Poet’s Corner: Sweet Nothings
Sweet Nothings
By Valerie Sonnenthal
a hazy night sky
mutes blinking red lights
etched into the horizon
silent lambs sleep
in a heap of sheep
under a beetlebung tree
dogs lie in wait
curled across limbs
breathe as one
sand in every pocket
stuck in creases
soles...
Social Justice Curriculum
Lynn Ditchfield knows firsthand how the arts can change lives and communities. Her book “Borders to Bridges: Arts-Based Curriculum for Social Justice” is a passion project from her more than five decades as an...
Living history
Linda Coombs’ striking book “Colonization and the Wampanoag Story” raises imperative questions about how cultural information is decided and shared. This intriguing book examines the colonization of New England from the perspective of Native...
Islanders Write: ‘Book flood’
Christmas Eve is celebrated in Iceland with a book swap. Families and friends exchange recently published books, and spend the evening reading together. This Icelandic tradition is called a Jólabókaflód — think Christmas book...
Curl up with a good book
Walk into Edgartown Books, and you know it’s a very special place. You can find the classics, contemporary works, and beach reads. There’s a section on Vineyard authors, and a cozy lounge area with...
Poet’s Corner: December Traditions
December Traditions
By Amarylis Douglas
My mother could hear Christmas songs
on distant piano keys
I remember my own little girl
learning to walk again after she broke her ankle
crutch under one arm, violin under the other
into her first...
‘Mirror Me’ by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg
Lisa Williamson Rosenberg writes in an author’s note at the end of her new novel “Mirror Me” (Little A), “As authors, we mine our lives for ingredients for the stories we tell.” True enough....
Poet’s Corner: Pond song
Pond song
By Linda Comstock
vineyard sweet momma girl
broad starlight, myriad pearl
late night’s gift looks me in face
dark flat pond my arms embrace.
smooth silk skin cohesion break
diving in Menemsha lake
plunging depths with arms swayed back
breathing bubbles...
Renaissance House: The gift of time
As any writer will tell you, time is one of the most precious commodities for their craft. Come this summer, Abigail McGrath will have been providing writers with this gift for 25 years during...
We laugh and cry at once
On Dec. 5, a book release party and reading from Nancy Slonim Aronie’s new book, “Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay” (Seven Secrets), took place at the Grange Hall. Not surprisingly, there wasn’t...
Poet’s Corner: Medici Wanted
Medici Wanted
By Gregory Mone
Island writer seeking patron to provide inspiring, light-filled
studio on hill, free of charge. Ocean views through rustling
pin oaks preferred but not essential. Author is generally sunny
but willing to appear despondent from...
Poet’s Corner: Mothers
Mothers
By Cecily Bryant
We hear you mothers,
with your babies clutching your skirts
We hear you mothers,
when you exhaustively beg for food
We hear you mothers,
when you weep silently into the violent nights
The world you once knew and...
Around the Bookstore: Christmas Guide
We all have Christmas tribes, people with whom we spend the holiday, maybe family of origin, maybe family of choice. Even before becoming the book monger of Edgartown, I loved giving books to my...
Islanders Write: Shouldering writers in March
March on the Vineyard can feel a bit like a houseguest who overstays a welcome, which is why I am delighted to announce an event that we hope will help break up the monochromatic...
Mark Chester’s ‘Roadshow Anthropology’
For some, a cross-country trip means a chance to get a sense of life beyond the highways and byways. However, in his most recent book, “Roadshow Anthropology,” photographer Mark Chester has taken a very...
Gregory Mone’s latest book
Gregory Mone introduced young readers to Maurice Reidy, a.k.a Fish, in 2010. “Fish” was Mone’s first book for children. He has since gone on to become a New York Times best-selling author, and has...
Nancy Slonim Aronie’s new book
You can hear Nancy Aronie cheer you on to be the best writer possible in her compelling new book, “Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay.” Both in person and on the page, Aronie...
Poet’s Corner: What it’s like to be an American
What it’s like to be an American
By Valerie Sonnethal
yesterday a photographer asked, “what’s it like
for you, to be an American?” complicated
no longer sure guilty lucky … for now
so many distracting directions
one...
Poet’s Corner: Gone
Gone
By Cecily Bryant
We scrape their lives from tents and tarps
as if they were the very refuse themselves
Gone are the scraps of love once present in photographs
and items of past comforts
Now those criminalized for being...
Poet’s Corner: The Grave
The Grave
By John F. Kriscenski
The grave.
A silent place the grave.
Canals and gutters washed bodies decay; the living stay away.
The worms.
The germs.
Once burdened horses tread, now long and buried also dead.
The spirit moves but never...