January 2008

Greetings friends,

The coming of a new year always seems to raise questions about who we are and what we’re doing; I hope you are all being kind to yourselves. On our part, at Inkberry, we’re resolving to bring organizational assessment to the fore this year. The board of directors has chosen to devote the next few months looking at Inkberry’s strategic plan, so that we can continue to provide the programs and services you have valued in the past, as well as develop relevant programs for the future.

Meanwhile, our regular programming will continue. January is a bit quieter than usual around here, but I want to be sure you are aware of several events.

WORDPLAY on January 12 at Papyri Books features North Adams native EILEEN GLOSTER. Eileen is a teacher, freelance writer, former owner of Papyri Books and former host of Wordplay. Her poetry has been published in journals and anthologies such as After Art/After Nature, The Berkshire Review, and American Literary. It’s a pleasure to welcome Eileen back to Wordplay. I hope you will all come to hear this native daughter and that you will stay for the open mic and share work with this most appreciative audience.

On Thursday, January 17, Inkberry’s free ongoing writing group, THURSDAY NIGHT CRITIQUE, will resume for the new year at 7:30 PM in the Inkberry offices. It’s the perfect place to jumpstart that New Year’s resolution you’ve made to get back to your writing, to share it and revise it. Bill Belcher facilitates this group and if you are contemplating joining in the fun this year, send an email to bill@inkberry.org and he’ll get you the skinny on how to participate.

And it’s not too soon to plan to spend your Tuesday evenings in February with the inimitable SETH BROWN, who is teaching a class called LIGHTEN UP:AN INTRODUCTION TO LIGHT VERSE. Geared to beginning writers, this course will have you impressing your family, your friends and your beloved with your seriously amusing words.

Keep your eye out in February in The Transcript for the latest round of student publications coming from The Write Stuff, Inkberry’s creative writing program for Conte Middle School students. Writer-in-residence Curtis Asch has been leading the young authors through a kaleidoscope of genres and styles; their work promises to be engaging.

You can register for classes and find more information about the full scope of Inkberry’s programs through May 2008 at www.inkberry.org .

I’m so curious about what you are reading this January. I invite you to visit inkblog and join our conversation about good books, here. I just finished a memoir by Bob Smith called Hamlet’s Dresser, which provides a timely reminder of the power of language – in this case, Shakespeare’s – to change lives. Last year, when the NEA released numbers about the decreasing percentage of readers, I realized that Inkberry is on the frontlines of a battle to reacquaint people with the pleasure and value of books. I have a stack of seven new books awaiting my undivided attention, and I’ll try to keep you posted on the website as I crack the spines and jump into the worlds of fiction and history that await.

Since you are on this mailing list, I suspect you share my excitement around literary endeavors. As you already know, Inkberry is reverting to an all-volunteer model of operating and I want to invite each of you to consider this as an opportunity to become more intimately involved in Inkberry’s future. At the moment, we have standing committees on programming, fundraising, marketing and education, all of which would welcome your input. As we embark on strategic planning, there will likely be additions to that list. If you are interested in volunteering, please email me at linda@inkberry.org and we can begin the conversation about how all of us can continue to strengthen Inkberry’s presence in the community.

In future inkmails you will hear from other board members, who will introduce themselves and keep you posted about programs and developments here at Inkberry.

All the best for a new year of satisfying reading and writing,

Linda White, President Board of Directors