With Sale of Building, Noepe Literary Center Closes a Vibrant Chapter

Steve Myrick Thursday, March 9 2017 - 10:04am

The Noepe Center for Literary Arts in Edgartown will not reopen this spring because of the impending sale of the former Point Way Inn that has served as its headquarters for the past 10 years.

The Noepe Center for Literary Arts in Edgartown has inspired its last lyrical lines, at least for awhile, according to founder and director Justen Ahren. The nonprofit artists’ retreat will not reopen this spring because of the impending sale of the former Point Way Inn that has served as its headquarters for the past 10 years.

Mr. Ahren is hoping to find a new home in the near future, and is grateful to owner Claudia Miller for providing the space.

“It’s a little bittersweet,” Mr. Ahren said. “What it became in the 10 years was more than I had ever hoped it would be. It accomplished everything and more than I thought was possible. That’s the sweet part. The bitter part, at least this season, is we won’t be able to offer the continued support to writers.”

The Noepe Center provided two or six-week residencies for writers, and offered workshops with distinguished teachers. Among the authors who came to lead workshops, speak to resident writers or give public readings were Billy Collins, Junot Diaz, Marie Howe, Geraldine Brooks, David McCullough, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jennifer Clement and Fanny Howe.

The center’s mission was to “provide established and emerging writers with time and space to create, and the resources and community to support, encourage and inspire.”

Mr. Ahren said the Island backdrop, along with time and space to create, helped writers produce some of their best work.

“That was really what the heart of Noepe was,” he said. “With that still place that writers could go and have uninterrupted time. To me, it didn’t matter if they were working at their desks for 10 hours a day. That uninterrupted time with your work and your creative process is what really pays off.”

Mr. Ahren counts several books and dozens of magazine articles among the published work that was written all or in part at the Noepe Center. He said he will also miss the evening meals at the Noepe Center, which became a hallmark of summer evenings.

“Noepe became known for our dinners,” he said. “We would have these incredible dinners with writers from all over the country and all over the world. You have these really eclectic gatherings of people.”

Mr. Ahren said he thought it was unlikely the center would be able to find a new home the equal of the former inn in the heart of Edgartown, but he was at peace with the recent developments.

“People were receiving a gift, and I always felt like I was getting a gift. Very few of our interactions in the world have that kind of dynamic.”

Comments

I was one of the lucky

Lora Hyler Glendale, Wisconsin

I was one of the lucky writers who nurtured my literary works at Noepe. I really must say it was a magical experience. I will forever be indebted to the generosity of Claudia Miller and Justen Ahren. The group of writers who joined me in Oct. 2016 were from all over the world-with origins/current inhabitants of South Africa, Alaska, New York, Maryland, Colorado, California, and throughout the Midwest, incl. Wisconsin and Michigan. We are staying in touch, supporting each other's work and would have never met had it not been for Noepe. Thank you for the gift of space to create.

The measure of a nation’s

Charlene Smith Boston

The measure of a nation’s greatness is in how it respects the arts, which form the backbone of a culture, and in turn inspires the songs and poems that live in our hearts. Or the narratives that are our companions next to the fireplace or on the beach, that provoke, encourage and entertain us.
In Japan the arts are protected and the finest artists are called Living National Treasures, they are given money to live and are promoted.
In the United States, economic challenges have seen people lose work and many have surrendered hope.
For literary artists, Noepe was a haven, a source of inspiration and allowed the luxury of time, peace and space. I’d sit at the little work desk in my room overlooking the courtyard and writing in the evenings.
In the morning I’d go to the quay and watch the fishermen, have breakfast in a diner, or a muffin in a restaurant and with coffee at my side start writing. At 10am I'd walk across to Edgartown’s wonderful library through the cemetery that has the gravestone that has inspired my next book.
I’d find a study room or table, work for four hours, then take my car and patrol the island, photographing and allowing new inspiration to enter my mind for that evening’s writing.
Among the guests I made new friends, shared ideas, gave an impromptu class on social media, copied the recipe for clam pizza... By the end of a fortnight I had written 20,000 good words and was near completion of a novel that had lagged as I kept shelving it in favor of paying work.
Noepe Literary Center was an American National Treasure and Claudia Miller an American heroine for gifting the space over so many years to American literature. Justen Ahrens and his team welcomed us, guided us, let us be most of the time - a working writer is a solitary bird - and embraced us, when exhausted, we just wanted to have good conversation and some fun.
To them and the people of Martha’s Vineyard who welcomed us so fulsomely, the librarians who thoughtfully responded to our requests, the restaurant owners who appeared not to mind the distracted person in the corner drinking only coffee while hunched over a computer, our thanks are boundless.
The new owners inherit a space blessed by creativity and happiness.

My time at Noepe over the

Eileen Moon New Jersey

My time at Noepe over the past 5 years was the gift of a lifetime. After some 30 years as a journalist, midnight poet and memoirist, I was given the time and place to focus solely on my creative work. I will always be grateful for the time, space, grace and friendships that were born at Noepe, and will carry them forward with me as I continue to work on my creative projects. Thank you, Claudia Miller and Justen Ahren for giving us the use of this historic inn that truly was the point and
the way forward for so many writers.

I was fortunate enough to

Mark Webb Louisville KY

I was fortunate enough to spend 2 weeks at the Noepe Center with Justen and a cohort of great writers. Some young. Some old. A few from Boston. RI. Virginia. NY. California. Even Poland. All over the USA and beyond. I was seeking solitude and time to think and put together ideas for poems. I wrote two new new poems in the mode of Frank O'Hara about the Chappy Ferry, and Murdick's. One on a lobsterman. Another on Rabbit Fever. I finished a series of poems about my grandfather and great-grandfather who were housepainters in a sleepy little town farther south on the Atlantic Coast. I took my dinners every night (those not at Noepe) at The Wharf: hot clam chowder and a cold beer. I spent a few hours every evening (sometimes past midnight) sitting on the deck over the fishing pier (next to the ferry) just thinking, while letting the cold air soothe me. I met several locals, and was invited to a few local cocktail parties. I even almost got to go out on a bay scallop boat at the beginning of the season. I was a bit more of a loner than the other writers's at Noepe, but that was allowed at Noepe: Justen gave us our time to do as we wanted. No program other than our own. If my time on MV and at Noepe were measured on results, then it was time well-spent; many of the poems written there have been published in literary journals. My time on MV and at Noepe were very valuable to me in my development as a writer. Thanks, Justen!

I am so sad. I had hoped this

Karen Hunt Phoenix

I am so sad. I had hoped this was a place I could continue to return to. I had the joy of three residencies. It will forever hold a special and unique place in my heart. I made life-long friends and I hold incredible memories, such inspiration. So sad....

I was lucky enough to spend a

Carol Jacobs Stowe Ohio

I was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks at the Noepe center working on my thesis, the first part of my novel. The peace and interaction with other writers, both established and upcoming, gave me the impetus to create in a way I'd never before known. I am so grateful for the experience. Thank you, Justin and Claudia, for the experience of a lifetime.

My first residency was in

Stephanie A. Smith Florida

My first residency was in 2012 and I remain grateful for all the support and immense creativity which I benefited from and continue to benefit from, even as this chapter closes. My mother's fellowship, the Carol Marie Wagner Smith fellowship, gave a few young emerging writers the same joy I experienced, so I am very sad to lose that joy as well. Thank you Noepe for the beauty. It will never be forgetten.

A wonderful place and a

Anna Blundy London, England

A wonderful place and a wonderful experience. I hope Justen will find a new home for his writers and I look forward to my residency in the new premises!

I dreaded the coming of this

Shelley Christiansen Oak Bluffs

I dreaded the coming of this day, but it's just a scene change, not a finale. I'm feeling it, Justin! Carry on.

My two-week residency at the

Wilda Morris Bolingbrook IL

My two-week residency at the Noepe Literary Center was delightful and productive. The other residents and the house manager were personable, cooperative, helpful and interesting. I want to thank Justen Ahren and Claudia Miller for making it possible for me to work on my project of poems in response to MOBY DICK right there near the ocean, close to the center of the whaling industry. I hope that a new home will be found for Noepe, and hope I can return to experience it.

Having spent several summers

Ciji Ware Sausalito, California

Having spent several summers on the Vineyard during my college years in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it was a great joy two years ago to have been granted a writer-in-residency at the Noepe Literary Center where I had two weeks to kick-start my current (13th) book, due out later this year. The experience was absolutely wonderful, and several of the other writers I shared that time with have become friends with home I have continued to stay in touch. I am so appreciative to Justen and Claudia Miller for their unflagging generosity, and--as a dear friend who lives on the Vineyard told me once--we "never rule out miracles."I dearly hope someone steps up, as Ms. Miller did, and allows the Noepe Literary Center to continue fostering hard-working authors who sorely need some "quiet time," along with helping emerging authors benefit from the experience of being around those of us who make our living by our wits! I feel very blessed and grateful to have been one of the lucky attendees...

Martha's Vineyard Writer's

Deborah Norrie-Jones Queensland, Australia

Martha's Vineyard Writer's Residency 2013

Button up your coats tight, writers,
striding the winter streets of Edgartown
beside the shimmer of white picket fence,
silver bare tree, sweet harbour waters
in this‘champagne and caviar’ town,
on the island of Noepe.

Right cosy is the Captain’s Inn,
sunshine folding through gauze curtain,
sideboard filled with blueberry and cheese.

The writers around the table warm themselves
with words. Helena, Rose, Gwen, Laurie,
Laura, Alex, Ed, Deborah and Olivia,
Jack, Justen at the head.

One people in this house,
heading into nests, basements,
their warm internal selves, to write.

The tulips are coming up
underneath the maple tree
The blades are sharp and green.

I also grieve this day, the loss of the home of the Noepe
Centre, and pray for a new one. Thank you again Justen for
your generous and gracious spirit towards all writers.
I loved my time at Noepe and always dreamed of returning.

Deborah Norrie-Jones New Zealand Australia

My first residency at NOEPE

Mark Wiederanders Sacramento, CA

My first residency at NOEPE in 2012 was life-changing. I brought with me some draft ideas for a novel, and doubts about my ability to write it and get it published. When I left, the friendship and meals shared with other writers, the time in which to create, and the beauty of the Vineyard had worked magic. With new confidence, over the following year I finished the novel and found a publisher. My love for the remarkable program at NOEPE, that Justen ran with such passion and quiet confidence, grew during residencies in 2014 and 2016. Dozens of fine writers from around the world are now my friends thanks to these wonderful residencies. I dearly hope the program finds a new home. Heartfelt thanks to Justen and all others involved in creating the magic of NOEPE!

The Noepe Center for Literary Arts will not open for 2017, but executive director Justen Ahren plans to look for a new space.