An Afternoon of International Folktales
Presented by Zoe Dalheim, Vera Kalm and Dolores Birch
The Bookstore, Lenox, 4 p.m.
Folk tales are an ancient way to gather together and share history and culture. Join
us as Zoe Dalheim reads stories from her Greek heritage; Vera Kalm shares her Hungarian heritage; and Dolores Birch relates a tale from the American South. Snacks
and Matt’s wine bar will add to the event.
Monday 3/26
What’s Your Story?
A Writing Workshop with Lara Tupper at the Lenox Library, 6-7:30 p.m.
In this informal writing class, we’ll investigate the notion of “samskaras,” or deeply
embedded ideas about ourselves. What are we clinging to that is not serving us and
how can we begin to let go? What are the authentic stories we yearn to tell instead?
Through writing exercises, we’ll differentiate between the falsehoods that hold us
back and the “true” tales we long to express.
Tuesday 3/27
Redefining Sex & Power:
Why Women Don’t Talk or Write About Money
Presented by Joanna Krotz at the Lenox Library, 6-7:30 p.m.
The rising tide of women’s wealth and consumer muscle has spawned an armada
of preachy books and media know-it-alls. Yet few gurus or tools address the true
drivers of women’s relationship to money—the love/hate, the push/pull, the retail
therapy/fortress issues. This is especially true for women writers and artists. Understanding these underlying emotional motivations and adopting better tools to take
charge of money management can help women control both their lives and their
dough. This workshop will surface women’s fears and inhibitions about the power of
taking charge of finances to help us live happily ever after.
31 • BFWW • March 2012
A fun, imaginative, enlightening, and helpful coaching workshop offering strategies for women writers to break through limiting thinking and the blocks that this
can create.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Coaching Workshop for Women Writers presented by Phoebe Williams
134 Great Barrington Rd. West Stockbridge, MA (Phoebe’s home), 1-4 p.m.
Fee: $30; half the proceeds will be donated to the Berkshire Festival of Women
Writers. For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
32 • BFWW • March 2012
BY THE BIG BROWN BRIDGE*GREAT BARRINGTON, MA
9:30 AM -10 PM * SUNDAYS 12-6 PM * (413) 528-0024
specials right in your inbox...
domaneys.com/join
Wednesday 3/28
Loving Our Girls
Thursday 3/29
Poetry Reading and Exhibition Opening
Hosted by Melanie Mowinski
PRESS: Letterpress as a Public Art Project, 105 Main Street, North Adams
Exhibition Opening 5-7 p.m., Reading 7:30 p.m.
Free, but please RSVP: Melanie Mowinski, [email protected].
Limited to about 30 people.
A reading featuring women poets from Northern Berkshire County; an exhibition
featuring work created at the Found Word Collage and Letterpress Workshop.
Writing and the Body
A Workshop with Annie Rye
Mason Library, Great Barrington, 5-6:30 p.m.
Learn how to awaken your sensual perception to trigger your creative mind. This
workshop will focus on stimulating the five senses with tastings, smells, touching,
hearing, and seeing, in order to trigger memories and ideas for writing. After working with each sense there will be a ten-minute writing practice.
Friday 3/30
Self-Publishing—Wave of the future?
Hosted by Carole Owens, with Hester Velmans, Jana Laiz and Melissa Batalin
Stockbridge Library, 6–8 p.m.
A look at self-publishing as it has evolved over the years, from a poor second choice
for authors to a canny business decision. In the rapidly changing publishing landscape, the stigma of the vanity press has begun to fade as authors discover the value
of bypassing the gatekeepers of the large profit-driven publishing companies and
striking out on their own. More and more authors these days are embracing cheap
e-book technologies and social networking strategies in order to take their destiny
into their own hands and find their niche audience.
33 • BFWW • March 2012
This writing workshop will explore two insidiously damaging lies: that our bodies
must meet someone else’s approval to be worthy of adoration and love, and that
it’s the size and shape of us that matters most to our happiness. We’ll explore the
implications of these lies and celebrate our fabulous breasts in writing and shared
storytelling. What helped you love your beauties? And how do you party with what
you’ve got? Come in full cleavage if you’ve got it to flaunt or sleek and sexy if not.
Just do it up!
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
A Writing Workshop with Mary Campbell-Case and Amy Webb
Bra & Girl, Railroad Street, Great Barrington 7-9 p.m.
34 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
g + r editing. writing. book development
michelle gillett + nina ryan are a
team of experienced editors who offer
detailed feedback and consulting to
writers, from overall analysis of short
pieces and manuscripts, line editing,
and one-on-one tutorials, to book-doctoring and guidance in the development
of manuscripts and book proposals.
Nina Ryan has 20 years of book publishing experience as a literary agent and
editor. Michelle Gillett is a poet, columnist and longtime writing teacher.
They have worked with writers published by Knopf, Macmillan, Doubleday,
Henry Holt and other major publishers as well as with writers who are just
getting started.
Whether you are just beginning your project, are working toward publication, or are a published author, we can help you with your material.
nina ryan
michelle gillett
www.gillettandryan.com
413-298-3487
413-298-4814
[email protected] [email protected]
Saturday 3/31
Special Event: Gala Festival Finale
“Femininity” Essay Contest Reading and Reception
fem·i·nin·i·ty (n)
1. the quality of looking and behaving in ways conventionally
thought be appropriate for a woman or girl
2. women as a group (dated)
3. a manner feature commonly attributed to women
4. the qualities, actions, or types of behavior in a man or boy that are
conventionally associated with women or girls
Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing
Sunday 4/1
Special event:
Women Poets Celebrate National Poetry Month
An Orion Poetry Reading
Hosted by Hannah Fries, with Elizabeth Bradfield, Amy Dryansky, Jessica
Greenbaum, and Cecily Parks
Kellogg Music Center, Bard at Simon’s Rock College, 3-5 p.m.
For thirty years, Orion magazine has been a leading voice at the intersection of literature, art, and environment. Celebrate our anniversary with us at this reading by a selection of distinguished women poets who surprise and inspire us with their deep sense
of humanity and reverence for the natural world. Get a taste of some of their work at
www.orionmagazine.org/poetry/.
35 • BFWW • March 2012
Join us for a reading by the three winners of the BFWW
personal essay contest, which invited Berkshire women
and girls to consider how their experiences of culture,
body, biology, roles, behavior, language, work or spirit have
defined or called into question their ideas of femininity. The
event will be introduced by contest judge Alison Larkin,
author of the best-selling comic autobiography The English
American, who will share her ideas about the art of the
personal essay. A gala reception will follow.
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Hosted by Michelle Gillette and Nina Ryan, with special guest Alison Larkin
The Mount, Lenox, 3-5 p.m
36 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Limited number
All Access PAsses
available. See website
for more details.
sAturdAy
APril 14 – 8pm
Shakespeare & Company’s
Bernstein Theatre
20
Capital Regio1n2/
Berkshires
Theatre Project
For Tickets:
www.WAMTheatre.com or 1-800-838-3006
37 • BFWW • March 2012
$15 tickets
general seating
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
Top off your Women’s Festival Month with this exciting event that sold out last year!
See five original works by women playwrights, created in 24hrs by over
50 theatre artists from the Berkshires of MA and the Capital Region of NY
The Weathervane Inn
38 • BFWW • March 2012
For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
1786 historic farmhouse in the heart of
the Berkshires but away from it all
• 10cleanandcomfortably-appointed
guestroomswithprivatebath
• Quietspacesforreading,writingandcreating
• Bountifulcountrybreakfasttogetyourday
offtoagoodstart
• ProudsupportersofBFWW
Offering Berkshire Festival of Women Writers participants
and fans a special Festival rate. Call for more information.
The Weathervane Inn
Jeffrey & Maxine Lome, Owners & Innkeepers
17 Main Street, Route 23
South Egremont, MA 01258
800-528-9580
www.weathervaneinn.com
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For full listings and biographies, check our website at berkshirewomenwriters.org
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39 • BFWW • March 2012
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