I was sitting on the front porch of Edgartown Books making small talk and signing copies of my novel on the Sunday afternoon that Joe Biden announced he wouldn’t be running for reelection. Phones started dinging with the news, and within minutes the front porch of the bookstore was abuzz.
July 21, when the Biden news broke, was just one afternoon among many this summer that Edgartown Books has felt like a happening community gathering spot. I don’t recall things being so lively at the bookstore in the past, and am convinced they are now because bookstore manager Mathew Tombers tends to answer “Yes,” “Yes,” and “Yes” when local authors ask him, “Can I have a book signing at Edgartown Books?”
Due to all those Yeses, local authors can often be found sitting in front of the large picture window on the porch of Edgartown Books engaging in conversations about literature and life. Tombers, who has managed the store since June 2020 and helped out owners Jeffrey and Joyce Sudikoff prior to that, said in a recent email exchange, “I thought about what I had liked during the two summers that I had helped them. Book signings were one of the things. There are so many writers on this Island, from prize winners to self-published authors, and I wanted to support them.”
And he does that in spades. There will be more than 30 porch signings for Vineyard and Vineyard-related authors at the store this summer. And Edgartown Books also hits the road for library talks and book parties.
“I’ve always liked to entertain and having signings on the porch is a kind of entertaining. And it gives writers a moment to shine, to have friends, families, and strangers celebrate their work of writing, which is a very much a lonely occupation, often with more love given than reward received. It also felt an organic way to make Edgartown Books more a part of the larger artistic community of the Island, which is something I wanted for the store,” explained Tombers.
Tombers also said an enthusiastic “Yes!” a few years back when I first asked, “Would you join us at Islanders Write to sell books and host author signings?”
And because of that “Yes,” Edgartown Books will once again be at Featherstone Center for the Arts with books by all the authors speaking, as well as a selection of books focused on writing and the writing life at this year’s Islanders Write. As one of the authors of those books, as well as the event producer for Islanders Write, I encourage everyone who attends the event to return home with one of those books — signed by the author.
Novels:
“Horse” by Geraldine Brooks
“Morning Pages” by Kate Feiffer
“The Rise and Fall of Dodo” by Nicole Galland
“Wings of Red” by James W. Jennings
“There You Are” by Mathea Morais
“The Italian Prisoner” by Elisa Speranza
“Child Bride” by Jennifer Smith Turner
“Anything is Good” by Fred Waitzkin
Non Fiction:
“The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture,” by John Battelle
“Washed Ashore” by Bill Eville
“Unequal: A Story of America” by Marc Favreau
“Motherhood Exaggerated” by Judith Hannan
“The Body and the Blood” by Charles M. Sennott
“Take Care of Them Like My Own” by Dr. Ala Stanford
“The Miracle of the Black Leg” by Patricia J. Williams
Memoir:
“Rewriting Illness” by Elizabeth Benedict
“Becoming Gandhi” by Perry Garfinkel
“A Termination” By Honor Moore
“A Smoke and A Song” by Sherry Sidoti
Craft:
“Memoir as Medicine: The Healing Power of Writing Your Messy, Imperfect, Unruly (but gorgeously yours) Life Story,” by Nancy Slonim Aronie
“The Fiction Writers Guide to Dialogue” by John Hough, Jr.
For Children:
“Duet” by Elise Broach
“Sea of Gold” by Gregory Mone
“One of a Kind” By Richard Michelson
Kate Feiffer is the event producer for Islanders Write. Islanders Write starts on Sunday, August 18, at 7:30 pm and continues throughout the day on Monday, August 19. For more details and a complete schedule of events, visit islanderswrite.com.
