About the Block Island Poetry Project
Lisa Silverberg Starr, founder of the Block Island Poetry Project, divides her time among a variety of interests, her family, and her passion for poetry. The Poet Laureate of Rhode Island from 2008-2013, a two-time recipient of the Rhode Island fellowship for poetry, a former college instructor, waitress, freelance writer and publicist, Lisa has published three full-length collections of poetry: Days of Dogs and Driftwood (1993), This Place Here (2001), and Mad with Yellow (2009). Her individual works appear in journals and publications around the country. With her two children, Orrin and Millie (both high school students), Lisa owns and operates the Hygeia House, along with the love of a dog, Brother, and a cat, Jules. The Block Island Poetry
Project provides a way for her to combine her seemingly
disparate vocations as poet and innkeeper with her
love for the land and devotion to building
community.
Lisa grew up in
Connecticut and was drawn to the island by its astonishing
natural beauty, its eccentricities and pleasures, and its traditions. She settled down here in her early
twenties, married a retired sea captain and began welcoming guests to The Hygeia House, a historic Victorian
inn they restored.
Hailing from Block Island's
Victorian heyday, when people traveled to
experience the rejuvenating powers of the ocean
surrounding the island, The Hygiea had a long
tradition of healing and hospitality which came
naturally to the Starrs and their growing family.
The word got out that there was rarely no room at
the inn at The Hygeia, which quickly became a home
away from home for visitors to the island, as well
as for locals, who were made to feel like family by
the Starrs.
Lisa, however, was a poet, born to
express her joy in life through words. Innkeeping, with its
many demands, was an extroverted career that left little
time for her to find the time to write. Starr began to
combine her passion with the realities of her day to day
life by hosting poetry weekends at The Hygeia in the
off-season, hosting groups of writers who came together to
write and share their work over long weekends. As her circle
began to expand, so did her vocation. Over time, Starr
realized it was not just about her finding the time to write
anymore. She felt called to bring writers together to share
their work and ideas about what it means to be a creative
person, and how creative work can enhance the larger world.
Lisa saw how her position as an innkeeper provided her with
a unique opportunity not available to other writers. Instead
of traveling off-island to conferences and readings, she
could bring people to Block Island, hosting them at the
Hygeia.
Beginning in April of 2004, to
coincide with National Poetry Month, Lisa brought her first
crop of poets to the island for four long weekends of
workshops and readings. That first year poets Richard
Tillinghast, Faith Vicinanza, Elizabeth Thomas, and Keith
Flynn journeyed to the island to share their gifts with
local poets and writers from the mainland who quickly
discovered that Block Island was an amazing place to write,
as well as to connect with others. The Block Island Poetry
Project has been on a roll ever since.
In 2006, the Poetry Project swelled
beyond the borders of National Poetry Month with five
weekends, and in 2007, it expanded even further with six
weekends. As always, as Lisa's personal vision expands, so
does the Poetry Project. From the beginning, Starr's
emphasis has been on the word "project." She always emphasizes
that it is her intent that everyone have a voice at the
table. Participants can expect a multi-valent experience
where their voices will be heard, where improvisation is
combined with attention to craft that serves to allow
writers to develop holistically.
This holistic approach is an integral
part of The Block Island Poetry Project, reflecting Lisa's
personal growth as her passions have expanded to include
issues of global peace and justice, environmentalism, and
shamanism, as well as poetry and education. Starr sees The
Block Island Poetry Project as a temporary community that
meets once a year on Block Island to rejuvenate and
reconnect members to their own particular passions, enabling
them to return home with a clearer vision of how they can
best serve the world.
The Block Island Poetry Project has
attracted poets like Kim Addonizio, Coleman Barks, Robert Bly, Michael Brown, Billy Collins, Jeff Davis, Mark Doty, Nick Flynn, Tony Hoagland, Marie Howe, Valerie Lawson, Li-Young Lee, Fran Quinn, and musicians like Aztec Two-Step and Mark Mulcahy.
Location:
Hygeia House
Beach Avenue
Block Island,
Rhode Island
02807
