Clark Art, Du Bois Freedom Center Host Poetry Reading

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Sunday, Oct. 6 at 4 pm, the Clark Art Institute hosts poets Iain Haley Pollock and Nathan McClain in the Manton Research Center auditorium for a free poetry reading.
 
Pollock reads poems from his most recent book, "Ghost, Like a Place," and from a forthcoming collection. McClain, whose poetry has been described as "no-nonsense, meat and potatoes, good gotdam poetry," also reads from his work. The two poets then discuss their stylistic differences and conceptual overlap when it comes to poetry, language, race, and W.E.B. Du Bois's concept of double consciousness. A Q&A and book signing follow the event.
 
Iain Haley Pollock is the author of three poetry collections, "Spit Back a Boy" (2011), "Ghost, Like a Place" (Alice James Books, 2018), and the forthcoming "All the Possible Bodies" (Alice James, September 2025). His poems have appeared in numerous other publications, ranging from American Poetry Review and The Kenyon Review to The New York Times Magazine and The Progressive. Pollock has received several honors for his work including the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, the Alice Fay di Castagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America, a 2023 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Poetry, the Bim Ramke Prize for Poetry from Denver Quarterly, and a nomination for an NAACP Image Award. He directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Manhattanville University in Purchase, New York.
 
Nathan McClain is the author of two collections of poetry, "Previously Owned" (Four Way Books, 2022), longlisted for the Massachusetts Book Award, and Scale (Four Way Books, 2017). McClain is a recipient of fellowships from The Frost Place, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, and Bread Loaf Writers' Conference; he is also a Cave Canem fellow. His poems and prose have appeared in The Hopkins Review, Plume Poetry 10, The Common, Guesthouse, and Poetry Northwest, among others. McClain received his MFA from Warren Wilson College. He now teaches at Hampshire College and serves as poetry editor of the Massachusetts Review.
 
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A Q&A and book signing follow the event. Copies of recent books by Pollock and McClain will be available for purchase at the reading and in the Museum Store. This event is co-organized with the Du Bois Freedom Center, Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

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Letter: We Have Great Political Leaders, Let's Keep 'em

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

We are very lucky in Berkshire County. Our political leaders are the envy of voters around the nation and respected by their peers — and because of their experience, knowledge, and seniority they get stuff done for us.

Sen. Ed Markey once again faces a challenger whose entire campaign is founded on age. As WBUR in Boston observed, Moulton is running on age, but what else? Joe Kennedy had the same platform — and Massachusetts voters rejected him.

It seems to me a candidate's age is irrelevant if he's doing the job, and Ed Markey is doing his job — very well, in fact. He's no stranger to the Berkshires, and he's fighting Trump's fascist policies every single day.
He is also the Senate author of the Green New Deal legislation.

Congressman Richie Neal is in a similar fight. I've asked friends who oppose him to name one vote he's taken they disagree with, and they cannot. Remember, the great Nancy Pelosi trusted Richie and made him chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which benefits us in the Berkshires as well as the nation. Richie is a powerful advocate for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, West-East Rail, and local investment. His opponent would be a back-bencher with zero clout.

The same arguments could — and should — be made for the rest of our Democratic contingent in Boston: Gov. Maura Healey's opponent is likely to be a Boston-centric MAGA billionaire. Do you think he cares about us? Our state Sen. Paul Mark and state Reps. John Barrett, Trish Farley-Bouvier, and Leigh Davis are all tried and true progressive Beacon Hill veterans who also know how to get stuff done. And Tara Jacobs, our representative on the Governor's Council, provides a Berkshire voice on that body that has been absent since the 1950s.

This is a nation on the brink. We have serious problems, and we need serious people to deal with them. Our Democratic contingent is made up of very serious people. That's why they all have my vote. I hope they have yours, too.

Lee Harrison
Williamstown, Mass.

 

 

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