Accomplished female writers from around the region and waited excitedly, clasping glasses of white wine and lemon water, to hear journalist, author and women's rights activist Gloria Steinem read excerpts from her memoir that's been 10 years in the making.

Steinem has spent the summer working on her book at a women's writing retreat, Hedgebrook. She and other Hedgebrook alumni spoke of their experiences at the 48-acre getaway at a fundraiser for the organization held recently at The Canal reception hall in Ballard.

"It's like a small little treasure," said Steinem, who introduced herself as a "feminist organizer."

"I came there not knowing I needed it," she said. "Not knowing I needed it shows how much I needed it."

Located on Whidbey Island, Hedgebrook overlooks Puget Sound on isolated forests and meadows. Only six to seven writers at a time are selected for no cost residencies of two weeks to two months.

The retreat has hosted 1,000 women writers from all over the world in all genres, ethnicities and levels of writing experience since its inception 19 years ago. And all with the same "radical hospitality," said Amy Wheeler, executive director of Hedgebrook.

Each resident has her own cottage where she has the freedom to write in solitude, gather inspiration walking through wooded paths and in the evenings join the other residents to share a "home-cooked gourmet meal," and, if they choose to, their works in progress.

"It's about unplugging from life and a just a chance to focus on her work," Wheeler told the crowd of writers. "She goes deeper into her writing and takes greater risks."

Steinem started her memoir, "America, As If Everyone Mattered," at Hedgebrook 10 years ago and has returned to work on it there for a second summer.

Called an American feminist icon for her 30-year career in political activism, Steinem has received numerous recognitions for her accomplishments in journalism and women's rights. The book, she said, is about those "on-the-road" experiences.

She read from an unfinished chapter entitled, "Wheels over Indian trails." It tells of a trip she took with a friend to Serpent Mound, a prehistoric effigy in her home state of Ohio that's been historically attributed to the Adena Indians.

Much of the book is about "discovering how little I knew, how much I want to know, and how much I need to know about the history I'm walking on," Steinem said.

The excerpt was a history lesson in itself, but also a stark realization of how much Native American culture is unknown and untaught. A subsequent piece delved into the impact Native American women had on the early women's suffrage movement.

"Feminism is memory," Steinem said. "Hopefully it will spark someone's interest in how little we know and why..."

Through poignant anecdotes recounting memories of travels with her gypsy father, Steinem revealed her vulnerability as she described her "unconventional" and impoverished life that kept her on the road, caring for her disturbed mother and "writing to an imagined home."

The speakers all credited Hedgebrook for allowing them to go deeper into their work, as it provided an invaluable and rare escape from everyday duties and distractions. The organizations' vision is based on author Virginia Woolf's belief that "giving a writer a room of her own is the greatest gift of confidence in her voice."

The fundraiser was the first event of it's kind in Seattle for Hedgebrook and is the start of an endowment campaign the organization plans to launch next year.

Though the retreat is well known internationally within the writer's community, it has struggled to gain much attention from other groups, something critical to sustaining Hedgebrook for the future, said board member Rosanne Nichols.

Co-founded by philanthropist Nancy Nordhoff in 1988, Hedgebrook evolved from a private foundation to non-profit organization in 2001. The challenge ahead is figuring out how to head financially and socially into the next few decades.

"As a country, we have not invested enough in artists or writers, especially women," Nordoff said. "There are a lot of women out there and we want to catch those stories. The only thing I know for sure is that Hedgebrook works."

To donate, learn more or apply for a residency, visit http://www.hedgebrook.org.

Rebekah Schilperoort may be reached at 783.1244 or rebekahs@robinsonnews.com