From the Farmhouse Table: June 2021

Showing Ourselves Some Radical Hospitality

Hedgebrook is renowned for its ethos of radical hospitality. We go to extraordinary efforts to make writers feel welcome. On the land, you can sniff the hospitality in wafts from the Farmhouse kitchen, feel it in the warmth of fires stacked with precisely chopped logs, see it in the organized chaos of the vegetable garden, taste it in chef’s vibrant meals and unforgettable desserts, and hear it in the welcome tour stories of a team member who has stewarded the retreat’s 48-acres for more than two decades.

With the pandemic, Hedgebrook has intentionally focused radical hospitality online, as well, breaking down barriers that prevent writers from participating in virtual workshops and craft retreats.

Here’s the thing about radical hospitality: it is easy to be the one who showers others in its rain, but it can feel awkward, even uneasy, to receive.

In the words of Elizabeth de Souza, the 2020 Rona Jaffe Foundation Hedgebrook Fellow, “every moment at Hedgebrook affirms the wisdom of learning to receive the same kind of care and support many of us spend most of our time offering.”

So, my team and I are going to take our own medicine. A month from now, we are going to experience radical hospitality for ourselves. Hedgebrook’s offices will close July 1-8 for a staff retreat and to give our dedicated team time off. They have worked extraordinarily hard under difficult circumstances for a very long time; the paid week off is one small offering of radical hospitality.

I'm building a stack of books to enjoy on my break. So far, I’ll be reading Caul Baby, by Morgan Jenkins, Remote Control, by Nnedi Okorafor, and Whereabouts, by Jhumpa Lahiri. I would love to know what’s in your next reads stack?

In the meantime, we open up our applications for our 2022 Writers in Residence program today. I’m looking forward to more writers on the land and more opportunities for others to experience radical hospitality through Hedgebrook.

-Kimberly A.C. Wilson, Executive Director