Heron Island by Roberta Harold
AROHO’s Ghost Ranch retreats have been the literary equivalent of blood transfusions for me, full of inspiration, challenge, learning, and fellowship. Something strange and magical happens when the wheels of my car rattle over the cattle-guard, an energizing and calming suffusion as bracing and clear as the high desert air. I’m inspired by the generosity of spirit that drove AROHO’s founders to create this amazing ‘authorizing environment’ for women whose daily lives rarely give them the support they need to find their creative voices, much less make those voices heard in the publishing world. That generosity continues to spread as those many women now give their own time and talent to serve as teachers, contest judges, workshop leaders, and facilitators of AROHO’s work. To see the work of women who have been supported and acknowledged by AROHO go out and flourish in the larger world makes me realize how vital that ‘seed capital,’ financial and otherwise, has been. AROHO is an antidote to the forces that have silenced women’s voices. Virginia Woolf would be proud.”
–Roberta Harold
