I did not consider myself a writer until I started working for Hedgebrook.
I was an actor who wrote occasionally, a theatre major who had gravitated toward non-profit communications, but not a writer.
When I was introduced to new people, the conversation would often go something like this:
“What do you do?”
“I work for Hedgebrook.”
“Oh, great, you must be a writer then, right?”
I so wanted to reply with a resounding “Yes, I am,” but I felt somehow unqualified. I had deemed my poems and half-finished plays and essays unworthy. I was the harshest critic of my work and my own worst enemy.
Hedgebrook empowered me to name myself as a writer.
There wasn’t a specific moment. I didn’t have an epiphany. But just by sharing space with the writers at our retreat, I gradually became more and more confident. It was a kind of literary osmosis.
If you haven’t visited Hedgebrook, you need to know it is a magical place. A place built with intention. A place that transforms those who experience it.
Six hand-crafted cottages sit on 48 acres on Whidbey Island in Washington state. Llamas observe the Farmhouse and its
kitchen from across the road. Chefs prepare organic dinners for the residents every night, often with bounty from the garden.
The idea behind Hedgebrook is simple: radical hospitality. Our philosophy is that when you take away all the daily responsibilities (cooking, cleaning, errands, scheduling—all of it), it opens up the time and space for women writers to do their best work.
Writers are able to go deeper more quickly at Hedgebrook because of the unique blend of solitude and community. Your days are your own to write, to take a beach walk, to bike into one of the neighboring towns. And at night, you commune with your fellow writers to share a meal, discuss the challenges that writers face, and share your work.
At Hedgebrook, we are committed to supporting women writers in different stages of their career. Our fully-funded residencies awarded through the Writers in Residence program support writers, published or not, working in all genres. Our Master Classes offer the added benefit of a master teacher. We carefully curate writers at the top of their fields in a variety of genres to craft classes that will help participants generate new work, look over their existing work with a critical eye and take their work to the next level.
Recent Master Class alumna Nicole Evelina had this to say of her experience: “I learned more in one week from Deb (Harkness) than I could have in a whole semester from someone else or by really dozens of books. She is an amazing teacher and she knows her subject well. What’s more, she can convey it so clearly. I loved the cottage, the food and the grounds and would recommend Hedgebrook to anyone.”
Master Class alumna Debra Daley felt galvanized after her week at Hedgebrook: “I had no publishing deal. I was writing on faith in the spaces around my income-earning work. But I returned from Theresa Rebeck’s master class with a vision of how my book could work along with confirmation that I had a voice and a strong one at that. I feel that it was only after I came back to London after Hedgebrook that I began properly to write Turning the Stones and to write it with confidence.”
Hedgebrook helped to amplify these women’s voices. It amplified mine. Let it amplify yours.
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There are two ways to experience a Hedgebrook residency, if you don't have the good fortune to work here: our Writers in Residence program and our Master Classes. And if you can't get here for a residency, you can still join our community and help us advocate for equal voice for women writers.
Apply now for a fully-funded residency at Hedgebrook through the Writers in Residence program! The deadline for applications is September 3. Learn more about the application here.
Hedgebrook offers Fall/Winter Master Classes at our Whidbey Island retreat led by alumnae Hope Edelman, Dara Marks and Deb Norton, Ruth Ozeki and Betsy Andrews.
The priority deadline for most classes is September 15. Learn more and start your application here.
