(Thanks for asking, RuthG!)
What a fun night. I arrived early and everyone else, including the organizer, arrived late to the home of the alumna who was hosting. Wow, what a house. The room we met in was actually a gallery of pre-Columbian art. Some amazing pieces. Truly. Some human pottery figures with expressions I’ve never seen before. Three of those fat dogs (probably pregnant) that I am always drawn to…and large specimens. Turns out her father-in-law (or grandfather-in-law?) was pretty much responsible for bringing pre-Columbian art to the fore and she’s writing a biography of him right now.
Such displays of wealth—even just her amazing home, a complex of two houses in the Hollywood Hills—can be daunting to a person like me, who has always lived pretty humbly. But we talked for the twenty minutes or so before others began to arrive and discovered that she knows one of my very good friends, who is the director of the UCLA Oral History program. (Her father-in-law, I think, was interviewed by them as part of their UC history project and she used that as source material.)
This year is Hedgebrook’s 20th year in existence. We had people there from as early as 1998, before all of the six cabins were built, to as late as last fall. The retreat gives you your own beautiful cabin made mostly of oak, lunch is brought to you in a basket, you join with the other writers for a delicious dinner in the farmhouse, and can spend time in the library together after dinner or during the day, and then you select your breakfast fixings from the kitchen before you go back to the cabin. I suppose the food is always important partly because it’ so good (much of it grown organically on the grounds) and because it’s wonderful especially for women, to have their sustenance taken care of.
Anyway! About 18 people came to the gathering. We sat in a circle and briefly introduced ourselves and our current projects and whatever else seemed important. Then some of us read. I felt really good about my piece which went over well. There was laughter at least once and a little flutter of “ooohs” after a description of a character’s failed attempt to look innocent. Most importantly, I’d timed it so it was under 3 minutes, as the organizer had requested. People who go way over their time do themselves no favors.
There were several people who seemed very familiar to me, and we questioned each other long enough to figure out a mutual acquaintance, but couldn’t think how we might actually have seen each other before. And several I would very much like to get to know better. We are going to try and have bi-monthly gatherings to share knowledge and to get to know each other.
I had talked a little about my blog and how photography is in many ways so much simpler than writing, and my self-surprising success rate with placing photos, and at least three people wrote down my blog address. One does travel writing and asked what sort of photos I take. It would be lovely to work with her on something.
There was a lot of energy in the room, and I really hope we start connecting. These things always make me think of about five ways I could be helpful. A lot of them were screenwriters, or had ended up making screenplays of the fiction they’d worked on. It’s Hollywood, so I guess that’s to be expected.
The retreat was first endowed by Nancy Skinner Nordhoff, but now they are seeking grants. They find that alumnae involvement in both contributions (not the amount, but the percentage of alumna contributing) and in later development helps in getting grants, so they’re reaching out to us. Each of us who signed up last night will call 20 alumnae and ask that she donate $20. Very reasonable.
So, any of you women who would like to have the writing retreat experience of your life should apply to Hedgebrook There are a lot of applications for the approximately 40 spots they offer each session, but it’s really worth going for. It’s free. You get a cottage on Whidbey Island, near Seattle, and time to write. If you want to know more, let me know.
