05/02/2026
OPPORTUNITY FOR WESTERN MA WRITERS! CALL FOR STORIES! Candace Barrett Birk and Raye Birk, the visionary actors behind Western MA's The Story Cafe, are putting out a CALL FOR STORIES for their their 2026 Story Cafe, a magical afternoon where 15-minute prose pieces are performed by professional actors, to take place this summer on July 26! Submissions are due by May 15th! Details here:
The Story Cafe is returning to the North Hall Arts Festival in Huntington MA this summer! To quote Roger Mummert in the NY Times, “the Pioneer Valley is arguably the most author-saturated, book-cherishing, literature-celebrating place in the nation,” and to quote Book Moon’s Beth Filson, “you can’t throw a typewriter one foot without hitting three authors, at least.” The Story Cafe is built to validate and celebrate these very true observations.
Hosted by Raye and Candace Birk, The Story Cafe combines the work of Pioneer Valley authors with the talents of favorite Pioneer Valley actors. Some or our previous authors include Joy Baglio, Ellen Barry, Stephen Billias, Emily Everett, Kim Keough, Marissa Labozzetta, Barbara Lucey, Rick Paar, John Thorne, and Jane Yolen. The Story Cafe will transport the audience through the magic of the spoken word into worlds of joy, discovery and connection.
Call for Stories
We are looking for short stories to be presented at the third annual Story Cafe on Sunday, July 26 at the North Hall Arts Festival in Huntington, MA.
The ideal story will be:
• able to be read aloud in about 15 minutes or less
• written in whatever genre the author loves
• compelling for an audience of Northampton-area adults
• written by an author who lives/works in Western MA (or has lived in Western MA at any point in their lives)
Each story will be
• read to an audience of 75 by professional actors
• featured in the performance program and in print material
Tickets are the performance are free and unreserved. The theatre fills up quickly so we will hold seats for each of the featured authors and their guests. There will be no video or audio recording of your work. We are not able to pay authors for their work – but we can assure some publicity and a full and rich afternoon on July 26th.
The North Hall Arts Festival is made possible through grant support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the local cultural councils of Huntington, Chester, Cummington, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery, Russell, Westhampton and from our audience.
Submission deadline: May 15
Questions / or to submit a story for consideration:
Email Candace & Raye at [email protected]
