I bet that you read To Kill a Mockingbird when you were in school. For a long time, it seemed like it was on every required reading list. The novel made a huge impact on many students, leading to discussions about empathy and equality. And even though the book has come under warranted scrutiny recently for approaching racism from one direction, the white outsider, it certainly has provided a jumping off point for teachers and students to discuss the interconnectedness of race, class, and gender.
If it were not for the generosity of two friends, Harper Lee would never have had the opportunity to write it. Michael and Joy Brown gave Lee an incredible holiday present in 1956, a year’s salary so that she could take off from her day gig as an airline ticket agent.
To Kill a Mockingbird was so successful that Lee was able to repay the Browns for their gift. But in all honesty, the gift was more than money. It was an emblem of support – that Harper Lee had something to say to the world and that it was worth giving her the time and space to write it.
And so #GivingTuesday has arrived with the barrage of emails from important organizations that you’ve supported. We’re sliding in here as well to say that your support of Storyknife makes it possible for new stories to come into the world that change our culture. A book like Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes are Watching God, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, or Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass.
To the many people who have already supported the women writers of Storyknife, thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for validating women writers, for believing that the work they do is important for them individually and for our culture as a whole.
May your December be filled with time for you to read and reflect. We hope that the work of many women writers makes its way into your hands and hearts.
Take care,
Erin
Executive Director of Storyknife
Storyknife Writers Retreat 