A retreat center for women in the arts, located in Shelton, Washington
Woodsy
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Home page: http://www.hypatiainthewoods.org
Posts by Woodsy
It’s Spring again in the cedar woods at Hypatia’s Holly House
8 years ago
by Woodsy
in Uncategorized
And it’s National Poetry Month! Hypatia-in-the-Woods is planning two events, both at the lovely Brilliant Moon bookstore in downtown Shelton ( Mariano Plaza at First Street and Railroad Avenue).
CELEBRATE WITH A READING at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 9, with poet Ann Batchelor Hursey of Seattle. A graduate of the Rainier Writing Workshop, Ann holds an MFA in poetry and will read from her first collection, A Certain Hold. Ann read and spoke about her Holly House residency at our Meet Hypatia! event in February and her book is on sale at Brilliant Moon. Also reading will be Carolyn Maddux, a Hypatia board member, who received her MA in poetry and the environment from the McGregor School of Antioch University. Her book, Voluntary on a Flight of Angels, is available from Hypatia Press for $15 including mailing; e-mail director@hypatiainthewoods.org to order a copy.
There will be munchies and Brilliant Moon’s special teas, and pocket poems for attenders to take away. The reading will include an open-mic opportunity for three-minute readings.
GREAT OLD BROADS FOR WILDERNESS and Hypatia-in-the-Woods join forces starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 22, to celebrate Earth Day and National Poetry Month with poetry, music and munchies at Brilliant Moon. Great Old Broads for Wilderness will describe environmental activism, channel some of the great nature poets, and host a visit from Henry David Thoreau.
Northwest poets Holly Hughes and Bill Yake will read from their work.
Holly Hughes, a resident alumna of Hypatia-in-the-Woods, is the author of the newly published chapbook Passings (Expedition Press, 2016), Sailing by Ravens (University of Alaska Press, 2014), and coauthor of The Pen and The Bell: Mindful Writing in a Busy World (Skinner House Press, 2012).
Bill Yake is author of Unfurl, Kite, and Veer (Radiolarian Press, 2010), This Old Riddle: Cormorants and Rain, Poems 1970-2003 (Radiolarian Press, 2004). His latest chapbook is a collection of poems from travels in Mongolia.
The event will also honor poets and trailbuilders from CHOICE High School. Their work, including poetry banners, can be seen in the Teresa Johnson Community Trail which follows Shelton Creek from the reservoir at Seventh and Laurel streets in Shelton to North 13th Street near Mason General Hospital.
Passings–from Dodos to O’os
Poet Holly Hughes, Hypatia 2013, has been working with Myrna Keliher at Expedition Press on a chapbook of poems about extinct birds, Passings. Holly began the collection years ago with a poem for Martha, the last passenger pigeon. That led to another and another… now the collection brings together poems about fifteen extinct birds, from the dodo to the O’o. Holly has added a preface to provide context and an afterword with information on what we can do to protect the species that remain.
The chapbook will be published in two limited editions: a trade copy bound by hand with a letterpress cover on recycled paper and a deluxe copy with covers of handmade paper and an archival slip case. You can check these out (and pre-order) at: http://expedition.press/passings/ The official book launch is at 7 p.m. March 24 at Elliot Bay Books in Seattle. She’s also reading at 7:30 p.m. April 14 at Eagle Harbor Books in Winslow and at 7 p.m. April 21 at Northwind Gallery in Port Townsend with poet Linda Bierds.
Holly will be a featured reader at the Earth Day/National Poetry Month celebration co-sponsored by Hypatia and Great Old Broads for Wilderness at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 22, at Brilliant Moon Bookstore in Shelton. Holly will be reading with Bill Yake.
As she schedules more readings this spring, she’ll post on http://hollyjhughes.com/
Bequest from Alta (Sunny) Hughes
8 years ago
Last year, we lost a staunch supporter of Hypatia, Alta (Sunny) Hughes. She left us a bequest, a lovely gesture which helps us toward financial security. We will remember her with the publication of her last collection of poems in a chapbook later this year.
Rest In Peace – Elspeth Pope
10 years ago
by Woodsy
in People of Hypatia
Hypatia-in-the-Woods’ beloved founder and director, Dr. Elspeth Pope, died peacefully, surrounded by loving family members, on Saturday, May 18. She underwent emergency surgery two weeks earlier for an intestinal blockage and made a brave attempt at recovery but found that she simply did not have the strength to fight her way back as she had several years earlier after a debilitating stroke. She leaves a startling vacancy in the world she inhabited.
A gathering to celebrate her beautiful life will be held Saturday, June 8, 2pm at St. David’s Church, 324 W. Cedar, Shelton, Washington. The gathering includes a reception in St. David’s Hall.
The board and volunteers of Hypatia are committed to continuing the program and vision to which Elspeth dedicated so much of her energy and her resources. Holly House remains a tribute to Elspeth’s beloved husband, Jim Holly; women will continue to come for their residencies in that place set apart for them to work uninterrupted.
Elspeth’s life was an inspiration. She put herself through her university studies, leaving her home province of Montreal, Quebec, to come to the U.S. in 1951. She worked in medical and university libraries before turning to teaching library and information science, frequently bumping into the “glass curtain” encountered by women in her profession. In 1983, she retired from the University of South Carolina, married Jim Holly, and moved to Olympia, Washington. The two built their home near Shelton in 1991, using windfall cedar trees from the extensive property.
Both letterpress enthusiasts, Jim and Elspeth planned to create a print shop in the cedar building that Jim had used as a workshop during their house-building project. That same year, at a book arts event in England, Elspeth met Dr. Melissa Hardie. Later, Dr. Hardie and her husband, Dr. Phil Budden, visited Jim and Elspeth and the dream of developing a U.S. branch of Hypatia Trust, which Melissa founded In Cornwall, was born.
In 1998, after Jim’s death, Elspeth decided to leave her press and printing equipment in the basement and to turn Jim’s workshop building into a cottage for residencies. She formed a board, establishing Hypatia-in-the-Woods as a nonprofit organization, and donated a portion of her property with the workshop building to the new organization. Her vision was a resource center and residency program for women in the arts, academia and business, and she knew well the need these women have to be able to complete creative or academic projects in a space away from the demands of home, work and family. She took delight in seeing a labyrinth created in memory of Melissa Hardie’s mother and a poetry trail featuring the work of Olympia poet Jeanne Lohmann, both constructed adjacent to the Holly House property.
After her retirement, Elspeth still kept her hand in the library and information world as a freelance indexer, later teaching the profession through an online university. The local Pacific Northwest chapter of the American Society for Indexing recognizes her as the “mother” of their chapter. She also travelled to the Republic of Mauritius as a consultant to assist the island nation in establishing its national library system.
She was an expert knitter, and loved reading and music. She supported literacy tirelessly, and until quite recently headed the Mason Orchard Bees team in Mason County Literacy/Sound Literacy’s annual spelling-bee frundraiser. She loved music and played the recorder with a small consort in the Olympia area, attended the symphony and Harlequin Productions live theatre, and enjoyed an extensive collection recorded music including numerous Willie Nelson recordings. Elspeth was a book artist, and taught letterpress arts and created a number of cards, poetry broadsides and books, many of them marketed to benefit Hypatia-in-the-Woods. She adored her dogs and cats, all adopted through various rescue organizations, and all named after type fonts.
Jim and Elspeth
Melissa and Elspeth
A model for her board and volunteers, Elspeth was our lodestar and our challenger. We will strive to live up to the standard she set.
You are encouraged to add your memories of Elspeth and your comments to this posting.
Her family reqeusts that any gifts go to Hypatia-in-the-Woods to support its mission. Gifts, cards and remembrances can be sent to
Elspeth Pope
c/o Hypatia-in-the-Woods
P.O. Box 58
Shelton, WA 98584
Elspeth, Elvis and the Seattle World’s Fair
11 years ago
by Woodsy
in People of Hypatia
Where were you in ’62? Were you in Seattle? Were you at the Seattle World’s Fair? Elvis was. The founder of Hypatia-in-the-Woods, Dr. Elspeth Pope, was too. Did they meet? (more…)
The Poet and the Quilter
Last Friday we launched Hypatia’s new website. At the end of that very long day I was physically exhausted, mentally drained and a little over-emotional that the new site went live. Elspeth, my host, was watching a movie and I joined her. Here is my advice — Ingmar Bergman’s Through a Glass Darkly is not a good choice if you are running on physical, mental and emotional fumes. As tired as I was, I did recognize that at least I was not as mentally ill as the main character, Karin. (more…)