What defines the Berkshires for those who live here? The Mastheads has partnered with MCLA’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities to launch INSCAPES, a yearlong regional community art project across the Berkshires.
Read articleA local woman invents a new kind of poem
This time of year, I met a woman in a stand of laurel bushes. It turns out by the time she was my age, she’d invented a new form of free-verse.
Read articleRowan Ricardo Philllips composes a poetry of democracy
Nationally acclaimed poet Rowan Ricardo Phillips has called his recent work civic poetry, poetry that speaks to national systems that can reshape daily life — poetry written with clear perception, depth and pain.
Read articleMicah Rosegrant imagines new worlds
Micah Rosegrant interweaves prayer and performance and spoken word and creates a form, as they describe it, as close as two people talking at night. They came to the Berkshires this winter as an artist in residence at the Foundry.
Read articleUnison stronger than fission: Poetry and art hold a light in hard times
Artist Trinh Mai and poet Shann Ray have created a book of words and paintings probing a world where the beauty of high canyons and loving relationships can exist at the same time as fission and division.
Read articleLive poets at Chesterwood feel the pull of current change
In these short weeks before the election, Western Massachusetts poets come together at the historic home and studio of the sculptor of the Lincoln memorial, to share work that feels relevant to this time and in that place.
Read articleJoy Harjo and Layli Long Soldier share loss and strength in poetry
Surrounded by the crumbling world, women begin to sing. The world as they’ve known it has ended, and yet there is movement, and growth, and the promise of new life.
Read articleA revolutionary 15th-century poet lives in Prahlad Tipanya’s music
The poet Kabir has inspired a folk music tradition for 600 years, and Prahlad Singh Tipanya, a musician known and loved across India, will bring it to Williams College.
Read articleA writer’s library reveals Edith Wharton at home
On the flyleaf of a book of Japanese poetry translated into French, penciled handwriting tries out haikus. Haiku would have been a less familiar form in the early years of the 20th century, when the owner of the book sat here in an arm chair, playing with ideas. The handwriting is Edith Wharton’s. […]
Read articleRachel Barenblat and a circle of rabbis build a contemporary community
At the foot of Mount Greylock, a round building with a wall of windows looks out at the the stone path of a labyrinth in the grass. The center of the room is a sanctuary, and a woman stands taking in the light. She moves with poised self-command and an […]
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