What would you say about race?
“Mom’s people owned slaves. Dad’s were.”
“Native American. Voiceless in race conversations.”
“Hispanic doctor is not an oxymoron.”
“No white woman cooks like that.”
“I can’t leave without my receipt.”
“White husband became Iranian September 11th.”
“With kids, I’m dad....
Around the Writers’ Table: Poetry
Last week I had a discussion with MV Times publisher Charles Sennott about the challenges of writing a good lede. A lede is the first sentence in a news or feature story, and should...
Poet’s Corner: ‘The Lady at the Dumptique’
The Lady at the Dumptique
By Leroy Hazelton
Once she prayed for this
Bottom of a butter dish,
Chipped of course,
That would almost fit the top
Her grandmother gave her long ago,
Saying to her,
“You’ll know when the bottom finds...
‘One of a Kind’
She changed her name from Sarah to Sydney when she was 14 years old because she thought people would pay more attention to her writing if she had a modern name, a boy’s name,...
Around the Bookstore: Female authors
March has arrived. There are a few hints of spring, with stretches of gray and rain, and more than a small amount of pummeling by the weather, which always puts me in the mood...
Poet’s Corner: ‘in March, before we leave’
in March, before we leave
By Susan Puciul
1.
winter night in the yard
the moon’s room
her rise welling up through
black lace of oak and beech
seize of crystal
on forest ground
mirrors the stern shine
of starry eyes above
same as knew...
Books and music
MVY Radio, the nonprofit radio station located in West Tisbury, and broadcasting throughout the world via internet, is currently hosting something that's a bit of a departure from their usual mix of music and...
Around the Writers’ Table
During the winter of 2014, Peter Oberfest, then publisher of The MV Times, called me into his office. He was interested in creating an MV Times–sponsored event for the community, and wanted to brainstorm...
Poet’s Corner: ‘Things to Come’
Things to Come
By Cecily Bryant
Day dawns under sullen shelf clouds
A promise of a cold rain
A day for making soups and calling friends
I am grateful for the colors of carrots and savory greens
I am warmed...
Poet’s Corner: ‘Snowdrift’
Snowdrift
By Fan S. Ogilvie
Look at a snowdrift of spring Kousa
dogwood blossoms backed by a writer’s
shed on top of which turns a brass and
gold weathervane—the horse/fish warrior
hippocampus. It’s the writer’s story, one
never told just gestured...
Around the Writers Table: Workshops and readings
I was looking into the writing-related events that will be taking place on the Island during pinkletink season, and was surprised that a few of the offerings are still happening over Zoom. I suppose...
Poet’s Corner: Poem by Michael Oliveira
By Michael Oliveira
the book of your life
would you skip to the last page
to see how it ends?
Michael Oliveira has lived and worked on Martha’s Vineyard for decades. He currently lives in East Falmouth.
Poets with...
Around the Bookstore: On vacation
A monger, according to the Oxford dictionary, is a word “denoting a dealer or trader in a specified commodity,” such as a fishmonger.
When I became the manager of Edgartown Books, my godson Paul started...
Poet’s Corner: ‘The Drip’
The Drip
By Georgia Morris
For the third time in two months
water breaks through the ceiling slats
of the downstairs bathroom fan
and you are, this time, happily
making green tea and honey toast
to the tap, tap, tapping that...
Poet’s Corner: Requiem for a Right Whale
Requiem for a Right Whale
By Jeffrey Agnoli
Beloved cetacean
hogtied with fishing line
before washing up
on the shore
not so many yards
from our
fossil-fueled road
you must have rolled
and thrashed
and if we were looking
we would have seen
the planet's grid of...
Losing loved ones
A single shot changed 8-year-old Lily’s life forever in Elaine Kelliher’s “Do You Think I Cried Too Long?” The author writes, “A shotgun blast pierced Lily’s ears, causing her temples to pulse and her...
Novel ideas
The LGBTQI+ Book Club at the West Tisbury library has been going strong since February 2023. Library director Alexandra Pratt explains that the club came about as a response to patrons saying that they...
Around the Writers’ Table: Winter writing
Writing tends to be a solitary endeavor, as does spending a winter on the Vineyard. Given these two situational happenstances, it’s not surprising that the Vineyard’s writers use this time between the tourists to...
Poet’s Corner: ‘January Gems’
January Gems
By Ellie Bates
Night
black velvet sky
wears
crescent pearl
necklace
Morning
flakes
of chalcedony
veils
dress the fields
of fallen snow
Ellie Bates lives year-round in Edgartown, and is a member of the MV Poets’ Collective and the Cleaveland House Poets. Her recent chapbook,“Seasonal...
WHOI: Deep dive
Recently the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) published its first children's book — a deep sea dive into a world that most of us will never witness outside of photos. “Where the Weird Things...