The Block Island Poetry Project began as the vision of island resident Lisa Starr, a way for her to combine her seemingly disparate vocations as poet and inkeeper with her love for the land and devotion to building community.

Lisa, who grew up in Connecticut, was drawn to the island, like many others, for the obvious reasons. The astonishing natural beauty, the eccentricities and pleasures of island life, and the sense of tradition were pulls that drew her to settle down here in her early twenties. She married a retired sea captain and settled into The Hygeia House, a historic Victorian inn they restored, to raise a family.

Hailing from Block Island's Victorian heyday, when people traveled to experience the rejuvenative powers of the ocean surrounding the island, The Hygiea had a long tradition of healing and hospitiality 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, attracting poets like like Marie Howe, Robert Bly, Tony Hoagland, Coleman Barks, Li-Young Li, Fran Quinn, Nick Flynn, Jeff Davis, Michael Brown, Valerie Lawson, and Kim Addonizio, as well as musicians like Aztec Two-Step and Mark Mulcahy.

In 2006, the Poetry Project swelled beyond the borders of National Poetry Month with five weekends, and in 2007, it will expand 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 multivalent experience where their voices will be heard, where improvisation is combined with attention to craft that serves to allow writers to develop wholistically.

This wholistic 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 Marie Howe, Robert Bly, Tony Hoagland, Coleman Barks, Li-Young Li, Kim Addonizio, Fran Quinn and Nick Flynn.