Literary Heritage Of The Upper Housatonic Valley
The cultural life of the Upper Housatonic Valley has produced a tradition that has attracted writers, artists, musicians, and actors decade after decade. The writings of Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edward Bellamy, and Edith Wharton created a tradition of regional literature anthologized in The Berkshire Reader: Writings from New England’s Secluded Paradise (editor Richard Nunley).
Enjoy a virtual / driving tour of notable sites of the region’s literary heritage, made possible by our friends at the Berkshire County Historical Society at Arrowhead:
PAGE – Art and Literary Inspiration From The Litchfield Hills and The Transcendental Landscape
A History
PLACE INFORMS CONSCIOUSNESS
Upon Brett Figlewski’s return to the Litchfield Hills, where he was born and raised, he became inspired to start a literary and arts journal that would pay homage to the 19th-century New England Transcendentalists and their magazine, The Dial. He approached the newly-formed 14th Colony Artists and pitched his idea and then began to hold meetings at his house in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut.
During the months that followed, a small group of people came together to help form the journal, meeting for dinner at local watering holes: the Falls Village Inn on a winter night, the Boathouse, and the Black Rabbit.
Serendipity seemed to have a hand in the formation of the group when Housatonic Heritage chose to support the endeavor and further set the journal’s founders on their course. The cherry on top came at a meeting when one member delivered the journal’s conceptual mantra: “Place informs consciousness.”
2018 – PAGE
The latest issue of PAGE: A JOURNAL OF ART & LITERATURE is now available!
We suggest a donation of $10. plus standard mailing cost ($1.18). Your donation will help to defray the cost of printing and distribution of PAGE. Contact pageartsjournal@gmail.com
2011 – PAGE
In partnership with a few dedicated individuals, Housatonic Heritage has launched:
PAGE, a journal of Art and Literary Inspiration in the Taconic, Berkshire, and Litchfield Hills
Thanks to:
- Brett Figlewski, Editor-in-Chief
- Jo Ann O’Rear, Literary Editor
- Laura Werntz, Assistant Literary Editor and Community Liaison
- John D.C. Masters, Arts Editor
- Pam White, Assistant Arts Editor and Program Coordinator
Visit the PAGE website at: http://pageartsjournal.org/
2012 – Writer’s Residency
Arrowhead and Pittsfield High School
Sponsored by Housatonic Heritage, Arrowhead, and Pittsfield High School
The residency took place in the spring of 2012, and included time for the writer to work in Herman Melville’s study at Arrowhead, as well as time leading student workshops at Pittsfield High School. A culminating event at Arrowhead, in the autumn of 2012, will be part of the program.
Partners in the Housatonic Heritage Writer’s Residency are Housatonic Heritage, Arrowhead, and Pittsfield High School. They hope to stimulate student interest in writing, to connect students to the region’s literary heritage, to connect the heritage sites to schools, and to support area writers and educators in their efforts to teach and learn about the unique places in the Upper Housatonic Valley. The project is a pilot to try certain methods with the hope that it may expand in coming academic years.
The 2012 residency will give primary focus to Arrowhead. Students, teachers, and the writer will immerse themselves in the stories of the place, selected writings of Melville, and the place itself: its woods, meadow, and orchard, as well as the house. The students and their teacher will also engage in some site specific project or activity, about which they will write. Future sites for similar collaboration will be considered.
The Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area (Housatonic Heritage), the primary sponsor, works to preserve and promote the historical, cultural and natural resources of the Upper Housatonic River Valley region. Housatonic Heritage serves the 29-town Housatonic River watershed region, extending from Kent, Conn. to Lanesboro and Dalton, Mass.
Arrowhead is the home of the Berkshire Historical Society, an organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, and disseminating the history of Berkshire County. In addition, the Berkshire Historical Society is committed to the preservation and interpretation of Arrowhead, home of author Herman Melville, the first National Historic Landmark to be so designated in Berkshire County.
The Pittsfield School district is comprised of 12 schools, including two high schools, and serves 6,000 students. The project took place in Pittsfield High School.
Details of the residency can be seen on the Housatonic Heritage website: www.housatonicheritage.org
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