A week-long festival of spoken word and theater in the Berkshires gets a visit from the Bay State's top leader. Our Brandon Walker caught up with Governor Deval Patrick as he tried out his spoken word skills in Pittsfield.

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- It's a story, now, well documented. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick sharing excerpts from his memoir, "Reason to Believe," all part of a week-long celebration of the arts called Word x Word.

"I love to read and it's an honor to be a part of this program," the Governor said.

That love for reading and spoken word, the premise of Word x Word. The third annual event draws theater groups and spoken word artists from around the country and right here in the Berkshires for concerts and poetry slams. The brainchild of local entrepreneur Jim Benson.

"This year we've seen way more than the previous years, just this sort of grabbing on by the community," Benson said.

Perhaps that grabbing on is due, in part, to word by word's mission: Empowering local poets, many of whom teens, to share their stories.

Friday's lineup includes a play written and performed in less than 24 hours, honoring women in the arts.

"The whole idea of word by word is everything is original works, new works. And that's where it tied in, we'd be creating something original," said Kristen van Ginhoven, artistic director, WAM Theater.

Word x Word also incorporates contemporary art into the mix. Here at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts in downtown Pittsfield, paintings on display were inspired, in some respect, by words.

"Bringing people together around intellectual pursuits. Reading, in particular. It calls together the significance of written and spoken word," Governor Patrick said.

"The way that we put it in front of people, mix in a little music with it, I think it helps people say let's go take a look. And they get there and just come out of it saying wow," Benson said.

Turing to the power of words, to get a community reading and embracing the arts.

Word by Word Fest continues through Saturday. For more information, visit wordxwordfestival.com.