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.

ICE Grabs Person in Downtown Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appear to have taken a person into custody in downtown Pittsfield on Tuesday. 

A bystander video was posted to Facebook in the afternoon, and Mayor Peter Marchetti later confirmed that ICE was in Pittsfield, and reported that the city did not assist. 

Agents called the Pittsfield Police Department around 1 p.m. and spoke with the desk sergeant, informing him they were in the area and looking for a specific person. 

"That was all we were provided, and we were not present during any arrest," Marchetti said. 

On Tuesday, a community member posted a minute-long video of what appeared to be an ICE arrest in the Burger King parking lot near Wendell Avenue Extension. The video is blurry, but three masked agents are seen restraining a person on the ground next to a white SUV with the driver's door open. In text, it says "Ice at Burger King in Pittsfield." 

Agents can be heard telling the person, seemingly a woman, to turn over and get down while she was audibly upset. She tells a man off-screen that she loves him, and he yells back that he loves her, too. 

In the background of the video, a bystander says, "They always think that they can do what they want and they hurt other people."

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories