By the books

Literary arts programming at Featherstone brings a summer full of options.

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The literary arts are thriving this summer at Featherstone Center for the Arts. The program officially began in the summer of 2019, when Justen Ahearn could no longer house the Noepe Center for Literary Arts at the Pointway Inn. 

“I missed the writing community and opportunities of that center,” says director of the Literary Arts Program, Mathea Morais. Originally, it was an extension of Noepe at Featherstone, but eventually we decided to change it to a Literary Arts Program of Featherstone Center for the Arts.” After the success of providing their offerings online during the pandemic, it is now a hybrid of online and in-person workshops and events.

An entire weekend of poetry kicks off with the workshop “You Are Alive: Collaborating with Existing Text” from 1 to 3 pm on Saturday, July 13, with Jennifer Tseng. In her website description, she writes, “You are alive, and so is every text you encounter. I’ll tell you a story about my father’s journey to America, the letters he wrote to me over a period of 20-odd years, and the book of poems I made with them, ‘Thanks for Letting Us Know You Are Alive.’ Following our Q and A, I’ll invite you to collaborate with a piece of text that holds intense meaning for you … Whether it’s a letter written to us by a loved one, a public document written by a stranger, or a medical bill written in a language we can hardly understand, we’ll have conversations with our texts, and in so doing, we’ll discover new ways of reading (and writing) every text we encounter.”

There also will be a launch party for Tseng on Saturday, July 13, at 4 pm. “Jennifer will be returning to read with some of her beloved Island poet friends,” Morais says. Literary companions Jill Jupen, Donald Nitchie, and Emma Young will join Tseng in celebrating “Thanks for Letting Us Know You Are Alive.”

The weekend’s festivities will close out with a reading by Elise Paschen on Sunday, July 14, at 4 pm, from her latest poetry collection, “Tallchief,” which celebrates Paschen’s mother, Maria Tallchief — America’s first major prima ballerina, and the first member of the Osage Nation to hold the rank, revolutionizing ballet. The collection includes the poem “Wi’-gi-e,” which inspired the title for the book and film “Killers of the Flower Moon.” 

Natasha Maidoff will conduct a “Short Screenplay and Creative DNA Workshop” on Tuesday, July 16, through Thursday, July 18, from 3:30 to 5 pm. Each participant will write a three- to five-page screenplay using the process of ideation — a series of creative exercises designed to help you locate and identify your creative DNA. Participants will learn to build stories by using striking images and character rants to deepen the work, and the basic structure and standard rules of screenplay formatting.

One of the Vineyard’s favorite summer events, Islanders Write, which will take place at Featherstone on Monday, August 19, brings together writers with ties to the Vineyard to discuss and debate the art, craft, and business of writing through free panel discussions and writing workshops. The MV Times event is a gathering space where writers and readers can engage in conversations, gather information, and find inspiration. Among the first-time presenters will be Bill Eville, James Jennings, Perry Garfinkel, Marc Favreau, and Dr. Ala Stanford. They will speak with many past participants, and Edgartown Books will be onsite, hosting author signings and selling books.

On Thursday, August 8, at 4 pm, awardwinning professor, songwriter, and author Alice Randal will read from her new book, “My Black Country,” which, with Beyonce’s latest album, could not be more timely. Randall is the first Black woman to co-write a No. 1 country hit, Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl).” “My Black Country” is about this most American of music genres, and the radical joy in realizing the power of Black influence on American culture. 

Patricia Williams will read from her new book “The Miracle of the Black Leg: Notes on Race, Human Bodies, and the Spirit of the Law” on Sunday, August 25, at 4 pm. In this book of essays, law scholar and celebrated journalist Patricia J. Williams uses the lens of the law to address core questions of identity, ethics, and race. With her elegant prose and critical legal studies wisdom, Williams brings a keen, analytic eye and a lawyer’s training to chapters exploring the ways we have legislated the ownership of everything from body parts to gene sequences — and the particular ways in which our laws in these areas isolate non-normative looks, minority cultures, and out-of-the-box thinkers.

Finally, two-term U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins will return to the Vineyard with a workshop on Thursday, Sept. 12, from 9 am to noon, and a reading on Friday, Sept. 13, at 6:30 pm.

“Our lineup is a wonderful example of what the Literary Arts Program at Featherstone is growing into,” Morais says. “I am thrilled that we get to celebrate such a broad spectrum of writing styles and voices from both the wonderful Island writers and off-Island voices. Whether you like to listen to others read their work or want to learn more about how to write your own, we’ve got great options for everyone. And don’t forget, we have Open Writing Hours every Sunday from 1 to 3 pm, for anyone looking for a beautiful and quiet space to write.”

For more information, visit featherstoneart.org/writingworkshops.html.