Let me tell you about the impact of supporting women writers

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

Support Women Writers – Support Storyknife

The Amazing Storyknife Writers

Please celebrate these amazing writers in residence at Storyknife in 2023

The 2023 residency season has wrapped up. The cabins are now dreaming of the writers who will create in them next year.

But the office of Storyknife is not closed. Oh no, we are already planning for 2024. Applicants who received invitations are responding. End of the season maintenance is being planned. And end of the year fundraising is shifting into high gear.

It takes a considerable amount of work to raise the money so that the women writers of Storyknife have to pay nothing for their stay. In 2024, we have eleven travel scholarships, and seven fellowships (with three more in the works).

The true heroes of Storyknife are not Dana, our founder, and the staff. The true heroes are the donors who help put food on the table, keep the lights on, pay for maintenance of the buildings. We are in the midst of a $50,000 challenge match. That means if you support Storyknife in your end of year giving, your donation will go twice as far.

You also have the opportunity to give just a bit each month. Recurring donations are so helpful, and spreading your support out over the year helps both Storyknife and the donor.

So, please consider donating to support the women writers of Storyknife. We know that you believe that women need the time and space to devote to their work. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.

Take care,
Erin
Executive Director of Storyknife

Support Women Writers – Support Storyknife

2024 Adjudication Complete

Let me tell you about the blessing. I sent letters to the women writers who have been selected to be in residence in 2024. It’s joyous because I know that Storyknife will be a place that those writers will feel cherished and productive.

At the same time, I sent out letters to the women writers who are on the waitlist. Even though it’s not the best news that they could receive, there is still a chance that they’ll spend some time at Storyknife next year. We always have writers from the waitlist who get an opportunity because someone else couldn’t accept the offer for a residency. So there is still hope.

Let me tell you about the sadness. I sent letters to the women writers who were not selected for either a residency or on the waitlist. We had 985 women apply this year for a 2024 residency. You now get a sense of the number of letters that went out with disappointing news. And here’s the worst part – these women writers need the time and space to devote to their writing. They have worthy stories to tell. Their voices are important. We just don’t have space for everyone who applies.

Each year I feel a great sadness for these women who receive letters with discouraging news. I’ve been one of them, advocating for myself and not receiving an opportunity. Please know that I’m sending up my love, my care, my hope that every woman writer keeps putting her words on the page. That everyone who applies to Storyknife knows that their stories are the way we change the world. And that women’s stories are needed now more than ever.

~Erin Hollowell

Executive Director of Storyknife

The closing of the season

October is passing so quickly. It’s hard to imagine that right now in the Storyknife cabins are the last of the 2023 writers, working through our first snowfall, watching for moose, marveling at the amazing autumn sunsets. 

Meanwhile, our incredible team of adjudicators are carefully attending to the 985 applications Storyknife received for the 2024 season. Each applicant’s hopes honored and acknowledged. Notifications will go out in November for the 2024 residency season.

We are still asking that you include the women writers of Storyknife in your year-end giving. We’re at 60% of our $50,000 challenge grant goal. Thank you so much to the amazing donors who’ve been so generous! Please remember that your support goes directly to fostering the women writers of Storyknife, giving them the time and the space to devote to their writing. This is a revolutionary gift which will lead to more diverse stories in the world.

And speaking of gifts, Tuesday, October 17, at 7pm Alaska Time, you can listen to some of this month’s incredible writers in residence read from their work. Live from Storyknife, an event co-sponsored by 49 Writers, will be available via Zoom on this page. And if you miss it, or want to see any of the previous months’ amazing writers, check out the recorded events here.

Thank you for being part of the Storyknife family legacy.
Sincerely,
Erin Coughlin Hollowell
Executive Director of Storyknife

Click here to donate through our secure servers

If you prefer to donate via check, please make one out to Storyknife Writers Retreat and send to PO Box 75, Homer, AK 99603. Thank you!

Join us in changing women writers’ lives

Last Thursday, as I sat at my desk at Storyknife, I heard a magnificent cacophony of sandhill cranes flying overhead. Maura, Storyknife’s chef, and I rushed out to watch hundreds of cranes start their yearly southward migration over Storyknife. And then we noticed that the writers were outside as well, faces tilted to the sky, laughing at the sheer spectacle of all those cranes. All I could think was I can’t wait to see those cranes in the writing that will come from this.

Because that’s the way it is at Storyknife, every part of the experience informs the writers here. Here’s how Keetje Kuipers, April 2023 writer in residence put it, “Gazing out the window of my Storyknife cabin, I felt not just a clarity of scenery—the glowing blue sky, the sharp peaks across the inlet—but a clarity of purpose. In such a setting where everything you need as both an artist and a human is provided, it is possible to be single-minded in the best sense. I wrote and revised more in those days of residence than I have been able to in the last year. My book is closer to being complete, and I am closer to understanding how to finish it.”

The Storyknife experience is transformative. To the forty-six people who answered the call to donate last week, you gave the women writers of Storyknife almost $10,000, putting us one-fifth of the way toward the challenge grant goal – Thank You!!! When we reach our $50,000 goal, your gifts will be doubled.

And speaking of gifts, Tuesday, September 19, at 7pm Alaska Time, you can listen to some of this month’s incredible writers in residence read from their work. Live from Storyknife, an event co-sponsored by 49 Writers, will be available via Zoom on this page. And if you miss it, or want to see any of the previous months’ amazing writers, check out the recorded events here.

Thank you for being part of the Storyknife family legacy.

Sincerely,
Erin Hollowell
Executive Director

Click here to donate through our secure server

If you prefer to donate via check, please make one out to Storyknife Writers Retreat and send to PO Box 75, Homer, AK 99603. Thank you!

Join us in changing women writers’ lives

The weather has changed. The wind is cold and sunset is coming earlier. The moody storms of autumn have moved in with the September writers in residence.

This time of year we turn our thoughts to fundraising. Last year we made our fundraising goal of $175,000 with the help of 421 beautiful donors. This year, 274 donors have stepped forward, but we still need to raise $66,000 to meet Storyknife’s fundraising goal for 2023. The goal is higher this year and I would like to explain the increase:

  • Inflation has hit Storyknife just as hard as everyone else. Utilities, maintenance, and food costs have radically increased.
  • We now have three full-time employees. Storyknife’s organization is growing and we need sustainable staffing. Three full-time employees during the residency season assures that the weight of providing services to the writers in residence isn’t too much for one or two people.
  • In our third year of providing seven full months of residencies, we are finally able to make a budget that truly reflects the costs of running a large facility and providing services for over 52 writers each year.

The past few years, we’ve had a generous donor who has offered a challenge match for every dollar raised up to $50,000. This generosity has made it possible for Storyknife to grow our community of supporters. We are proud to announce that the same, very generous, donor has issued a challenge grant for the end of this year – they will match every dollar donated between now and December 31st up to a cap of $50,000. But we need meet that cap to trigger the match.

This generous match allows us to do the following:

  • get a jumpstart on support for 2024 residencies.
  • provide many more travel scholarships for the 2024 residency season.
  • continue to support more than fifty women writers each year by providing them with the time and space to devote to their craft.
  • continue to support those writers with the beauty, nourishment, and devotion that they and their writing deserve.

Ove the next few months, I’ll be sharing their voices with you so that you know exactly how much your donation means to the women writers of Storyknife.

Please consider an end-of-the-year donation to help Storyknife meet the challenge grant and continue to support women writers as they produce their important and culture-shifting work.

Thank you for being part of the Storyknife family legacy.

Sincerely,
Erin Hollowell
Executive Director

Click here to donate through our secure server

If you prefer to donate via check, please make one out to Storyknife Writers Retreat and send to PO Box 75, Homer, AK 99603. Thank you!

August means that autumn is coming…

The fireweed says that summer is drawing to a close at Storyknife.

There are two and a half weeks left to apply for residency at Storyknife. Do you need two or four weeks to devote to your writing? Got a manuscript that needs polishing? A novel idea that you just can’t get your head around? A screenplay that needs silence for its voice to be heard? How about a safe place to explore your difficult memoir? Or a place to look at all your poems and decide if there’s a manuscript in them? Storyknife.

At midnight Alaska Time, August 31st, the submission portal will close for another year. And then the amazing women writers who volunteer to adjudicate will begin the difficult process of reading every incredible piece of writing that is sent to us.

Let me take a moment to invite you to the August Live from Storyknife event on the 22nd at 7pm. This month’s fabulous writers will be sharing their work and you can be in the live audience. This event is co-sponsored by 49 Writers and you can check out all the participants and details at this website.

And as always, we want to thank the many fine folks who support Storyknife with their donations. We have several new recurring donors who are contributing a small amount each month. If you want to join them, we’d love to have you! Every donation helps women writers know that you share in the vision that women’s stories matter.

Take care,
Erin
Storyknife Executive Director

The Wonder of June at Storyknife

It’s been a cold spring outside Storyknife, but a warm spring inside. We’ve hosted twenty-two wonderful women writers so far this year. Each month unfolds with delight. The writers relax into the cycle of their time here, creating community around the exquisitely crafted meals, watching the light change over Cook Inlet, spotting sandhill cranes and moose, identifying the plants that pop up in the gardens beside their cabins. And they engage in the whole process of writing which includes deep thought, late night sharing of work, and time at the page creating their new worlds.

I have two announcements and one invitation to share.

The first announcement is that applications for residencies in 2024 will open on July 1st and close on August 31st. A full explanation of the application can be found at https://storyknife.org/how-to-apply/. You will find the link to the application on this page when it goes live on July 1st.

The second announcement is the creation of a new page of recognition on Storyknife’s website: the Heritage Club of Storyknife. The individuals spot lit on this page have made a commitment of a Legacy Gift to Storyknife. Their generosity will be felt by women writers far into the future and we are very grateful. If you’d like to learn more, head on over.

And an invitation: please join us for Live from Storyknife on June 20th, 7pm Alaska Time to hear work read by some of June’s writers in residence. 49 Writers co-sponsors this event with Storyknife and hosts it on their website at https://49writers.org/event/live-from-storyknife-june/. Please head on over to that page to read more about who will be reading and how to watch them live. If you want to see the amazing readings from previous months, you can find recordings on this page: https://49writers.org/recorded-events/.

We hope that you’ll have a fabulous rest of the month!

take care,
Erin Hollowell

Executive Director, Storyknife Writers Retreat

Still Springing….

I have exciting news. It’s a busy month for Storyknife and its founder Dana Stabenow! For Dana, her new book Not the Ones Dead, the 23rd book in the Kate Shugak series, has just released. For Storyknife, Dana had offered a challenge to match her $6,000 commitment to a fellowship and travel scholarship. We’ve raised $2500 toward that goal in just two weeks.

This weekend, we had a wonderful addition to the challenge: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, amazing mecca to all things literary, has jumped in to double the challenge! They will match another fellowship and travel scholarship.

We’re going to give ourselves a little more time to do this – but we’re now aiming for $12,000 by May 15th! We need to raise about $9,500 in the next four weeks to succeed. Please help us. If you are a fan of Dana’s work, help support her dream – Storyknife, which provides the gift of time and space to write that Dana received so early in her career from Hedgebrook.

You could be supporting ANOTHER incredible writer like Dana Stabenow! If you’d like to dedicate your donation to Dana, or to anyone else who has positively impacted your life, please let us know on the donation form.

Thank you Dana and all of the fine folks at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona. And thank you to the wonderful people who have already gotten the ball rolling by donating. We hope you’ll be next to support the amazing women writers of Storyknife.

Take care,

Erin
Storyknife Executive Director

PS If you want to read about an amazing poet that was in residence for the first two weeks of this month – please join us in congratulating Denise Lajimodiere, North Dakota’s first Native American poet laureate. It was our honor to host her here at Storyknife.

Also, please join us for the first online Storyknife Live event, featuring all of the April Writers on April 27th! More info to come!

Support Women Writers in our Spring Challenge

Spring into!

Right this moment, there are six women writers in residency at Storyknife. Six women bringing words into the world from the quiet and safety of their own cabins. We can’t wait to read what they are creating!

To kick off the residency season, Founder Dana Stabenow is issuing a challenge to match the fellowship and travel scholarship funds that she donates each year. Storyknife fellowships are $5000 to support one writer while in residency. Dana also offers a $1000 scholarship to support the travel of one resident. If you’d like to read more about the other fellowships currently being offered you can check them out here.

If you’d like to sponsor a fellowship, please let me know at ehollowell@storyknife.org. Sponsors of a fellowship are encouraged to specify what kind of writer they’d like to support, name the fellowship, and when possible meet with their fellows. It’s a wonderful way to know that you’re making a difference in a woman writer’s life.

This April, Dana is challenging us to raise $6,000 to match her annual donation. A donation in April not only honors Storyknife’s Founder and her continued support but ALSO will support a woman writer putting her heart on the page.

If you’d like to dedicate your donation to Dana, or to anyone else who has positively impacted your life, please let us know on the donation form.

We’re very excited to kick off the year, planting the seeds of good writing that will undoubtedly blossom into good reading for all of us and a more joyful and hopeful world.

Support Women Writers in our April Fellowship Challenge!

If you prefer to donate by check, please send your donation to Storyknife, PO BOX 75, Homer, AK 99603.

take care and stay safe,
Erin
Executive Director of Storyknife