Books & Ideas
In the Wampanoag language, the word “noepe” means, according to one interpretation, a still place among the currents. The Wampanoag people gave the name Noepe to this Island to indicate that it was a piece of dry land among opposing tidal currents.
In downtown Edgartown, a still place exists at the intersection of three roads. It is a refuge of sorts, which has for years provided shelter and peace of mind to visiting artists.
In the winter of 1993, travel writer and essayist Edward Hoagland was travelling in Eastern Africa on assignment for Harper’s Magazine. He had visited the region twice before, in the years 1976 and 1977. This time, however, a civil war was raging in Sudan and a crippling famine gripped the region. Political, ethnic and religious conflict had created a web of alliances that divided the country, making travel outside the cities a dangerous and complicated ordeal. As he ventured into famine zones alongside NGO
(non-governmental organizations)
aid groups, Mr.
What would Dionnis Coffin Riggs do? That’s the question Cynthia Riggs asks herself every time she finds Victoria Trumbull, the protagonist in her mystery book series, in a precarious situation.
“She is patterned as closely as I could make her after my mother, and yet she has taken on a life of her own,” Ms. Riggs said at her family home the Cleaveland House in West Tisbury this week. “Victoria is her own self.”
The West Tisbury Library reports that the book drop at the West Tisbury School shed is filled to capacity. Donations to the library’s annual book sale should be dropped off directly to the West Tisbury School gym on Old County Road from 9 to 11 a.m. after July 1.
Call 508-693-3366 for more information.
Thanks to Kindle and Nook there is a self-publishing revolution going on. Self-publishing pioneer Laura Shabott will answer all questions surrounding the new technology and techniques during her interactive lecture at 6:30 p.m. on July 2 at the Edgartown Library.
Ms. Shabott will discuss how to take a book from its first nugget of an idea to a finished digital book. Her work, Confessions of an eBook Virgin: What Everyone Should Know Before They Publish on the Internet, is the result of four years of research and experience.
The summer reading program at the Vineyard Haven library begins June 29 when Andy and Veronica Fish lead a free kids’ comic workshop for ages 8 to 12 from 1 to 1:30 p.m. They will also lead a Japanese Manga workshop later that day for ages 13 and up from 3 to 3:45 p.m.
The library offers a summer reading program for adults, too. To participate, create an online account by visiting the library’s homepage, vhlibrary.org. You can log the books you read over the summer, write reviews and register for prizes.