From the Farmhouse Table: December 2022
Ripples
I used to think of December as a time for baking, fun in the snow and making memories with loved ones. I traveled, wrapped gifts and canned Meyer lemon marmalade. I either made, or avoided making, resolutions.
These days, since becoming a nonprofit executive director, the concept I keep returning to when I consider the twelfth month is impact. Call it the curse of Giving Tuesday: right around the time the turkey leftovers are finished, my mind fixates on the bottom line. What happened this year that demonstrates our mission is crucial, urgent, necessary? And is Hedgebrook giving writers what they need to build community that endures and amplify voices that ripple around in the world?
(The answers are, stories, boldly told, yes, and yes.)
You may have experienced some of Hedgebrook’s ripples, like Ruth Ozeki being awarded the Women's Prize for Fiction for The Book of Form and Emptiness in June, a prize bestowed on a female English-language writer whose voice mustn't be ignored. (Ruth’s first residency on the land was in 2010.) Maybe you caught sight of the ripple when Brandi Carlile (Meadowhouse, 2014) was nominated in seven categories as part of the upcoming 65th GRAMMY Awards.
Last weekend, when I learned my 10-year-old niece had gotten her first period, I pointed my sister to a new Pixar film called Turning Red, written by Hedgebrook playwright and television writer Julia Cho. It was just the message about puberty and transformation my niece needed to see and hear. Another big ripple: Turning Red was nominated for Best Picture by the Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Film Awards.
More ripples: On Tuesday, The New York Times released its 10 Best Books of 2022, including The Furrows, by Namwali Serpell, a 2016 alumna of Oak cottage. In September, NoViolet Bulawayo's Glory, was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize.
So many ripples: A colleague told me this week about a relative who was convinced to seek healing therapy after listening to a Valerie June song. And a friend called recently to recommend Putsata Reang’s 2022 memoir of family, immigration, queer identity and inherited trauma -- I thanked her and added a reply I find myself saying often, with pride: “did you know, she’s a Hedgebrook alumna?!”
I traveled to the Bay Area last month with Roxanne Kroön Shepherd, Hedgebrook’s development director, to reconnect with longtime supporters there. Over and over, we heard how the community and connections made at Hedgebrook may not seem like obvious ripples, but they sustain writers long after they board the ferry to head home.
In October, I attended a conference in Seattle for communications professionals in philanthropy.
One of the keynote speakers was Molly Levinson, a senior advisor to the US Women’s National Soccer Players. Molly described the rocky journey the team took to achieve its landmark victory in the fight for equal pay. Before women’s soccer won their legal battle in February, they had lost a summary judgment for pay equality. In the interim, she told the crowd, the players made the case that when we win, everybody wins, shifting public sentiment and public support. For women’s soccer, the voices of women players directly led to impact.
It’s the same for Hedgebrook. The voices of our writers move ideas and open minds. If you’re looking for gifts that will ripple long after the snow melts and the cookie tins are empty, consider gifting a book or buying a movie or attending a play or concert by a Hedgebrook alumna. It’s one thing we can all do to ensure their time on the land continues rippling out. And, yes, as Hedgebrook’s executive director, I would be remiss if I didn’t also encourage you to consider making a gift to help sustain this amazing place, a force for good in our chaotic world.
-Kimberly A.C. Wilson | Executive Director, Hedgebrook