About Us
Hedgebrook is a global community of women writers and people who seek extraordinary books, poetry, plays, films, and music by women. A literary nonprofit, our mission is to support visionary women writers whose stories and ideas shape our culture now and for generations to come. We offer writing residencies and Radical Craft Retreats at our retreat on Whidbey Island, and public programs that connect writers with readers and audiences around the world.
A Brief Introduction To Hedgebrook
To view our full half-hour documentary on Hedgebrook, click here.
Our Founder's Story: Nancy Nordhoff’s Legacy
In 1985, at a transformative time in her life, Seattle philanthropist Nancy Nordhoff bought a working farm on Whidbey Island overlooking Useless Bay, with a sweeping view across Puget Sound to Mount Rainier. Nancy was seeking “home,” and her intention was to live on the property. But as she walked the land, she felt it telling her it wanted to be something else: a home for more than one woman, a place for women to come and be in solitude and community. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Nancy carries a deep personal commitment to nurturing women, supporting their vision and raising their voices. She wants women to experience their independence, learn to trust their instincts and rely on their own resourcefulness. Living in a natural environment, close to the land, surrounded by forest, meadows and ponds teeming with wildlife, is an increasingly rare opportunity, especially for writers in an urban setting. It is important to Nancy that a woman knows how to build a fire to keep herself warm, so each cottage has a small wood-burning stove. The first fire is laid for the writer. After that, she’s on her own! These values have imbued Hedgebrook’s mission from the very beginning, and are carried on to this day.
Nancy and co-founder Sheryl Feldman, established Hedgebrook with an original founding gift, as well as the property, cottages and other buildings. From 2003-06, Hedgebrook transitioned to its current status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit literary arts organization. Hedgebrook has continued to subsist on the generosity of Nancy’s founding gift, supplemented by a fundraising program that began in earnest in 2006, and is growing each year.
“Hedgebrook is like a stone, sending out ripples into the gigantic pond of the world.”
— Anjali Banerjee, alumna
Our Impact & Ripple Effect
Hedgebrook is a global community of women writers and people who seek extraordinary books, poetry, plays, films and music by women. A literary nonprofit, our mission is to support visionary women writers whose stories and ideas shape our culture now and for generations to come. We offer writing residencies and Radical Craft Retreatsat our retreat on Whidbey Island, and public programs that connect writers with readers and audiences around the world.
Recently through non-fiction writing works, plays, and screenplays, women at Hedgebrook have been a voice for helping raise awareness in a vast range of issues, including: women’s rights in the Middle East, the spread of AIDS in Africa, inner city violence in America, rights of incarcerated women prisoners, political strife in Cambodia, radioactive fallout in the Ukraine, highway construction dividing a Latino community, the ethical responsibilities of the pharmaceutical industry, and environmental stress on bees.
In August 1988, Hedgebrook opened to its first session of writers. Over time, nearly 2000 writers have lived and worked in Hedgebrook’s cottages, generating thousands of novels, poems, plays, screenplays, memoirs, works of non-fiction. Literally millions of people have experienced the work that has been generated in our cottages. Our Farmhouse library is full of their books, and we happily promote every new release to our community of avid readers.
We call the care and nurturing writers receive in residence “radical hospitality,” since it enables a woman writer to go to the places she needs to go, however dark or challenging, to tell her story. The impact of this gift is manifold: everyone who encounters this writer and her work is a recipient of her experience—of being recognized and valued for her work.
Our Global Community
Nancy’s vision has evolved into a global community of writers enriched by diversity: of culture, nationality, voice, genre, generation, perspective, religious beliefs and political affiliations. Nearly two-thirds of Hedgebrook’s alumnae are women of color, and they come from all over the world, and all walks of life. They are emerging and published, ranging in age from 18-85, and writing in all genres. And their writing is exemplary: out of our rigorous two-round selection process, and a growing international pool of more than 1,800 applicants, 40 writers are awarded a residency each year.
Our community is also open to women writers who have not yet come to Hedgebrook for a residency, through Online Classes, Radical Craft Retreats, VorTEXT Intensives, and the workshops offered by alumnae in other cities. We are expanding our partnerships with other like-minded organizations, to extend our offerings to an even wider community of women writers, and to join the movement for equal voice for women writers to achieve a just and peaceful world.