March 2004

Greetings from Inkberry!

February was a terrific month for us. The highlight came early, when we hosted artist and writer and all-around comix genius Howard Cruse for a reading. He brought a beautiful portfolio of some of the original pages from Stuck Rubber Baby, provided handouts with portraits (verbal and visual) of the major characters, and picked an excellent scene (from midway through the novel) to read aloud, which was every bit as captivating aloud as it is on the page. Afterwards, we had an excellent question-and-answer period: questions ranged from “do you start with a verbal idea for a character, or with an image?” to “how did you get into the comix biz?” and Howard answered all of them graciously. Thanks for being here, Howard!

Also in February we offered “A Certain Slant of Light,” a workshop designed to enhance our appreciation for winter (which can seem a little onerous at this time of year). The class was intimate, and from all accounts a lot of fun. We’ve also been following our unofficial trend of premiering one new online workshop each month; in February we kicked off a class in short fiction, which is going great guns at the moment.

Coming up, we’re pleased to welcome novelist Maureen Howard to Inkberry for a reading at 7:30pm on Saturday, March 6. Maureen Howard is the author of six novels, three of which were nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her latest book, A Lover’s Almanac (Penguin 1998), tells a love story about fate: about how and why we live the lives we do and fall in love with the people we do. Her next novel, The Silver Screen, will be published by Viking in late summer, 2004; it is the third installment in her “Four Seasons” quartet of novels.

The reading will take place at Inkberry (63 Main, North Adams) and admission is $5 ($3 for Chapbook members, and free for members at the Paperback level and above). We hope to see some or all of you here!

On March 29, we’ll kick off our next online workshop, “The Letter as Literature,” taught by Alice DeBerry Kane. Do you like to write letters? Are you a 21st century letter writer: one who feels artistic penning letters on your computer? Do you want your letters to read like great literature? Can you imagine yourself writing a book of letters that reads like a literary narrative, replete with colorful characters, interwoven themes and dramatic settings? Do you enjoy reading collections of letters? Then try this six-week online letter-writing-as-literature workshop! Learn how to develop narrative through letter writing, and practice focusing and directing your writing through this time-honored art. Learn more online (http://www.inkberry.org/workshops/online/) and sign up soon, as space is limited! You can opt in by calling us, emailing us, purchasing a class spot through our online store…or, of course, writing us an old-fashioned letter.

And here’s a heads-up for our early April programming: on April 3 we’ll be offering a daylong Celebration of Poetry in honor of National Poetry Month. The day will feature an afternoon reading by poets Shin Yu Pai and Scott Withiam, poetry workshops taught by Rachel Barenblat and Sandra Kohler, and an evening reading by Sandra Kohler and Diane Lockward. It’s going to be fantastic. Learn more online (http://www.inkberry.org/events/), and start thinking about the workshops soon, as the Kohler workshop (“Creating a Process, Trusting the Creator”) has an enrollment deadline of March 27.

While you’re on the website, check out the Inkberry Online section. This month we added two new forums to our discussion area: “Grammar, Death, and Taxes,” moderated by Liz Blasco, and “Poetry and Motherhood,” moderated by Sarah Yake. The forums are open to Inkberry members only, but you can purchase a membership for as little as $35 in our store (http://www.inkberry.org/store/) or in-person via phone or post or dropping in to the office. Come join the discussions!

In other news, this week we welcome our newest intern, Dani Lerro, a junior at Williams College. We’re thrilled to have her on board! Watch this space for an introduction from Dani in an upcoming edition of inkmail.

I’ve read some excellent books recently, among them Colin Duriez’ Tolkien and CS Lewis: The Gift of Friendship and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Duriez’ book chronicles the forty-year friendship between CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, alternating between fictionalized vignettes and meticulously-researched history. What makes the book fascinating is that it’s a dual biography: not only of each author, but also of the ups and downs of their friendship. I learned that Lewis was actually an agnostic before meeting Tolkien, and thrilled at the chronicle of how each man’s work changed and developed in response to the other’s feedback. Every writer dreams of a collegial relationship like this one, and Duriez does a lovely job of showing how the two men influenced each others’ lives and work.

Persepolis is the true story of Satrapi’s childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, told in graphic novel form. (Does that make it a graphic memoir?) The artwork is stark, almost woodcut-like, and the characters practically leap off the page. Satrapi shows us the weird, confusing, terrible events of the Revolution and the early Iran-Iraq war through a child’s eyes, and makes her childhood voice believable (no simple task for an adult whose memories are necessarily colored by the intervening years). When the book begins, she is nine and the Shah is still in power. When it ends, she is fourteen and so much has changed…

Persepolis offers insight into how one ordinary family dealt with the revolution, the regime change, the propaganda. It is beautifully-written and beautifully-drawn. The nations of the Middle East continue to struggle with the inevitable tension between those who support religious states and those who favor secularism — a tension this book chronicles and humanizes admirably — and engaging with Satrapi’s story is both broadening and sobering. I recommend it highly.

And that’s all the news that’s fit to print! I hope to see some or all of you at Inkberry in the month to come, either in-person or online. And if there’s something you’d like to see us offer, just let me know!

— Rachel