And they’re off! Storyknife Residency Season is Open!

We couldn’t wait for April to shout about our excitement!

Sure, it’s a lot warmer at the end of March than the beginning (still below freezing at night though), but what we’re really excited about is that the writers are coming back. Tomorrow starts the residency season and we can’t wait to welcome the writers to the cabins at Storyknife. Maura is in the kitchen whipping up all sorts of treats and Katie has made sure that every cabin is just perfect.

April marks our annual Founder’s Challenge fundraising campaign. Each year, Storyknife holds two campaigns to raise the funds that keep the lights on and meals on the table, one during the month of April and one at the end of the year.

The Founder’s Campaign honors Dana Stabenow’s dream of creating for other women the experience she had at Hedgebrook over thirty years ago. This year, Dana has pledged $25,000 in matching funds – dollar for dollar donated during April. It’s quite a thing to see a dream come true, and if you know Dana, you’d know that it’s due to her strength of purpose and hard work.

So, now we’re turning to you, do you believe in the importance of women writers? Do you want to give them the time and space to devote to their craft? Do you want to lift them up and give them opportunities and a community that will support them? Your gift at any level will be matched dollar for dollar up to the $25,000 goal. Jump in there and donate at this link. (Or you can send an old school check to Storyknife at PO Box 75, Homer, AK 99603).

We are grateful for any support you can give the women writers of Storyknife!

Sincerely,
Erin

Folks in Homer, don’t miss the opportunity to join Princess Daazhraii Johnson, current writer in residence at Storyknife Writers Retreat, for a screening of her films This Is a Story About Salmon, Gath & K’iyh, and Two Old Women at Bunnell Street Arts Center on Thursday, April 9th at 6pm, free and open to the public.

This event, co-sponsored by Storyknife Writers Retreat and Bunnell Street Arts Center, will feature a screening of three short films by writer and producer Princess Daazhraii Johnson. After the screening, Johnson will discuss her work and take questions from the audience.

The film This Is a Story About Salmon explores the central role of salmon in Alaska Native subsistence communities and shows how these communities come together to support one another, heal, and bear powerful witness to their resilience and resistance. Gath & K’iyh: Listen to Heal highlights a gathering of community members and renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma to honor salmon and birch trees as part of a process of collective healing. Shaaghan Neekwaii: Two Old Women is the first screen adaptation of Velma Wallis’s 1993 novel, filmed in Fairbanks, Alaska, and told entirely in the Gwich’in language.