Consider Hedgebrook (by Leslie McGrath)

I’m spending August at Hedgebrook Writer’s Retreat on Whidbey Island off the coast of Seattle. Hedgebrook is only for women and has been thriving since the late 1980’s. Why think of applying to a retreat where you’re among only women? Because it’s a very good way to get to know the woman you’ve become, to see your work from the perspective of women’s history.

It’s a small retreat, hosting between six and seven at a time. The women here with me are writers. We range from our 20’s to our sixties; we're performance poets, memoirists, fiction writers, poets and playwrights. Hedgebrook has its mission fostering the artistic work of women outside literature as well. A previous resident of my beautiful post-and-beam cottage in the woods was a stand-up comedian; there were also painters and songwriters. One of the reasons I wanted to be here was to experience the geography and worldview of the Pacific Northwest. It’s taken my breath away over and over again, renewed my sense of the expansiveness of our country.

Hedgebrook is quite rural, quiet in a wild way. The water is visible (as is Mt. Rainier) from a number of spots, yet within the 40-odd acres that the retreat encompasses, there are places of recalcitrant dark, stinging nettles, and a couple of aggressive owls who’ve been known to swoop down on unsuspecting heads. The food is local, organic, predominantly vegetarian, and best of all prepared with loving intent by local women.

I’ve finished a novella in verse here — a two year obsession that puzzled and challenged me. Two more weeks stretch ahead, then I’ll cede this cottage with its pond view and tiny woodstove to the next woman.

The application period is open until September 15^th. If you’re a female writer or artist, consider Hedgebrook. There’s no residency or retreat more conducive to the kind of quiet kindness I’ve found here.

Here's the link: www.hedgebrook.org

Comments

[The Best American Poetry]

It sounds idyllic, and it's wonderful that you've finished your verse novella. Thank you, Leslie. In fact I have heard only warm and positive things about Whidby Island in general. (There's a program located there that meets annually in the summer and features David Wagoner among other Pacific Northwest writers of note.) The only trace of mixed feelings I have reading your enthusiastic post is that men are excluded. The traditional response to that objection is that all-men institutions have until recently been hegemonic. Maybe so, but are we now in danger of penalizing an entire generation of young men? DL

[Leslie McGrath]

Hi David,

I wonder about this-- the exclusion of a group of writers on the basis of their gender-- myself. In 1989, when Hedgebrook opened, the literary world was a different place. Now there are more women enrolled than men in American universities. And do I remember correctly that there are more women in creative writing MFA programs here as well?  Will there be a tipping point? Can I apply the same question to organizations which exclude certain races and ethnic backgrounds?

What I've found refreshing here (and very helpful in terms of finishing the novella) is that there's diversity among women here-- geographic, racial, etc. Last week I was in a minority here-- most of the residents were lesbian. I was very moved by their accounts of what it was like to self identify as such in decades past. Would these conversations have taken on a different hue if there were men around? They might have, though it would have been just as moving to men, I'm sure, to hear these stories.

Your question about unintentionally penalizing one group in the name of providing another a closed community is one I think about often, and not without sadness. Even talking about this publicly feels a bit like rubbing a flint over dry tinder. 
There's conference on race, gender, sexuality and class that's being organized in New Jersey in May, 2012 by Laura McCullough and Dwayne Betts. I'm
 enthusiastic participant. and hope that members of various parts of our literary community can come together and discuss these subjects in a way that will be helpful to *all* of us.

Leslie

[The Best American Poetry]

Thank you, Leslie, for this considered comment on my comment. Let the dialogue commence! -- DL