Poetry Reading at Bear & Bee Bookshop

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Boiler House Poets Collective celebrates its annual residency with a reading at the Bear & Bee Bookshop, 28 North Holden Street in North Adams at 7 PM on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

The Boiler House Poets Collective will be in residence on the MASS MoCA campus from Oct. 7-13, an annual event since 2015. Ten poets spend their studio time creating new work, honing works in progress, and collaborating with their fellow artists in residence. Individually and collectively, they explore creating work including ekphrastic poetry inspired by museum installations, exquisite corpse poems, cleave poems, and video poems.

"MASS MoCA's art and the Berkshires' beauty, coupled with the support of my fellow poets, have been central to my work, resulting in a chapbook and a full-length poetry collection," said Joanne Corey, who is one of the original members of the Collective.

Wendy Stewart, who joined the Collective in 2022 added, "Spending a week dwelling in art, practicing art, talking with artists, sharing art: what could be better? The Boiler House Poets Collective Residency at MASS MoCA is a bright spot in my year."

This will be the Collective's second year reading at Bear & Bee Bookshop. The event is free (and there will be light refreshments). For more information, visit the websites of The Boiler House Poets Collective and The Bear and Bee Bookshop.

Berkshires Remember First Responders, Military Personnel Lost at 9/11 and Aftermath

By Jack Guerino & Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
02:30PM / Friday, September 11, 2026

North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey, with Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre speaks at Friday's memorial. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The county's two cities held memorials on Friday morning to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. 

Great Barrington was scheduled to hold a dedication of piece of steel from the World Trade Center at 6 p.m.

North Adams held its ceremony in the fire station's side garden starting at exactly 8:46 a.m., the time Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower.

 

The small square of grass was packed with police officers, firefighters, wire and alarm personnel, dispatchers, and Northern Berkshire EMS employees, and city employees, officials and community members. 

 

After the ceremonial tolling of the bell, an honor guard presented the colors.

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey said it felt odd welcoming people to a very solemn event.

 

"What happened 25 years ago put a mark on emergency services. It put additional pressure on police, fire, EMS, and dispatchers," Macksey said. "While we remember those who lost their lives during 9/11, and those who ran to help as many as they could during 9/11, we have to pause and appreciate those who continue to serve despite that awful threat that occurred 25 years ago."

 

She said it was a direct attack on the United States and all of its people.

 

"It was a question of our freedoms and our ability to be safe in our communities," the mayor said. "I can say today that here in North Adams, it could happen to us, but I know with the professionalism of our Fire Department, Police Department, EMS, and our dispatch team, we are a better community; we are a safer community than we were 25 years ago."