Poet Jill Jupen of Vineyard Haven has been selected as the 2019–21 poet laureate of Martha’s Vineyard. The first woman to be nominated for the title, Jupen was chosen from a pool of four local poets, according to a release from the Poet Laureate of Martha’s Vineyard Committee.
Of her honor, Jupen kept it short and sweet. “I feel good. It’ll be a good two years,” she said.
Jupen grew up in Vermont, and came to the Island 19 years ago. She’s known on the Island as the founder of the Martha’s Vineyard Poets Collective, a group of 15 poets who meet each week at the Anchors Senior Center in Edgartown. Jupen leads the group in writing poetry, critiquing each others’ work, and studying classical and modern poets.
Along with the Poets Collective, Jupen has held workshops at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School and Island libraries. She has also done poetry readings at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, Pathways, Mytoi Garden, and at venues off-Island for the Massachusetts Poetry Society.
Jupen’s poetry has been published in literary journals like Green Mountain Review, Hunger Mountain, dakota Territory, and Rattle. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and in 2018 she won the Plan B Press poetry chapbook contest. This award led to the publication of her chapbook — a small book of poems — “The Space Between,” which will be used in a seminar at the University of Hong Kong titled “The Space Between: The Poetry of Loneliness.” Jupen’s poetry can also be found at The Times’ Poet’s Corner.
Jupen told The Times some of her biggest inspirations are poets Hayden Carruth, Robert Creeley, and Dobby Gibson.
For her next project, Jupen has sent out a manuscript of her newest chapbook, which is titled “The Minimalist.” Inspiration for the chapbook hit when she bought a small notebook at Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven. For a year, she wrote short poems in the small notebook in the early morning hours, from 4 to 8.
Every two years, committee members Arnie Reisman, Ellie Bates, and Margaret Emerson receive poet nominations from the Island arts community and oversee the voting process. Once nominations are in, poets submit their work to the committee. An anonymous selection committee made up of members from the arts community is then formed, and they vote on whom to nominate as the new poet laureate.
“The poet laureate is an Island-wide advocacy position responsible for promoting the art of poetry on Martha’s Vineyard. Each laureate in a two-year term is responsible for presenting a minimum of one talk, lecture, or symposium on poetry each year, and will also provide assistance in the direction of activities for National Poetry Month in April. The position is an opportunity for the arts community not only to honor an Island poet for excellence, but also to recognize our rich poetic traditions, and encourage greater appreciation for poetry,” the release states.
Jupen is the fourth poet laureate of Martha’s Vineyard. The first was Lee McCormack in 2012, followed by Arnie Reisman and Justen Ahren.
To celebrate Jupen’s honor, a reception will be held on Saturday, April 6, from 2 to 3 pm at the West Tisbury Public Library. The reception is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served.