HEDGEBROOK WRITER’S SERIES

An exciting new series featuring poetry and non-fiction by Hedgebrook writers, launched in collaboration with Seattle-based publisher Whit Press.

Founded by Hedgebrook alumna and poet Claudia Mauro,
Whit Press is dedicated to the transformational power of the written word, and their mission reads:

“Whit Press exists as an oasis to nurture and promote the rich diversity of literary work from women writers, writers from ethnic, social, and economic minorities, young writers, and first-time authors.” [http://www.whitpress.org/index.html]

The joint mission of the HWS is to connect women writers with readers through the production of beautiful books featuring spectacular writing.  Writers are selected for the series by a panel of alumnae, Whit Press and Hedgebrook Board and staff, and members from our diverse literary community.  In addition to being published, writers are invited to spend time at Hedgebrook to work on the collection.

Our first edition, Flowers Blooming Against a Bruised Gray Sky by Nigerian born poet and Hedgebrook alumna Uchechi Kalu.  Uchechi, a student of poet June Jordan, wrote many of the poems during her 2002 Hedgebrook residency. Flowers Blooming Against a Bruised Gray Sky came out in 2006 and is receiving rave reviews. From Derrick Weston Brown of Busboys and Poets Books in Washington, DC:
 
“Kalu has produced a masterful debut book of poems that reads nothing like a first time offering. There is pain, outrage, tenderness, rage, love, and above all, bottomless strength throughout.”

The second edition will feature Ruth Forman, whose poems have been described as “alive and kicking; they pound and pulse with a hard-won sense of self, beauty, femininity, strength and righteous indignation.” Watch for it in 2008.