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By STEVE PFARRER

Is the dog man’s best friend? Or it is the horse? Based on the longevity of their relationship with humans, horses might have the better claim. Researchers have estimated horses were widely domesticated at least 4,000 years ago and even further back...

By STEVE PFARRER

A Stranger in BaghdadBy Elizabeth Loudon; Hoopee/The American University in Cairo Press British author Elizabeth Loudon, who once lived in the Valley, also lived for several months in Baghdad, Iraq in 1975-1976 when she was in her late teens, a time...

By STEVE PFARRER

In 2019, Felipe Salles put the finishing touches on an ambitious project: an extended composition that blended jazz, South American music, and classical elements and which was based on interviews he conducted with younger immigrants about growing up...

By STEVE PFARRER

Even with area colleges and the University of Massachusetts largely closing up shop for the summer, there’s plenty of art on view in the Valley this month. Here’s a look at what some selected galleries have this month.D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts,...

By STEVE PFARRER

Valley writers have had a strong run of major awards in recent years, from poet Martín Espada winning a National Book Award in 2021 to novelist Ruth Ozeki claiming Great Britain’s Women’s Prize for Literature last year.Now. over a dozen area writers...

By STEVE PFARRER

Until recently, it hasn’t seemed like much of a spring: a lot of damp or rainy days, overcast skies, and cold nights.But the weather has warmed up, just in time to be a fitting backdrop to an art exhibit designed to celebrate the outdoors.“Engaging...

By STEVE PFARRER

The Valley’s music scene lost a well-known and well-liked voice last July when Kate Lorenz unexpectedly died of heart failure. Lorenz, who lived in Belchertown, had originally been part of the Amherst folk-rock band Rusty Belle in the early 2000s with...

By STEVE PFARRER

SPRINGFIELD — Almost three years after their last contract expired, and following months of contentious negotiations for a new one, musicians with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO) have agreed to a new deal with the orchestra’s management.The...

By STEVE PFARRER

When it comes to transgender rights, the headlines across many parts of the country have become increasingly ugly in the last several months.At least 15 states, all controlled by Republicans, have banned or restricted gender-affirming medical care for...

By STEVE PFARRER

In the United States, the early 20th century has often been portrayed as a time of hope and excitement, in which the nation’s growing industrial power, improvements in mass communications, and advances in technology and science heralded a new era of...

By STEVE PFARRER

NORTHAMPTON — They’re back. And they’re in love.The Young@Heart Chorus, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last November at a sold-out concert at the Academy of Music, will return to the Academy on Sunday, May 7, with a new program dubbed “The Love...

By STEVE PFARRER

The Fairest in the LandBy Lesléa NewmanIllustrated by Joshua HeinzAbrams Books for Young Readers I Can Be … Me!By Lesléa Newman; Illustrated by Maya Christina GonzalezLew & Low Books Holyoke poet and children’s author Lesléa Newman, who’s written some...

By STEVE PFARRER

A couple years ago, Loudon Wainwright III passed a milestone: The venerable folk singer, known for his sardonic wit and autobiographical songs, turned 75.The number, on one hand, feels kind of arbitrary, because Wainwright has seemingly been around...

By STEVE PFARRER

The Fairest in the LandBy Lesléa NewmanIllustrated by Joshua Heinz;Abrams Books for Young Readers I Can Be … Me!By Lesléa NewmanIllustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez; Lew & Low Books Holyoke poet and children’s author Lesléa Newman, who’s written...

By STEVE PFARRER

NORTHAMPTON — A University of Massachusetts professor, a filmmaker who grew up in Amherst, and a Northampton philosophy professor are among nine people in Massachusetts who have won Guggenheim Fellowships.Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, who teaches English...

By STEVE PFARRER

When he and his wife moved to the Valley in 2005, Edo Mor says he found much to his liking: good bread, good bicycling country, nature and more. But for some time, the kind of eclectic music he liked, from North African guitar sounds to Middle Eastern...

By STEVE PFARRER

Sleeping as Fast as I Canby Richard Michelson; Slant Books Richard Michelson has long made a name for himself as a children’s book author, winning a number of honors in the process, including a National Jewish Book Award for “The Language of Angels,”...

By STEVE PFARRER

Like millions of other Americans, Matthew King spent much of 2020-2021 in lockdown after COVID-19 arrived on the scene.But like other artists, King, of Amherst, also used that downtime to keep busy with his music, writing a number of new songs and...

By STEVE PFARRER

There are poetry readings, the workshop leader said, and then there are poetry slams — and it’s important to know the difference.“Slam poetry,” said Lyrical Faith, “is about winning. It’s a very competitive sport.”Faith should know. She began...

By STEVE PFARRER

It’s a long way from Boston to the Appalachians, but you wouldn’t know it for the number of top bluegrass players and string bands that seem to come out of The Hub.Consider Molly Tuttle, for instance, the award-winning guitar picker who studied at...