Literary Appeal
Theres so much happening in the world of books and ideas this fall
By Elise Linscott Gladstone
Literary enthusiasts visiting the Berkshires this fall will find a rich lineup of events across major cultural venues. Seasonal programming features field, a weekend “mini-college of ideas” on the grounds of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox; Whose Truth? Writers and Readers Forum at The Mount, Edith Wharton Cultural Center, also in Lenox; and salon-style book talks at MASS MoCA’s Research & Development (R&D) Store in North Adams.
The R&D Store functions as part re- tail space and part art gallery, with guests through the fall and winter months that include longtime New Yorker cartoonists and authors Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein. On October 4, The Mount will host a new collaboration with the Authors Guild Foundation to present its a half-day event featuring talks with writ- ers including Jia Tolentino, Gish Jen, and more. Then the inaugural field festival will stretch across a weekend, from October 23 to 25, presenting collaborative discussions meant to spark participant questions, with guests including notable authors, editors, scientists, and artists.
Whose Truth? Writers and Readers Forum,
October 4 The Mount, Lenox
In a new collaboration between The Mount in Lenox and the Authors Guild Foundation, the organizations will put on a half-day event for writers and readers alike with hopes to make it an annual event. The forum will delve into topics including how to responsibly approach history in works of nonfiction and novels; the imagination, research and restraint necessary when writing about real people; and authorship in the age of AI.
“The concept really started in thinking about this idea of truth as it applies to history,” says Sarah Margolis-Pineo, director of programs at The Mount who is co-curating the forum with Andrea Bronson, vice president of programs for The Authors Guild. “This idea of truth as it applies to history is increasingly fraught, particularly when we are thinking through the nation’s 250th anniversary and how there’s this idea of rewriting our origin story and reverting to more mythic versions that are perhaps more comfortable versions and are being publicly advocated by certain political people, reinforcing the fact that all history is political.”
Narratives around history and historical storytelling have been a core part of The Mount’s programming for decades. A prime example is The Summer Author Series, a longstanding program that delves into new works of biography and memoir.
“Biography is a field that’s in some way impervious to AI because it requires real, deep, meaningful research that most often engages with primary source materials,” Margolis-Pineo says. “This is something that AI cannot do. And so ideas around truth and reporting when it comes to history in particular are concepts that are near and dear to The Mount’s identity and audience.”
The list of panelists on October 4 is impressive, and growing:
Approaching History: Historical storytelling can illuminate the past—but
it can also reshape it through creative interpretation, characterization, and selective detail. Historian David W. Blight will be joined by David Conrad- Pérez, a historian and former journalist, in conversation moderated by Holly Jackson, PhD, on where imagination ends and historical responsibility begins.
Writing About Real People: Writing about real lives requires imagination, research, and restraint. Novelist and biographer Michelle Young, novelist Gish Jen, and media attorney Nancy Wolff will discuss how biographers portray difficult truths about complicated, flawed individuals without veering into harm, caricature, or defamation. Joe Donahue, senior director of news and programming
for WAMC, will be the moderator.
Authorship in the Age of AI: Artificial intelligence is reshaping how stories and ideas are produced, circulated, and trusted. Writer Jia Tolentino and essayist and critic Maris Kreizman will explore howAI is changing the ways writers write and readers read, moderated by Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild and Authors Guild Foundation.
The day concludes with a reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m., offering guests the chance to continue the conversation with speakers and fellow attendees. Optional guided tours of The Mount will be offered for attendees who wish to arrive early.
field, October 23–25
Shakespeare & Company, Lenox
The inaugural field will present a festival of ideas, entertainment, learning and discovery. Hunter Runnette, founder of field, hopes the event will serve as a weekend-long “mini college of ideas.” He was inspired by the Hay Festival of Literature & Arts in Wales, which Runnette attended, and hopes field could turn into a similar week-long event in the future, bringing people together from across the globe for a week of conversation and exchange in the Berkshires.
Says Runnette: “We want to talk about environment. We want to talk about health. We want to talk about science. We want to talk about soft things like love, like what is love today? We really think that there’s a need for that.”
Bernard Schwartz, who previously served as executive director of the Unterberg Poetry Center of the 92nd Street Y and executive producer of literary programs for the Authors Guild Foundation, is shaping programming for field. He calls Runnette’s vision “an inspiring one.”
Each conversation will be an hour-long collaborative talk, followed by time for audience participation, including sharing thoughts or asking questions. “The virtue of the inaugural field festival slate of programming is how eclectic it is, from visual artists to historians to literary artists to public health experts to mental health experts,” says Schwartz.
“One thing I think is always compelling to me is when you do live events, what you’re striving for is some spontaneous and memorable encounter. Putting together a festival entails a lot of effort from a lot of people, and at its heart there are these moments that will happen on stage, backstage, on the grounds of Shakespeare & Co., between artists and the public and in private moments, or in the signing line that are unexpected and will be life-changing in a really affirmative way. That’s such an inspiring enterprise to be able to play any kind of part in.”
The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires is serving as the festival’s fiscal sponsor and is helping shepherd field through this first year while the festival works to get its own nonprofit status, according to field Executive Producer Lizzy Aspenlieder, who is also community relations manager and a company actor at Shakespeare & Company, as well as a film and theater producer.
Runnette also has connections with sever- al local cultural organizations, including help- ing to start the Berkshire International Film Festival, former development work as a board member of Jacob’s Pillow, and sitting on the board of the Chester Theatre Company.
“Anything is possible when you get the right people in the room, when you have curious minds in the room,” Runnette says. “My history at least is all about telling stories and sharing stories, and there are so many important stories that need to be shared and discussed and debated.”
Here are the speakers at field, October 23–25, at Shakespeare & Company’s Tina Packer Playhouse:
Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark meet Bill Goldstein: Bird’s new biography,
written with Susan Goldmark, is American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump. Bill Goldstein is writing a biography of Larry Kramer.
Saidiya Hartman & Jamaica Kincaid: The authors explore gardening as a creative practice and metaphor. Hartman wrote Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments and Kincaid is a celebrated fiction writer and garden essayist.
Maira Kalman: The artist and designer presents her journey through Joy, a luminous collection of prose and paintings revealing how quiet optimism persists in dark times.
Tom Hammick: The painter and printmaker shares his operatic passion. His work is praised as one of the richest imaginative British art achievements of recent eras.
Adam Moss: The former New York magazine editor and author of The Work of Art leads a live “Artists at Work” conversation with a special guest.
Annette Gordon-Reed & Brent Staples: The Pulitzer Prize winners discuss American history politics. Gordon-Reed wrote The Hemingses of Monticello, and Staples is a New York Times essayist.
Laura Buchwald: The novelist discusses the paranormal with internationally renowned evidential psychic medium Joe Perreta.
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel: The physician, bioethicist, and health policy expert (see page 40) speaks with bioethicist Vardit Ravitsky.
Carol Gilligan & Niobe Way: Gilligan, author of the revolutionary psychology book In a Different Voice, joins Way, a developmental psychology professor and humanity project founder.
Gypsy Snider: The choreographer and co-founder of Les 7 Doigts started in the Pickle Family Circus at age four and creates innovative circus performances.
Bessel van der Kolk: The trauma psychiatrist and author of the global bestseller The Body Keeps the Score hosts a conversation with unannounced special guest speakers.
Book Talks at MASS MoCA’s R&D Store,
North Adams,
This fall at MASS MoCA, the museum will host a slew of book talks featuring several local authors and nationally known artists with regional connections.
All the talks have a visual arts or performance related component, from band photography to cartoonists and detailed pop-up books. This fall, Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein from The New Yorker will give a talk on October 17 about their book The Two Saddest Kitchens: A Comics Conversation. Melissa Auf der Maur, Hudson resident and former bassist for the bands Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins, will discuss her book My ’90s Rock Photographs on October 9.
Nearly all of the talks will be held in the R&D Store, with the exception of Chast and Katzenstein’s talk, which will be held in the Hunter Center. The R&D store is part gallery, part retail space, and home to author talks and record release events. The recently expanded 500-square-foot event space seats 40 people, with the ability to expand into the retail space as needed.
Chris Conti, who formerly worked in publishing and at other contemporary arts centers, has been with MASS MoCA since 2023. He’s the creative producer and manager of MASS MoCA’s R&D Store and says authors are often thrilled to make a stop at the museum as part of their book tours.
“It’s funny because I’ll contact publishers often and just ask if the authors are interested,” says Conti, “and everyone seems to have some sort of history with MASS MoCA.”
For updates and more information on the talks, go to massmoca.org.
Upcoming book talks at MASS MoCA’s R&D Store:
Maggie O’Brien in conversation with Bernie Rhie and the launch of O’Brien’s memoir, Two Birds One Stone, October 3.
Eden Robins (Birdie Horne),Don’t Cross Mo Ellery (William Morrow), and Andrea Hairston, The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays, October 4.
Melissa Auf der Maur, My ’90s Rock Photographs, an intimate conversation with alt- rock bassist of Hole and Smashing Pumpkins fame, October 16.
Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein, The Two Saddest Kitchens: A Comics Conversation, October 17.
Lizzie Whitman, On the Calculation of Volume (Book I), November 18.
A.S. Hamrah, Last Week in End Times Cinema, November 21.
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