2nd Street Seeks Submissions for Literary Project

Print Story | Email Story
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 2nd Street seeks submissions for Using Our Outside Voices, a literary project created in partnership with Berkshire Community College (BCC) that is designed to promote creativity, acceptance and inclusion for presently or formerly incarcerated men and women in Berkshire County. The deadline for submissions is June 15, 2024.
 
Authors whose work is selected will receive a cash award of $200, and winning submissions will be published in a journal. The initial run of 400 printed copies of the free journal will be distributed locally, and digital copies will be available online. In addition, public readings will be held at various venues in the Berkshires.
 
Any presently or formerly incarcerated resident of Berkshire County is invited to submit original poetry, short fiction, personal essays or other literary works. Those who need editorial help can bring their work to 2nd Street, located at 264 Second Street, Pittsfield.
 
For more details on how to submit a literary work, visit www.2nd-street.org and click Special Projects, or call (413) 443-7220, ext. 1275. 
 
Financial and in-kind support of Using Our Outside Voices is provided by Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s Arts Build Community initiative with funding from the Barr Foundation; by Berkshire United Way; by Berkshire Community College; and by Pittsfield Cultural Council, a local agency supported by Mass Cultural Council.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

MassDOT Schedules Hearing on Passenger Rail to Albany

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — As part of the East-West Rail proposal, the state wants to see how service could expand to Albany. 

Next week, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will hold a virtual meeting for a Service Development Plan to explore a passenger rail between Boston and Albany, N.Y. 

The Zoom event will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. 

MassDOT says this is a critical step toward advancing East-West Rail, which would connect Pittsfield and western communities to Springfield, Worcester, and Boston, and beyond. The project has been in progress for several years and was recommended in the 2018 Massachusetts State Rail Plan. 

The SDP will study how passenger rail service on the Boston and Albany Corridor would operate and how to get there. It takes about two years, and the next step is preliminary engineering and environmental review. 

In the SDP process, MassDOT will conduct stakeholder outreach, propose appropriate service levels, identify necessary infrastructure improvements, and establish a governance structure for service. 

Planned station stops include South Station and Back Bay in Boston, Framingham, Worcester, Palmer (proposed station), Springfield, and Albany-Rensselaer, according to the MassDOT website. 

Massachusetts completed the East-West Passenger Rail Study Final Report in early 2021, and in December 2023, the Boston & Albany Corridor was accepted into the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor ID Program; MassDOT was awarded $500,000 for an SDP. 

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories