A major attraction to living in the Berkshires is its rich cultural life. The high time for that is summer, when theatre and music aficionados can go out every night and never see the same performance twice. But of late, cultural attractions of all types are popping up year round. Take, for example, the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers, created by Simons Rock professor Jennifer Browdy.
Just in time for the winter holidays, the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers will host a showcase for 50 women writers, artists, and artisans at its November 22 Creative Spirit event. Held from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. at the Berkshire Hills Country Club on Benedict Road in Pittsfield, the Creative Spirit celebration will help usher in the holidays with myriad opportunities to buy unique gifts for everyone on your list…and you, too.
Although Browdy is on sabbatical now, typically she teaches two classes per semester in the English department at Simon’s Rock. One of her classes, “Women Write the World,” centers on human rights and environmental justice through literature. Another is “Global Women’s Literature.”
One of Browdy’s teaching specialties is memoir writing, a newly popular form of creative writing. She gives students prompts from which they write, and then they read their work to the class, This pedagogic technique helps students to develop trust in the group process.
Browdy’s interest in memoir writing led her to create a “memoir retreat” weekend for adults. To be held in January, 2016 the class will meet Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning. The classes are small, allowing for maximum class participation. Students will show up knowing they will be asked to share what they’ve written from Browdy’s prompts. And they know she encourages constructive feedback.
Memoir writing has become quite the rage in the last few years. Part of its current popularity is the widespread realization that you do not have to be a celebrity or politician to have a life story worth writing about. Some believe it has something to do with social media. We are getting used to narrating our lives, and having a public persona is no longer the sole purview of the rich and famous.
If you’re interested in writing your memoir, Browdy has some reading suggestions to get you started. She recommends Natalie Goldberg’s two books, “The True Secret of Writing” and “Writing Down the Bone.” She likes Julie Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way.” “Still Writing” by Dani Shapiro is on her recommended list, as are two books by Mary Carr, “The Art of Memoir” and Carr’s first book “The Liar’s Club” that switched on the memoir button in thousands of women.
In 2011 Browdy organized an International Women’s Day Conference at Simon’s Rock, held in March, known to many as Women’s History Month. For the first five years of the Festival, events were held daily in March. Not surprisingly, “It nearly killed us,” Browdy says, so this year the festival will have activities over one week, including weekends on either end. So mark your calendar for March 11-20, 2016, when you can attend four sessions per day, or if your energy level is high, 40 events over the course of the Festival.
Activities include writing workshops on memoir, poetry, how to write a book proposal, and other relevant topics. There will be readings, and panel discussions featuring speakers such as MS magazine co-founder Letty Cottin Pogrebin. Part-time Berkshire resident Ruth Reichl and heroine to many aspiring food writers will talk about her new book “My Kitchen Year.” Sheila Weller, social historian and biographer of women news personalities, is another speaker.
The Festival is intended to be a countywide attraction, so look for events in Pittsfield, Lenox, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, and Sheffield. And now the Festival is not just in March, but features monthly events. In early November, cookbook author Alana Chernila talked about her new book, “Homemade Kitchen: Recipes for Cooking with Pleasure” at the Shaker Dam Coffee House.
In their quest to schedule more events, the Festival will be collaborating with Made in the Berkshires, the theatrical project spearheaded by Hilary Somers Deely and Barbara Sims, on a play with monologues and voices of Berkshire women writers, such as Catherine Sedgwick and Edith Wharton. They also are co-sponsoring a workshop at the Sandisfield Art Center by Courtney Maum, a Sandisfield writer.
The Berkshire Festival of Women Writers is not just for grown-ups. They also created the Butterfly Leadership Circle for teen girls, age 13-18, featuring writing intensives and public speaking on social issues that affect them. The girls will be meeting monthly starting in January at the Unitarian Church in Pittsfield and the Meeting House in Great Barrington. The Festival’s aim is to help girls develop confidence in “speaking up and speaking out.”
Last year, the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers attracted 2,000 in attendance. Most of the attendees were from the Berkshires, but they are trying to get more visibility in Boston and New York.
If you are interested in writing or simply interested in people who write, check out the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers. We all have stories to tell, and it is never too late to learn how to tell it.
