Hedgebrook writers trade words for wine on an autumn afternoon in Langley

A recent Seattle Post Intelligencer blog from Sue Frause.A couple weeks ago I received a phone call. The name was familiar, Yvette Heyliger, and when she said Hedgebrook— it all came back to me. Three years ago, I gave a wine tour to Yvette and two other Hedgebrook writers. I’d signed up to be a Hedgette, or a Hedgebrook Ambassador, and had listed wine among my many interests on the island.As I explained in Hedgebrook, a writers’ retreat for women located on South Whidbey. Founded by philanthropist Nancy Nordhoff and writer Sheryl Feldman in 1988, it’s a rural retreat on Langley’s Millman Road where women writers from around the world come to write, rejuvenate and be in community with each other. I figured not only would it be a way for the writers to get an insider’s look at our island, I’d be meeting some fascinating women.On Friday afternoon, I picked up a trio of writers in residence at Hedgebrook: Yvette Heyliger, an award-winning playwright from New York City, who is also a director and producing artist; Beena Kamlani, a writer and senior editor at Viking/Penguin Books in New York; and Joan Goodreau, a writer of poems, articles and short stories from Chico, California. The three were among seven writers at Hedgebrook for a 2.5-week residency; Yvette was the only alum. More...