LENOX, Mass. — Community Access to the Arts (CATA) and The Mount, Edith Wharton's Home, present a reading celebrating the work of writers with disabilities on Sept. 30 at 5pm. 

 

The event takes place at the Stable at The Mount, located at 2 Plunkett St., Lenox, MA. A free reception will follow the reading where attendees can meet and celebrate CATA writers.

 

Reservations are required for this free event. Register online at CATAarts.org/themount2025 or by contacting CATA at (413) 528-5485. 

 

The event will feature guest readers sharing writing created in the CATA Writers' Workshop—a weekly, year-long class where writers with disabilities express their perspectives and build skills in poetry, prose, short story, and more. The evening will also feature an original movement piece performed by CATA dancers with disabilities to accompany one of the poetry readings. ASL interpretation and open captioning will be provided, as well as braille and large print programs.

 

"We're thrilled to continue CATA's partnership with The Mount to share the work of our CATA writers," said CATA Executive Director Margaret Keller. "CATA writers express their creative voices each week in our workshops. Through this powerful and dynamic annual reading, CATA writers share their perspectives and talents—and our community gets to see the world from their point of view."

 

Longtime CATA Faculty Artist Janet Reich Elsbach leads the CATA Writers' Workshop with a curriculum that allows CATA artists to develop their own style in short stories, autobiography, and poetry. In each workshop, CATA artists experiment with writing prompts to discover new storytelling techniques, explore ideas of identity and self-representation, and give voice to their lived experience. 

 

CATA offers a variety of adaptive writing tools and approaches to ensure the workshop is accessible to people with a wide range of abilities and disabilities, including volunteer "scribes" who work one-on-one with each artist to help them put their ideas to paper.

 

In addition to the CATA Writers' Workshop, CATA offers a wide range of weekly arts workshops for people with disabilities at the nonprofit's Great Barrington studios. Each workshop is designed as a series, and enrollment is on a rolling basis throughout the year. A current course catalog is available on CATA's website at CATAarts.org/joincata.

 

CATA's reading at The Mount is made possible by Berkshire Magazine, Barr Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, and other supporters.