Berkshire Writers Series 2026-2027
Each year, the Berkshire County Historical Society offer a multi-session, multi-genre writing series for writers of all levels and areas of interest. The series is held from 2- 5 pm one Saturday per month from November through May at Arrowhead, the historic home of Herman Melville. The series is limited to twelve writers; participants must sign up for entire series and are encouraged to attend all workshops.
Series cost: $400 includes all workshops, tea and snacks, a tour of Arrowhead, and an opportunity to write in Herman Melville’s study, where he wrote Moby-Dick.
If you are interested in participating in the series, or would like more information, contact Jana Laiz.
Below are 2026-2027 presenters and topics
November 14, 2026
Jana Laiz
Writing for Little Ones – In this interactive workshop, writers will create stories for young children. Whether based on stories they loved as children, childhood experiences or a brand new idea, writers will consider what makes a good and everlasting story. Participants are invited to bring in a favorite book from their childhood, or one they read to their children, grandchildren, or young friends to share and discuss. From there, using a series of prompts, they will start their own picture book, book for young readers or even the start of a memoir. Berkshire County Historical Society’s Writer-in-Residence Emeritus, Education Coordinator, and award-winning author, Jana Laiz will lead this fun and creative workshop.
About the facilitator
Jana Laiz is a writer and educator and author of the award-winning novels Billy Budd in the Breadbox, The Story of Herman Melville & Eleanor, Weeping Under This Same Moon, and The Twelfth Stone. She is the co-author of A Free Woman On God’s Earth” The Story of Elizabeth Mumbet Freeman (in development for film), Blanket of Stars, Simon Says and Thirty-five Days to Baltimore/35 Días De Camino A Baltimore. Jana is a writer with a purpose, believing that encouraging literacy, honoring diversity and teaching stewardship for the planet can change the world. Learn more about her at janalaiz.com.
December 12, 2026
Elizabeth Doss
Playwright, performer and great, great, great granddaughter of Herman Melville, Elizabeth Doss will lead writers through a playful expedition of generating new work for the stage. Participants will explore and experiment with making stories and characters come alive in Melville’s historic home, Arrowhead.
About the facilitator
Elizabeth Doss is a writer, performer, director and playwright based in Austin, Texas. She is a Co-artistic director of the theatre collective Paper Chairs, which has produced world premieres of her original plays Murder Ballad Murder Mystery, Hillcountry Underbelly, Mast, Poor Herman and Catalina de Erauso. Doss holds a BA in Spanish and an MFA in Playwriting, both from the University of Texas at Austin. She played herself and Herman Melville in Mark Blumberg’s film, The Act of Reading and her personal essay, “What Poor Herman Means to Me” was published in Leviathan in 2022. Paper Chairs co-produced Poor Herman at Arrowhead in 2024 which played to sold-out audiences. She’s currently developing a new solo work based on Melville’s last published novel: Do You Need to Read the Confidence Man? She recently performed an excerpt of the piece for Frontera Fest which was selected for “ Best of the Fest.” She’ll present another version of the work in October 2026 at the Neil Cochran House Austin, and again at Arrowhead July 2027. Learn more about her at elizabethdoss.com.
January 9, 2027
Robert Oakes
Inspired by Spirits – Where does inspiration come from? A look at the origin of the word offers one intriguing explanation. Its Latin root inspirare means “to breathe into or blow upon,” which has historically carried a religious or supernatural meaning, suggesting that a deity or a divine entity breathes into the artist the “holy breath” of inspiration.
Some writers have imagined that their inspiration comes to them not from divine entities but from spirits, ghosts, and even fairies. Here at Arrowhead, Herman Melville entered a kind of hypnotic trance as he stood on his piazza or gazed through the “fairy window” in his study up to Mount Greylock, which he called the “fairy mountain,” and this seemed to spark visions inside of him. His friend Nathaniel Hawthorne imagined a ghost leaning in to whisper into the writer’s ear, giving him his best ideas. Not far from here at The Mount, Edith Wharton tapped into what she called “invisible currents” and “ghostly influences” to ignite her creative imagination. And during what was known as the Era of Manifestations in the nineteenth century, certain members of the Shaker community at nearby Hancock Village, received guidance from the spirits of their deceased ancestors as they composed poetry and other forms of art.
In this workshop, we’ll engage the spirits that many believe to inhabit Berkshire County. We’ll use automatic writing and other methods of mediums and paranormal investigators to guide us in our search for the stories inside.
About the facilitator
Robert Oakes writes books about ghosts, leads tours in haunted places, tells stories, and teaches workshops. He has written three books, The Ghostly Tales of the Berkshires (2023), Ghosts of Northwestern New Jersey (2022), and Ghosts of the Berkshires (2020). Since 2010, Robert has led immersive ghost storytelling experiences at historic locations, including Ventfort Hall and The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts, and Arrowhead in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and has participated in a number of paranormal investigations. At Arrowhead and The Mount, Robert has offered talks on authors Edith Wharton, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. He has also given talks and readings for both children and adults at many libraries, schools, museums, and cultural centers. Robert earned his master’s degree from the Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English and has taught elementary, middle, and high school English, as well as adult writing workshops. Learn more about him at robertoakes.net.
February 13, 2027
Michelle Young
The Blended Memoir: How to Combine Narrative Nonfiction with Memoir – Memoirs can be a hard sell to publishers. So instead of toiling away with no potential publication in sight, learn how to apply your personal experience to a larger story that can to be told. Join award-winning author and journalist, Michelle Young, author of the bestselling book The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland and a forthcoming blended memoir—both from Harper Collins—to learn about the proposal and submission process, walk through a high six-figure book deal proposal, and how to get your idea ready for agents and publishers. We’ll also workshop your idea and your writing, and offer tips on how to transform their memoir into something. Note: even if you’re working on a non-fiction book, not a memoir, Michelle will also be speaking about the art of turning research into page-turning non-fiction.
About the facilitator
Michelle Young is an award-winning journalist and author. Her latest book, The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of World War II Resistance Hero Rose Valland was named a Best Book of 2025 by the New York Public Library, Library Journal, and Hyperallergic, and the 2026 Massachusetts Book Award Nonfiction Honors Title. The Art Spy was also a finalist for the Marfield Prize—The National Award for Arts Writing and The Lambda Literary Prize and was longlisted for the 2025 American Library of Paris Book Award. Michelle’s work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Airmail, The Forward, Town & Country, and Narratively. She is a graduate of Harvard College in the History of Art and Architecture and holds a master’s degree from Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where she is a Professor of Architecture. She is the founder of the publication Untapped New York. She lives in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. Learn more about her at michelleyoungwriter.com.
March 20, 2027
Scott Edward Anderson
Field Notes: The Discipline of Naming – Many of us reach for the nearest general noun when we’re describing the natural world — bird, tree, flower — and lose the writing’s sharpest details in the process. This workshop takes naming itself as a discipline of attention: learning to see and write a white-throated sparrow instead of just a bird, a shagbark hickory instead of just a tree. Drawing on his own practice as a poet and naturalist, Scott Edward Anderson will lead participants through observation exercises aimed at building a more exact vocabulary for the world around them, then show how that precision opens-up richer, less generic writing on the page. No background in natural history required, just a willingness to look closely and name what you see.
About the facilitator
Scott Edward Anderson is an award-winning poet, memoirist, essayist, and translator. He is the author of four books of poetry, including Wine-Dark Sea: New & Selected Poems & Translations (2022), Azorean Suite/Suite Açoriana (2020), the Nautilus Award-winning Dwelling: an ecopoem (2018), and two books of nonfiction, including Falling Up: A Memoir of Second Chances (2019) and Walks in Nature’s Empire (1995). He lives in West Stockbridge where he curates the Berkshire Nature Talk Series and is a regular contributor to Berkshire Magazine, among other publications. Learn more about him at scottedwardanderson.com
April 17, 202
Anastasia Stanmeyer
The Past as a Character: Writing About Historical Figures Through a Modern Lens – How do you write a compelling, living profile of someone who is no longer here to answer your questions? In historical and biographical writing, a person cannot be separated from the places that shaped them. In 1850, Herman Melville moved into an 11-person household at Arrowhead and spent his days in his second-floor study, gazing out at the snow-covered hump of Mount Greylock while writing Moby-Dick. He did not just live in the Berkshires; he absorbed them.
Led by veteran journalist and Berkshire Magazine Editor-in-Chief Anastasia Stanmeyer, this workshop will teach writers how to profile historical figures by treating geography as a primary source. Stanmeyer brings decades of global and regional storytelling experience. Drawing on her deep expertise in investigative reporting, research, and magazine editing, Stanmeyer will guide you through the art of blending physical settings, artifacts, and archival information to resurrect historical figures on the modern page. Whether you are working on a biography, a historical feature, a place-based memoir, or narrative nonfiction, this workshop will give you the tools to bridge the past and present through literary prose.
About the facilitator
Anastasia Stanmeyer is the founding editor-in-chief of Berkshire Magazine, a lifestyle and cultural publication that she helped launch in 2012. Before settling in the Berkshires, she spent 12 years based in Asia working as an international reporter, covering major socio-political shifts across Asia, South Sudan, Haiti, and Turkey. She contributed to publications like Time, Newsweek, Stern, Dallas Morning News, Christian Science Monitor, and The Tampa Tribune. She extensively documented the AIDS epidemic throughout Asia, reporting on how the disease intersected with complex social issues and women’s rights. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in political science and was the Hardman Journalist in Residence at MCLA. Anastasia has interviewed world-renowned figures ranging from Mother Teresa to Joan Baez, James Taylor to John Williams, the Dalai Lama to Gloria Steinem, and others.
May 8, 2027
Alison Larkin
Turning Your Life into Art: Telling the Story Only You Can Tell – Is there a story from your life that you’ve always wanted to tell—but somehow never quite got round to telling?
Alison Larkin will discuss the many different ways she has turned her own life into art—from stand-up comedy and solo performance to bestselling novels, television scripts and screenplays—with plenty of time for questions and conversation. Then, through discussion and class participation, Alison will help you explore the different forms your own story might take and show you how you can begin turning your story into art.
About the facilitator
Alison Larkin is a comedian, award-winning audiobook narrator and producer, and the bestselling author of The English American and Grief… A Comedy. Both books grew out of her hit autobiographical one-woman shows of the same name. Grief… A Comedy, the book, was recently an International Book Awards finalist, and the audiobook, narrated by Alison, won the Gold Medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards and was a SOVAS awards finalist, along with Matthew McConaughey. Learn more about her ar www.alisonlarkin.com.