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By STEVE PFARRER

EASTHAMPTON — Easthampton Theater Company (ETC), which since forming in late 2022 has staged two sold-out productions at the Blue Room at CitySpace, has formed a new partnership with the Williston Northampton School — one that will bring both a new...

By STEVE PFARRER

What could be better in winter than a trip to the Caribbean? Warm but not overly hot temperatures, beautiful sandy beaches, crystalline waters — sounds like paradise.But as a current exhibit at the Mead Art Museum in Amherst shows, paradise for some...

By STEVE PFARRER

There’s been a lot written about the problems that have plagued many American workplaces in the wake of the pandemic, from some employees insisting on continuing to work from home to offices that have mirrored the polarization and social conflicts...

By STEVE PFARRER

Can the arts help us reexamine our past and come to terms with injustice? Can music, film and other mediums become instruments for social change by helping us look differently at our history and our beliefs?Those are questions the Power of Truths Arts...

By STEVE PFARRER

The WriteAngles Conference, the Valley literary get-together that has been revived after a five-year absence, has a new keynote speaker.Shanta Lee, an award-winning poet, visual artist, and journalist from Vermont, will give the main address at the...

By STEVE PFARRER

I Could Have Been More WrongBy Kevin McCaffreyFour Winds Press Kevin McCaffrey brings something to his poetry that other poets might consider employing more often: a sense of humor.In “I Could Have Been More Wrong,” McCaffrey, a South Hadley resident,...

By STEVE PFARRER

Hannah Arendt famously coined the term “the banality of evil” in her book on Adolph Eichmann’s trial in Israel in 1963, where the former Nazi official, a key organizer of the Holocaust, presented himself as a bureaucrat who was “just doing his job” in...

By STEVE PFARRER

Mardi Gras took place last month, but you can catch some of its flavor at the Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity on March 24 at 4 p.m. when Jon Cleary & The Monster Gentlemen come to the Florence venue — with the Soggy Po Boys opening the show.Cleary has...

By STEVE PFARRER

When Peter Sokolowski started work as an editor at Merriam-Webster 30 years ago, about 80 people worked at the venerable dictionary company in Springfield, including about 45 editors.But based on how quiet the offices were, it might have seemed the...

By STEVE PFARRER

One of a Kind: The Life of Sydney TaylorWritten by Richard MichelsonIllustrated by Sarah GreenCalkins Creek Valley poet and children’s author Richard Michelson has often delved into history in some of his books for young readers, such as “The Language...

By STEVE PFARRER

Since 1987, the WriteAngles Conference had been an annual fixture in the Valley, typically held at one of the local colleges, bringing together area writers, poets, editors, publishers, and booksellers to examine all things literary.Then COVID-19...

By STEVE PFARRER

AMHERST — Aaron Lansky, founder and president of the Yiddish Book Center, began his 2004 memoir about his work, “Outwitting History,” with a memorable anecdote: how he’d taken a dead-of-night train from the Valley to Manhattan in 1980 and, with the...

By STEVE PFARRER

Chester Theatre Company turns 35 this year, and for its 2024 season, the ensemble is throwing in some new wrinkles to mark the occasion, from the world premiere of two new plays, the addition of some Friday matinees, and a production that The New York...

By STEVE PFARRER

It’s a common refrain for a lot of teens when they argue with their parents: “You just don’t understand what my life is like.”Of course, parents can turn that back on their kids: “What do you know about having to go to work, paying the bills, and...

By STEVE PFARRER

Augusta Savage rose to prominence as a sculptor and educator when she moved to New York City in the 1920s, where she soon became a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance.But Savage, who was also a determined advocate for equal rights for African...

By STEVE PFARRER

Since opening in the spring of 2022, The Drake has featured a wide range of music, from blues to rock to folk (and various combinations thereof), to jazz and more.“More” includes the Amherst club’s periodic forays into classical music, with concerts...

By STEVE PFARRER

Between the “Dickinson” series on Apple TV+ and movies such as 2016’s “A Quiet Passion,” interest in Emily Dickinson has grown in the last several years, even beyond the already intense admiration that existed for her poetry among readers and literary...

By STEVE PFARRER

The Real Gatsby: George Gordon MooreBy Mickey RathbunWhite River Press Just who was the inspiration for the character of the Great Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel of the same name?Scholars and literary detectives have tried for decades to...

By STEVE PFARRER

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art has no shortage of material to draw on for exhibits.Aside from highlighting work from traveling exhibits, or showcasing illustrations of specific artists drawn from various sources, the Amherst museum can...

By STEVE PFARRER

What’s New, Daniel?Written and illustrated by Micha ArcherPenguin/Random HouseIn the last several years, Leverett illustrator and children’s book author Micha Archer has been gaining increasing attention for her eye-catching art and for stories that...