Songwriter Mikey Sweet, Signature Sounds Presents and the Northampton Arts Council are hosting “On Ramp: Songwriters in the Round” Friday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. at The Parlor Room, 32 Masonic St., Northampton. According to press notes, the event “aims to put a spotlight on the opioid crisis, which has impacted the lives of so many of our family, friends, and neighbors.” Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Northampton Recovery Center. For more information, visit signaturesoundspresents.com.
Amherst’s Jones Library has announced that author Madeleine Blais and the Amherst Regional High School Theater Program are the winners of the Fifth Annual Samuel Minot Jones Awards for Literary Achievement. A gala event, the Sammys, will be held on Thursday, April 26, at 6 p.m. at the Mead Art Museum on the Amherst College campus to honor the winners. Blais is a Pulitzer Prize winner, author, and member of the University of Massachusetts journalism department. Her books include “In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle,” about Amherst Regional High School’s 1995 state champion girls’ basketball team, “The Heart Is an Instrument: Portraits in Journalism,” “Uphill Walkers: Portrait of a Family,” and “To the New Owners,” a memoir about her family’s connection with Martha’s Vineyard. The Amherst Regional High School Theater Program, currently being led by John Bechtold, is also being recognized for its significant contribution to Amherst’s literary culture. “At ARHS’s Theater Department, students have the opportunity to take coursework in both the academic and practical applications of theater, participate in acting classes, write new works, direct plays, and work on the design of lighting, sound, and set plans for productions,” according to press notes. For more information about the evening, which will include an awards presentation and live music, visit Jones Library in person at 43 Amity St., Amherst, call 259-3090 or check out joneslibrary.org/sammys.
