A Room of Their Own, Vineyard Retreats Helps Writers Develop

Going around the table, that’s Anna Sequoia (author of 11 books), Sara Goudarzi (journalist), Sanderia Faye (novelist and folk-lore writer) me, Laurie Lepik (writer and craftswoman) and Jack Sonni (musician–he played for Dire Straits–and writer) and the picture is by Nan Byrne (documentarian).

They come from all over the country, staying for one or two weeks or up to a full month. They explore Edgartown from their home base at the former Point Way Inn. Some of them work in their rooms, others find a nesting spot in one of the many elegant downstairs parlors. For dinner they might bring home scallops from the Net Result, ingredients for a pasta Siciliana, and share the meal pot-luck style in the formal dining room, which is two stories high and lit up like a stage set.

What they all share is a huge talent for writing and a need to get away from their regular lives in order to dive deeper into the creative process. They are here as part of the Martha’s Vineyard Writers Residency, which each spring and fall allows for up to nine writers at a time to live at the inn for $200 a week.