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OUR HISTORY My belief is that if we…have five hundred (pounds) a year and rooms of our own; if we have the habit of freedom and the courage to write exactly what we think; if we…see human beings…in relation to reality; and the sky, too, and the trees…then the opportunity will come and the dead poet who was Shakespeare’s sister will put on the body which she has so often laid down. Excerpt from Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own (1929) Our founders, philanthropist Nancy Skinner Nordhoff and writer Sheryl Feldman, shared Virginia Woolf’s belief that giving a writer a room of her own is the greatest gift of confidence in her voice. Over twenty years, their vision has evolved into a vibrant community of woman authoring change in the world. A timeline of key events: • 1988 - with Nancy’s financial investment, Hedgebrook Foundation purchases and develops the land. • August 1988 – first cottages are built; first writer in residence. • 1998 - staff and Board develops a land management plan: “The land at Hedgebrook is tended for the well-being of the resident writers and is a demonstration to the larger community of organic farming and natural land management.” • 2001 - Hedgebrook begins the evolution from private foundation to 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. • 2003 - Board undertakes a re-visioning process to explore a proposition: if we are holding a quiet space in the world for women writers to go deeper into their work, can we also hold a space in the world for their voices to be heard? Out of that conversation grows an expanded mission and a commitment to create programs that connect our alumnae with audiences. • 2007 – 1,000 women from all over the world have experienced a Hedgebrook residency; Women Playwrights Festival celebrates its 10th Anniversary. • 2008 – celebrate 20 years of supporting and amplifying women’s voices, and launch an endowment campaign to sustain Hedgebrook for future generations of women writers. Stay tuned for details on special events and an alumnae reunion! |
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