It’s Here!
Berkshire WordFest kicks off TONIGHT!
- Join us at 6 p.m. for a fantastic opening talk with one of the most distinguished women in American letters, Francine Prose. Party on the Terrace follows. $50. Tickets still available! Call 413-551-5113 to purchase.
- Are you a fiction lover? A memoir junkie? A New Yorker zealot? Curious about what makes writers write (and tick)? Get your tickets for Jim Shepard, Dani Shapiro, Susan Orlean and others, each individually in conversation with leading area journalists. Get your tickets today: 413-551-5113. $25 or $20 for Mount members. One-hour conversation followed by booksigning.
- Speaking of books: get yours now! The Festival Bookstore is open all day and through the weekend. Or call 413-728-8155 to reserve. We recommend that you purchase books prior to attending events. Great titles for each author appearing at the festival.
- Are you an early bird? Get the (book)worm! Tickets still available for our breakfast events. Have coffee and conversation with Elizabeth Brundage (Saturday) or Elinor Lipman (Sunday) in the morning serenity of The Mount’s beautiful Terrace. You’ll have a chance to mingle with the authors, ask questions and hear readings from works-in-progress or new releases. Not to be missed for fiction fans!
- It’s going to be a literary feast-ival! Don’t just take it from us; check out this preview in Berkshire Living. See you there!
New & Noteworthy:
A Round-Up
Just released: the book trailer for Elizabeth Brundage’s newest thriller, A Stranger Like You, due out next month. Watch it! Better yet, join Brundage for breakfast and hear her read from the book on Saturday, July 24 at 8:30 a.m. Details here.
“Am I crossing the line?” Thoughtful New York Times Op-Ed by Dani Shapiro on Larry Rivers and her own experiences defining the boundary between life and art, parental responsibility and artistic license. Hear Shapiro live on Sunday, July 25 at 11 a.m. in conversation with Susan Arbetter. Details here.
Keep pace with Susan Orlean on Free Range, her New Yorker blog, and count the days till July 25, when she’s in conversation with Susan Arbetter at WordFest (2 p.m.)! Details here.
Read the July issue of the Sandisfield Times! Edited by none other than Simon Winchester of bucolic Sandisfield, MA (pop. 824, or thereabouts). Hear him at WordFest on July 24 at 10:30 a.m. Details here.
Not new, but certainly noteworthy: If you missed Elinor Lipman’s Modern Love piece in the New York Times a few months ago, act now to correct the oversight! Read “Sweetest at the End.” And chat with Lipman over breakfast on July 25 at 8:30 a.m. Details here.
Join Us Tonight at
3rd Thursday in Pittsfield
Tonight is 3rd Thursday, and we’ll be there! Berkshire WordFest has a table at Pittsfield’s fabulous, freewheelin’ street fair, celebrated each month, May through October. You can find us at Dunham Mall, just off North Street (see map). Stop by and say hello!
The party gets started at 5 p.m. and keeps kicking till 8 p.m. (and beyond). Enjoy tons of live music, art openings, sweet treats, fine food, and silly fun (like a beach on North Street!). Preview the hottest happenings and head to Pittsfield tonight.
Thanks to Kelly Bevan and The Advocate for a nice feature on WordFest, including interviews with Elizabeth Brundage and Jim Shepard.
WordFest Books Are Here!
“I had written short stories that were thought worthy of preservation! Was it the same insignificant I that I had always known? Any one walking along the streets might go into any bookshop, and say: ‘Please give me Edith Wharton’s book’; and the clerk, without bursting into incredulous laughter, would produce it, and be paid for it, and the purchaser would walk home with it and read it, and talk of it, and pass it on to other people to read!”
—Edith Wharton, A Backward Glance
Books are magical—for the author (as Wharton recounts above) and, all the more, for the reader. Our 2010 festival speakers have collectively written hundreds of works “worthy of preservation,” and you can purchase some of them at WordFest!
Check out our NEW books section to browse all books available for sale at the festival. Click on book covers to read reviews/excerpts. Festival authors will be signing books after their events; see our booksigning schedule for details.
The Festival Bookstore will be up and running on Saturday, July 17. It’s located on the lower level of the house, just around the corner from our main bookstore, and is operated in partnership with The Bookstore in Lenox. You can pre-purchase books by visiting next week…or by calling us today with your order: (413) 551-5118.
Happy browsing, happy reading!
Tune in Tomorrow!
UPDATE, July 9: Listen to the segment!
Berkshire WordFest will be on WAMC’s The Roundtable tomorrow at 9:45 a.m. The broadcast will be coming to you live from Tanglewood with all that’s new and noteworthy on the Berkshire cultural scene this summer. Listen in!
Check back tomorrow for a podcast of the program and behind-the-scenes photos.
Catch Roundtable co-host Joe Donahue in person on Saturday, July 24 at The Mount. He’ll be interviewing Ruth Reichl (11 a.m.), Jim Shepard (2 p.m.) and Roy Blount Jr. (4 p.m.). Get your tickets today! Day passes also available.
And stay tuned here for speaker Q&As, coming soon…
