Welcome to the parlor of Cleaveland House in West Tisbury. For at least half a century, this cozy room has served as a salon of sorts for Island poets who gather to share and critique each others' work.
The Cleaveland House Poetry Group was founded over 40 years ago by Dionis Coffin Riggs, its name arising from her house in West Tisbury where the meetings are held. It is the longest running writers group on Martha’s Vineyard, hosting bi-weekly meetings, year-round. Today Dionis’ daughter, Cynthia Riggs, presides over the group, and the meetings are still held at the same location.
Cleaveland House Poets Anthology is among the books on display through tomorrow at the annual Poets House Showcase in New York city, today 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This is a display of all the poetry books published in the U.S. during the past year (2,164 titles), from micro-press chapbooks to CDs to volumes from major commercial publishers. Admission is free.
On Sunday evenings for the last several years a group of writers has been gathering at the Cleaveland House in West Tisbury, the home of mystery writer Cynthia Riggs. The writers meet to share their work and help critique and inspire each other while traveling down that very solitary road of the creative process.
