Whenever I spoke to my father, Jules Feiffer — who passed away on Jan. 17 — he would ask me, “What are you working on?”
If I answered, “I’ve been busy putting together the first midwinter Islanders Write, and getting ready to launch an Islanders Write newsletter,” his reply would be, “What are you really working on?”
Creative work was the real work for my father. It was the important work. From the age of 5 to 95, he was drawing and he was writing. His output during those nine decades was nothing short of extraordinary. Cartoons, plays, screenplays, graphic novels, a memoir, novels for adults, books for children, and dancer drawings poured out of his pen. His work made an impact on generations of readers. People connected with it. They felt seen. Some were enraged by it. Many were changed by it. They grew up with his children’s books, came of age reading the Voice cartoon, and turned gray with his dancers.
During the past decade or so, my father was losing his vision to macular degeneration, but that didn’t slow him down. His peripheral vision was still working, as was his drawing arm and his creative muscles. Last fall he published a graphic novel for young readers, and he was at his drawing table working on a new book up to the time of his death.
I’ve been hearing his question in my head since his passing: “Katie, what are you working on?” He wouldn’t want grief, and the other complicated emotions that have been sidelining me, to disrupt the flow for too long.
So here it is. “Dad, I’m getting back to work on a proposal for a new book, and I’ve been doing some illustrations for a children’s book about drawing that I’d like to find a publisher for. But I’m also working on the midwinter Islanders Write, which will offer writing workshops that are free to attend for people on the Vineyard, and I’m really excited about launching this new program.”
How’s that for a segue to announce that the schedule for Saturday, March 15, is now posted, and registration is open? Workshop sizes will be limited, so try not to procrastinate for too long if you’re interested in taking one or more of the eight writing workshops offered. We will be listing the schedule for March 16 in a couple of weeks. Those workshops will be for writers currently in grades one through 12.
Also, make sure to pencil in the evening of Friday, March 14, as the M.V. Film Society will be screening the Vineyard premiere of the documentary film “Rebel with a Clause.” Filmmaker Brandt Johnson and “grammar guru” Ellen Jovin traveled to every state in the country with her grammar table. Jovin, who has been described as the Ann Landers of grammar, answered people’s questions, and moderated marital debates about grammar. Because grammar matters; as one woman in the film said, “I had to teach my ex-husband the difference between well and good, and I should have known that very minute that it would be ex someday.”
I saw a rough cut of the film last year, and it was delightful and hilarious. At Islanders Write in 2019, Jovin set up her grammar table and sat under a tree at Featherstone Center for the Arts, and answered questions throughout the day. The visit to the Vineyard made the final cut of the film, and Jovin and Johnson will be joining us for a discussion after the screening on the 14th, which I will be moderating. For tickets, go to bit.ly/ClauseRebel.
And a reminder to the Vineyard authors who are here in March: Reach out to Mathew Tombers at Edgartown Books if you want to do a book-signing at Islanders Write.
We are also in the process of launching a monthly Islanders Write newsletter, which will include a writing prompt, some Vineyard literary trivia, and information about upcoming happenings. Please reach out if you would like to be on our mailing list, or if you have news to share.
Islanders Write is put on by The MV Times, and we hope this event will be a good March reset button to help you get going on that project you’ve been thinking about, or to inspire you to dig in deeper on the book you’re already writing. It will be a weekend to get together, talk shop, and celebrate the written word and Vineyard authors.
And so I ask you, “What are you working on? What are you really working on?”
For more information about Islanders Write, please go to islanderswrite.com. Kate Feiffer is the event producer for Islanders Write. To reach Kate, please email her at kate@mvtimes.com.
