Can’t take that away from me: With Jan. 20 on the horizon, the Queer Joy Collaborative sings, dances and fights for its life
By MELISSA KAREN SANCES For the Valley Advocate Glitter. Sparkle. Bedazzle. Shine. When Mara Levi and Nova Wehman-Brown started dreaming of a Winter Ball, these four words came to mind. The executive director and the board president of the Queer Joy...
The romance of the rails: 22,000 flock to the annual Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield
It’s no secret that the U.S. railroad system, which a century ago had the largest passenger service in the world, looks very different today. Though the nation’s freight system is still significant, passenger service has long since been eclipsed by automobile and...
Calming the Nerves: Is post-COVID anxiety a thing?
It’s been just about three years since COVID made its appearance, and life as we all knew it changed its course. You still see people wearing masks outside their houses and there are more people who don’t leave the house much at all these days. For instance, I have...
Art to reflect the community: Forbes Library uses anonymous donation to purchase a range of BIPOC art
By STEVE PFARRER Staff Writer A couple years ago, Forbes Library received a $10,000 donation from a donor who wanted to remain anonymous but also wanted the money used for a very specific purpose: to broaden the Northampton library’s permanent art collection. More...
A doctor who still makes house calls: Tracy Kidder’s new book profiles Dr. Jim O’Connell, who tends to Boston’s homeless community
By STEVE PFARRER Staff Writer In a long career that’s seen him win a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award, and a boatload of praise, Williamsburg writer Tracy Kidder has tackled a number of different subjects: the computer revolution, elementary schools, civil war...
Of regicides and kings: A bestselling British novelist examines a chapter of Valley history
By STEVE PFARRER Staff Writer Robert Harris is the author of a slew of bestselling thrillers and historical novels, covering ancient Rome, World War II, contemporary politics and more. According to one count, he’s sold over 10 million copies of his books, a number of...
The power of women’s hair: Photographer uses 19th-century technique to re-imagine female portraits
By STEVE PFARRER Staff Writer Time was when Rachel Portesi did much of her photography using Polaroid film. She loved the immediacy of the image, the way each photo was different and often didn’t quite match what her eye had seen, and what she calls “the feeling of...
A new home for art, business and community: ‘Bloom Local’ looks to highlight LGBTQ+ artists and organizations
By STEVE PFARRER Staff Writer A few years ago, Luc Abbott, a marketing consultant who works with various clients in the area, decided to produce an online guide of regional businesses and organizations that, broadly speaking, embodied progressive values and...
‘All the world’s a stage’
For the better part of the last 36 years, all the world’s been a stage for Chris Rohmann. The Advocate’s longtime theater critic has had a front seat view to thousands of plays in the Valley. With that seat, he has penned his perspective on performances, previewed...
Rocking in the real world: UMass Amherst band tours with writer Jeff Kinney to highlight a new ‘Wimpy Kid’ book and movie
Like so many other artists, author and illustrator Jeff Kinney felt stymied by the pandemic. The visits he’d typically make to bookstores to talk about the newest additions to his popular “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series were reduced to parking lot encounters and other...
The Shrinking Pot Pie? When it comes to dispensaries, how many is too many?
November 2018 was a momentous time for Massachusetts. That’s when the state officially joined the retail marijuana business, some two years after voters said they were cool with recreational cannabis sales by overwhelmingly approving a ballot measure. Northampton,...
Sessions
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Brown Bones on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Brown Bones performs soulful and intimate urban folk with poignant lyrics and heartfelt melodies.
The V-Spot: I Keep Falling for Straight Girls
Dear Having Doubts: The extensive topic of queer identity and visibility is one that many writers dive in to daily in regards to queer visibility as working positively to affirm identities, build community, and score dates alongside visibility working negatively as targeting folks for harassment and violence. We can’t get into all of that important stuff here but let’s talk about visibility re: finding you a good date.
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Stagestruck: Campus Cornucopia
This weekend and next, Valley colleges present a fall cornucopia of performances – a culture clash at Amherst, a gamer fantasy at Mount Holyoke, and the Valley premiere of a national dance piece at Smith.
