By Hannah Bevis For the Valley Advocate On most days, Andrew Curran, better known as his drag persona Magnolia Masquerade, is ...

By Samuel Gelinas Staff Writer Artist Michael Karmody knows a hard truth about concrete — that it is often associated with ...

By Jarice Hanson For the Valley Advocate Plays about difficult subjects, like the consequences of personal actions, politics, ...

By Jennifer Levesque For the Valley Advocate Warm “Fastidium” The moment I pressed play on this album, I couldn’t stop ...

By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Florence-based author and illustrator Grace Lin is known for books like “Where the Mountain ...

By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer A new vegan food festival is about to take root in the Pioneer Valley. The inaugural Western ...

By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Most people who have worked retail and food service jobs have dealt with customers who were ...

By MICKEY RATHBUN For the Valley Advocate John Smith likes it when people stop outside his house, a lovely Carpenter Gothic on a quiet street in Florence, to peek at his garden through the fence. “I ...

By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Holyoke was known for its thriving paper industry – that’s how it got the nickname “Paper City.” Now, over a century later, the city ...

In “The Raider,” just published by Alfred A. Knopf, Platt offers the first full study of Carlson, who grew up in New England, left home at 14 to make it on his own, and served both in the Marines and ...

By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Two dark moments in Northampton history – the 1806 execution of two innocent immigrants and the 1960 arrest of a closeted Smith College professor – have an unlikely ...