Summer is slipping past us. At Storyknife, we’ve been hosting a new writer in residence each month. In June, Mairéad Byrne stayed in the Frederica cabin and drafted new poetry. July found Megan Donnelly there writing up a storm. Bea Chang drove up the Al-Can from Seattle for her residency in August. We have one more residency in September with Ruby Hansen Murray.

Needless to say, Dana and I have been busy. In addition to residents, we’ve been working with the folks who surveyed and staked out the building pads for the main house and the six cabins. Today, they are starting to put the driveway in and the infrastructure so that we can build next year. We’ve been writing grants and raising funds.

We are still glowing about the generosity of all people who donated to make Eva’s House a reality. After the fundraiser closed, we received a check in the mail from Thomas Clarke, a childhood friend of Eva’s. He understood that the donation-matching was over, but wanted to add his contribution to help in any way. We were so touched that we reached out to Thomas and his mother Sylvia to find out more about their connection with Eva.

Thomas wrote, “Eva and I attended school together, from kindergarten through graduating from Silver Creek Central High in 1981 together.  I cannot remember not knowing her!” He recounted that she was independent, thoughtful, unconventional, intelligent, nonconformist. This certainly sounds like the Eva we knew as an adult. He concluded, “Eva valued the old European values of family, honesty, loyalty and respect for others taught by her parents through the way they lived.”

Sylvia Clarke, Thomas’s mother, was good friends with Eva’s mother, Asja. She recalled, “Eva came back to Silver Creek to do a reading in our local library from one of her books.  I contacted the high school librarian who arranged for Eva to lecture to the creative writing classes while she was here.  We made a beautiful display of her works in the school library. The students loved her.  The evening reading in the public library was well attended.” Eva’s friends know of her enjoyment of making traditional Latvian bread. Sylvia wrote, “I learned to make their Latvian black bread with them (Eva and her sister, Mara) in their Mom’s kitchen.  Asja would always say ‘knead it harder, longer’ to Eva, Mara & me.  Their father said, ‘No one will need braces;  the black bread will make strong, straight teeth.’”

We hope that Eva’s spirit of generosity and respect for others will live on in the main house dedicated to her memory. Thank you Thomas for donating towards building it and to the one-hundred and ten other people who donated as well. And a most sincere thank you, again, to Peggy Shumaker and Joe Usibelli for donating $2 for every $1 raised in that campaign. Because of the vision and benevolence of all you, Storyknife is moving forward.

We still have a ways to go, so if you want to join the amazing people listed on our “Support” page, please feel free to donate through Paypal or send a check. Even though summer is slipping through our hands, the foundation we’re building for Storyknife is solid, and we need your help!

PS. YES! That is earth-moving equipment on the Storyknife lot!!!!

Iliamna on a winter day.

It’s been a cold and icy winter here in the Homer, but we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to bring Storyknife together. More than ever, women’s stories matter! Our writing can change the world.

A reminder of IMPORTANT DATES:

APPLY:

January 27 is the deadline for applications for the 2017 residency period of June, July, August, and September. The link is: https://storyknifewritersretreat.submittable.com/submit. The application process is straight-forward and your writing sample is the most important part. Please apply and pass this information along to any women writers you know that could use a month to concentrate on their work. Let Storyknife give you the time and space to craft your words.

SUPPORT:

February 14 is approaching, and we’re still trying to raise the funds to build the main house of Storyknife to be named after Eva Saulitis. Peggy Shumaker and Joe Usibelli have been so generous to match your donations two dollars for ever one you donate! We’ve made great strides toward raising the money for Storyknife, but we won’t get there without your help. We’re in a new year, and all of your donations will be tax deductible. Please consider donating either by sending a check to Storyknife at our PO Box 75, Homer, AK 99603 (be sure to write “Eva’s House” on the comment line) or through our digital portal on generosity.com.

When we look out over the rolling snow-covered hillside that faces Cook Inlet, with the mountains and the volcanoes in the background, we believe in the power of this place. We believe in the power of women’s voices. Do you believe in that as well? Would you be willing to be a real part of this place? We hope so.

Join us!

View from Storyknife courtesy of Kim Rogers, inaugural Storyknife resident

There are people whose lives touch yours, who are like a light along the path, a light you can follow. For me, and for so many other people, Eva Saulitis was that light. An incredible scientist, teacher, friend, writer, and genuinely generous person, Eva was one-of-a-kind. In January this year, when she died from breast cancer, grief swamped the little town of Homer, Alaska, and the waves traveled outward. Many of those mourning had never met Eva in person. They had been touched by Eva’s grace and grit, all packaged in the beauty of her writing.

There are many ways to remember Eva. For me, I remember the camaraderie of knowing each morning that the two of us were writing in our journals at the same time, looking out at the mountains across Kachemak Bay. Others remember moments in Eva’s class or in a workshop at the Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference. Others still are connected to Eva through the words she left behind, most poignantly in Becoming Earth which was published this August. I am excited to tell you of one more way for Eva’s legacy to live on.

We’d like to name the main house of Storyknife “Eva’s House.” To do so, we’re going to try to raise $250,000 by Valentine’s Day in 2017. To help us along, Peggy Shumaker and Joe Usibelli have offered to match your donations two-for-one. So, until we reach our goal of $250,000, they will be basically tripling your donation.

Here’s how to donate and triple your dollars:

• Go to our fundraising page. Generosity.com is an off-shoot of Indiegogo for non-profit organizations. You can donate securely through their page. The take 3% plus 30 cents per donation, which is comparable to PayPal.
  .
• OR send us a check so that the entire amount goes into the fund – make it out to Storyknife and send it to PO BOX 489, Homer, Alaska 99603. Please write Eva’s House on the memo line so that we know what fund to credit.

Then watch this page for updates on the funds raised. Please share this on social media, through email, and word of mouth. Women’s stories are important, now more than ever. Let’s make Eva’s House and Storyknife happen!

Earlier in October, I attended the Alliance of Artist Communities Conference in Portland, Oregon. It was an incredible experience to spend three days with the leaders of artist and writers’ residencies. Such residencies take so many different forms, and yet at the heart of each is the conviction that the stories we tell through art and writing are important and have the capacity to change our culture and heal individuals.

I’d like to tell you a little about what I learned at the conference and how it relates to the way Storyknife is unfolding. The conference began with an incredible poem by Washington Poet Laureate Elizabeth Woody followed by a keynote address by the incomparable Lidia Yuknavitch.  Lidia spoke of her bent path to published writer, and reminded all of us that we don’t know who will be the next important voice, that stories come from every quarter, and that art and story are a way to make sense of the world and form community.

In the many sessions I attended, I learned about raising money (tough during the current economic climate), strategic plans, boards, legacy giving, place-based foundations, “green” building, supporting writers in residence, creating equity, and developing a supportive community. Some of what I came away with is very nuts-and-bolts, but I also have pages and pages of notes highlighting what those of us behind the scenes at Storyknife are already doing and how to do it better (and maybe faster).

More than ever, I see Storyknife as a social transformation organization, one that will create space for women’s writing and a community which shares in their dreams. Women’s stories are of the utmost importance, and our culture has yet to effectively recognize that.

Over the past few years, Dana has fostered an idea. Over the past six months, Dana and I have taken that idea and turned it into concrete plans and budgets. Everything I learned at the Alliance of Artist Community Conference leads me to believe that Storyknife is not only important, but that we have put down a strong foundation.

All of us can help make Storyknife a reality. We’ve updated our Support page, and I’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to support the building of Storyknife. There is room for big gifts and small, one-time support and ongoing. Or pledge now via email so that we can remind you in a month or two that you also want to help foster women’s writing. By supporting Storyknife, you can build a culture where women don’t have to fight for the legitimacy of their stories. Let’s get moving down the road to the moment when I can post a photo of Dana with her shovel breaking ground at Storyknife. Our builder, Scott, is only waiting for us to give him the go.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or ideas.

The dust is settling after the selection process for our first resident. Behind the scenes, the folks at Storyknife are starting to build the foundation of documents, timelines, and budgets that will allow us to launch a fully-formed fundraising campaign to secure the money to build the entire residency.

In order to do this, we’ve asked some dynamic  women to be part of the Storyknife Advisory Council. These advisers will help us by answering questions that arise as we move forward. They are a diverse and incredible group, and we are so proud that they’ve agreed to help us. Over the next few months, we’ll be featuring “Get to Know the Advisory Council” spots on the blog.

The second one will launch tomorrow. The first one featured Kathleen Alcalá, and tomorrow’s will feature Ernestine Hayes.

Meanwhile, it has become summer here on Kachemak Bay. Wild roses and lupine are blooming, gardens are starting to look promising, and we’ve all got sun in our eyes and dirt under our fingernails.

Introducing the first Storyknife Advisory Council:
Kathleen Alcalá
Debby Dahl Edwardson
Charlotte Fox
Katherine Gottlieb
Ernestine Hayes
Arlitia Jones
Janie Leask
Nancy Lord
Paula Martin
Hilary Morgan
Katrina Pearson
Peggy Shumaker
Sherry Simpson
Carol Swartz