From the Farmhouse Table: February 2026
Welcome Claudia!
It gives me enormous pleasure to be writing this note for Hedgebrook’s blog as the full moon graces the sky these opening days of February. Full moons symbolize culmination, the peak of a cycle, and yet they hold within their splendid roundness the germ of a new beginning.
In the last blog entry, Kimberly Wilson revealed that she is stepping down from Hedgebrook’s leadership and introduced me as the interim executive director. I’m looking forward to the next few weeks working alongside Kimberly to ensure a seamless transition. I’m also excited to join the entire Hedgebrook team planning and rolling out Equivox, which this year will honor the late Nancy Nordhoff whose vision and generosity is felt in every corner of Hedgebrook Farm, throughout the Whidbey Island community, and beyond.
In the summer of 2017, I and five other women, set off under the spell of a full moon from the Hedgebrook Farmhouse to Useless Bay. We walked inspired and globally joyous, future stories and poems our conversation. The trajectory that took me to that moonlit adventure had started decades earlier in El Salvador where I was born. In January of 1981, my family arrived in the United States escaping a civil war. Three days after our arrival, I started tenth grade in West Palm Beach, Florida, with only a handful of English words under my belt. Struggle, grit, resilience, and lots of help from my parents, support from teachers, and institutions helped me on my way to college success.
My path before the residency included a career in urban planning, years spent as a K-12 educator, and an MFA in poetry. My path after the residency encompasses serving as Seattle’s inaugural Civic Poet, as Washington State’s Poet Laureate, lecturing at several universities in the greater Seattle area, collaborating with many community-based organizations, publishing several books of poetry, and completing my first book of prose, The Flowers Along the Way, a memoir, forthcoming September of this year.
All of these experiences, knowledge, and expertise will be of great value to me as I take over Hedgebrook’s leadership. I’m honored to work with Hedgebrook’s excellent staff and board and to guide Hedgebrook to its new phase all the while preserving its legacy and continuing its commitment to nourishing and championing diverse women writers, their stories and voices.
Interim Executive Director & Alumna, Hedgebrook