Hedgebrook

Sadiya is already an accomplished writer.

Her work has appeared in Longreads, Hayden's Ferry Review, Poets.org, and elsewhere, and she has received fellowships from the Mesa Refuge, Hedgebrook, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference.

But she is also at an interesting threshold in her writing life.

Her first full-length collection, Understory, was a finalist for the 2025 National Poetry Series and is still making its way towards publication.

Every single day, she worked to continue pushing this country and the fates of women around the world forward into a future where we can strive to be truly equal.

I first had the honor of meeting Gloria at the Hedgebrook Women Writers Retreat here in Washington State.

It was the mid-2000s.

It was long before I came to Congress.

Hedgebrook is an amazing literary nonprofit whose mission is to support visionary women writers from around the world whose stories and ideas shape our culture now and for generations to come.

At that time I was on the board when I met Gloria and I later went on to be on a newly formed creative advisory council along with Gloria and many other Luminary writers.

I'll be honest, when we first met, I was pretty starstruck.

The kinder means children, church and kitchen, of course.

Story Knife is the brainchild of founder Dana Stabenow.

Dana went to Hedgebrook, which is another women's writing residency, and she thought to herself, I want to duplicate this.

Now...

Flash forward 25 years, she had land, and I came on board, and we raised the funds to build six cabins and one main house.