Come for the Community
What’s special about the 3-day VORTEXT writing salon? Here’s some insight from workshop leaders for the upcoming 2015 session (May 29-31):“Watching the weave of relationships created at Vortext, and the creative power generated and moved along into the world, is essential to re-charging my psychic batteries. It reminds me that the best creative work arises from collaboration and a sense of collective purpose. At last year's open mic readings, hearing the women cheering each other on because they KNEW how hard it was to get up there was one of many truly moving moments. It reminds me how little (and how much) is needed to create a responsive environment for creative work. It's all about intention, and Hedgebrook's Vortext brings me back to everything I genuinely believe and value.”
— Carole DeSanti, Vice President, Editor at Large at Penguin Random House. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, The Unruly Passions of Eugénie R., was published in 2012.
“The intimacy of scale, the solitude without loneliness, the sense of sisterhood formed there, are truly unique.”
— Dani Shapiro, author of the best-selling memoirs Still Writing: The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life, Devotion and Slow Motion
“I come back to Vortext and to Hedgebrook for the community. Writing is a lonely job, as by needs it must be, but I enjoy taking a break from the solitude to spend time with other writers, colleagues and likeminded souls. As we sit alone in our separate writing solitudes, grappling with our minds, we think we're unique, but the fact is that all writers struggle in similar ways, and I always find it very encouraging to hear other writers tell me this.”
— Ruth Ozeki, novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist-priest. Her latest novel, A Tale for the Time Being, was shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, won the 2014 LA Times Book Award and The Guardian’s Red Tentacle Prize
“I first came to Hedgebrook as a resident in 1999. It was such a life-changing event for me, to be given that space and support to write, that I’ve stayed in touch with the community of Hedgebrook as an alum ever since. I love this organization, and will do anything I can to help it thrive! So I was so very happy to be asked to come to Vortext. I’ve been teaching at MFA programs and different Writers’ Conferences for about fifteen years, but this is the first time I’ll be doing it in a “girls only” environment. Can’t wait!”
— Hannah Tinti, Editor-in-Chief of One Story, an award-winning literary magazine, and author of the short story collection, Animal Crackers, a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway award, teaches at New York University’s Graduate Creative Writing Program, Columbia University’s MFA program and various workshops in the US and abroad.
There’s still time to register for VORTEXT, but there are only a handful of spaces left.
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About the Author:
Jennifer Haupt is a freelance writer in Seattle who contributes to magazines including: O, The Oprah Magazine, Parents, Reader’s Digest, and Spirituality & Health. She also curates the Psychology Today blog, One True Thing, a collection of essays about the moments that matter most, and is working on her debut novel.
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Hedgebrook supports visionary women writers whose stories and ideas shape our culture now and for generations to come. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily representative of the opinions of Hedgebrook, its staff or board members.