Around New England By Mark Wagner Featured in BBR Jan/Feb 1995 Five flights above Kenmore Square (Boston's Fenway neighborhood) in the large and busy living room of the Gold family, the 96 Inc writers' group has been meeting once a month for the past seven years. While it's tempting to call this writers' group a modern literary salon, their meetings are more an artistic laboratory, an experiment where the process of making art is as much an issue as the art itself. The salon I attended took place on a warm July night. The evening began slowly, over coffee and cookies, then evolved into an energized meeting in which artists read freely and received feedback about the intended or surprising effects of their work. The focus of the discussion was not so much criticism or judgment, but more the process an artist must go through in order to make their intentions clear. Part of 96 Inc's motivation is to replace the feelings of fear, doubt and insecurity that can result from the solitary work of writing. The salons are meant to subvert the artist's lonely experience, replacing isolation with collaboration, community and support. When asked about 96 Inc's goals in the ever-busy literary world of New England, Vera Gold, founder and director of 96 Inc, said she is trying to "nurture as opposed to exclude." Vera spent years of study with Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio in New York, and out of the experience of "young artist/ruthless teacher," she now believes artists fare better when nurtured rather than criticized. While the Kenmore writers' group continues its salons, 96 Inc has incorporated and has begun to present programs and workshops in the Boston area. In the past two years 96 Inc has spearheaded more than 60 programs, taking the form of panel discussions, readings, staged performances of theater works and stories in performance. These programs have taken place in surprising venues-Boston High Schools, hotels and nursing homes, as well as libraries and galleries. 96 Inc also sponsors a writing contest for high school students and the now yearly Bruce Rossley Literary Award, given to an under-recognized New England writer. As part of the process of developing both artists and an audience for artists, 96 Inc publishes a magazine. Now entering its third year, the magazine is published bi-yearly and features the work of the Kenmore Writers' Group, as well as some high profile writers and the better work entered in 96 Inc's high school writing contest. In the literary cosmos of New England, 96 Inc is creating space for voices we would not normally hear-voices of the young and the professional and working class. This is an organization we'll be hearing from, and one that bears supporting. For the magazine and other information, write to 96 Inc, P.O. Box 15559, Boston, MA 02215 (617) 267-0543. Mark Wagner's reviews and poems have appeared in Agni, Harvard Review, and the Phoenix Literary Supplement, among others. He has just completed his first novel, The Cherry Robber. &copy1995. Boston Book Review. All rights reserved.

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