The Real March Madness: Berkshire Festival of Women Writers

It’s March, so it must be time for the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers!

If you live in or around the western MA, VT, NY, CT (polar) vortex, check out the month long line-up of readings, panels and special events here.

If you want to visit with Pokey, I’ll be here:

Woman Talk: Voices We Write

Reading & discussion with Amy Dryansky, Annie Boutelle & Ellen Doré Watson

Saturday, March 22, 2pm

MCLA Gallery 51
51 Main Street, North Adams

Sometimes the voices we write have a distinct persona, and sometimes it seems as if the poet herself is speaking. Between these two poles is a continuum in which the poet’s experience, identity, intention and imagination are at play. How do we know who’s really doing the talking? Hosted by Tupelo Press.

and here…

Special Event: 2014 BFWW Essay Contest Reading and Prize Ceremony

Saturday, March 29, 2pm

Hosted by Michelle Gillett & Nina Ryan with Jennifer Sahn, Barbara Zheutlin, Alice Maggio & Amy Dryansky

Centennial Hall, Miss Hall’s School, 492 Holmes Road, Pittsfield

This year’s contest invited women writers to submit nonfiction, fiction and poetry on the subject of “weather”: weather of the heart, weathering the storm, how weather extremes are affecting us personally, politically, culturally, environmentally, keeping in mind the special of the 2014 Festival, “Writing the Self, Righting the World: New Visions of Personal and Planetary Health.”

The prize ceremony will feature a reading by each winner, followed by a panel discussion moderated by contest judge and Orion Magazine editor, Jennifer Sahn. With the four winning pieces as a starting point, the discussion will focus on ways to examine, explore, and spark new perspectives on the links between personal and planetary wellness, particularly within our own lives and communities. How can writing inspire change? What stories are being told in our culture and communities on this subject? What stories are not being told?

See you there!