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Making Contact

Many people email Starhawk with comments on her work, praise and thanks, condemnation, questions, requests, and invitations. Starhawk has understandably chosen to not have a public email address. She works very hard as a writer, teacher, speaker, and activist, and often travels for months at time—if she answered all her mail and fulfilled all requests, she wouldn't have time for her own work.

You can post messages to Starhawk via her blog, www.starhawksblog.org, or her Facebook page. She may not be able to personally answer, but she might.

On this site, incoming emails actually go to Mer, her booking agent and business assistant. Mer (also a busy woman) will answer messages of a business nature, such as event bookings, media interviews, reprint and copyright questions, translations, and so on. With regret, she is not able to answer personal questions or requests (but you might find useful leads in our FAQs, below). Terrapin, Starhawk's webmaster, can answer questions of a technical nature or problems with this web site. We're all grateful if you don't send us jokes, diatribes, petitions, nor add us to your mailing list. Thanks!

Click here to email Mer with business messages
.

Click here to email Terrapin with technical messages
.


Booking an Event with Starhawk

We are glad to consider invitations for Starhawk to speak, teach workshops, and create ritual. Please email a brief, specific proposal directly to Mer, stating what you have in mind, where, and when. Ask Mer for Starhawk's fee schedule, requirements, and current list of topics. We also suggest you check her calendar page to see if the date is even possible.

Starhawk receives many invitations, and multiple factors go into creating her final schedule. Here are a few of them: We try to cluster her events regionally, so please indicate if you're flexible in your dates. (Requests for appearances in distant corners of the globe may need a lot of patience!) Event organizers usually pay travel expenses and provide meals and lodging. While Starhawk largely earns her living from speaking and teaching, she does many benefit events for social change groups and spends much of her time training activists without charge or for reduced fees. If you believe your group or event falls into this category, please tell us why and we can negotiate. Otherwise, look to her fee schedule. Finally, it may take time to get a definite answer to any invitation, so patience and gentle persistence are helpful.


Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I'm a journalist and would like to interview Starhawk, obtain press photos, or verify some details. OR I'm a community radio host and hope to interview her next Tuesday. OR I'm a magazine publisher and want to reprint one of her essays.

A: Please contact Mer: mer@starhawk.org.

Q: I want to quote some of Starhawk's published work in a web page/publication I'm making. Can I get copyright permission?

A: With proper attribution, very short quotes may be used in work that is educational and "not-for profit." Longer quotes, or anything that is sold or otherwise "for-profit" needs written permission. For quotes from archived essays, posts, and talks (works that are not published in one of her books), contact Mer. Copyrights of the various books are handled by the original publishers, and permissions need to be requested directly from their permissions dept. We appreciate receiving a copy of publications that use Starhawk's writings; her archives are collected by the library of the Berkeley Graduate Theological Union. Please contact Mer to mail.

Q: I'm about to publish a book. Would Starhawk write me a blurb for the cover? OR I want to send Starhawk my 2000-page manuscript for feedback.

A: Starhawk gets many requests for endorsements. She tries to read at least some of these books, when her own work and schedule permit. But please understand there are no guarantees. With this caution in mind, you may contact Mer for a mailing address. Galleys or manuscripts have a better chance of being read by virtue of their ability to sit on a desk, instead of competing with hundreds of daily emails. Please do not send big electronic files unless specifically requested.

Blurb requests are usually part of the publishing process, so please let us know the name of your publisher and the deadline for your blurbs, or if you are self-publishing.

We understand that all writers are excited about completing their new manuscripts. If she is able to read your work, Starhawk, a professional author, will assume that you are a serious writer in search of an honest response. She may be painfully realistic in her comments. It's not always easy to hear constructive critique, but it is a necessary part of being a real writer. To writers of fiction and drama, Starhawk recommends two books: Story, by Robert McKee, and The Writer's Journey, by Christopher Vogler. Although they are primarily aimed at screenwriters, they are excellent teachers of structure for novelists as well. She suggests that you might also look for an editor to work with. Every writer needs an editor—and these days, publishers won't look at anything that isn't already strong and good to go.

Q: I'm building a web page. May I have permission to put a link to Starhawk's web page on it? Would you add my link to your site?

A: You may put a link to Starhawk's home page (or any other www page you like) on your site. You don't need permission. We're very sparing in adding links to Starhawk's site, in an effort to keep it from sprawling. Also, we rarely have the time to check out the many other web sites in order to recommend them. If you are looking for a place to announce your page to Pagans, you might want to check out the Reclaiming "Add Your Voice" public message board at www.reclaiming.org.

Q: Can you help me with a school paper I'm writing? Please tell me all about....

A: Sorry, no. Starhawk, who once taught college (and on occasion still does), believes that students should do their own research. It's part of the learning process! (Emailing to ask Starhawk your basic questions does not constitute research.) We suggest you start by reading her books and essays that pertain to your subject.

Q: I'm a graduate student doing original research in an area close to Starhawk's work. I'd like to interview her. OR I want to send her my dissertation.

A: On occasion, and with plenty of notice, Starhawk might be able to fit in a short interview with a grad student. Contact Mer to ask. A better route might be to take one of her workshops, such as Earth Activist Training, and chat during lunch-breaks. Starhawk is not able to read or comment on theses or dissertations. However, if your dissertation makes extended use of her work, we'd be interested in a final copy for our archives, collected at the Berkeley Graduate Theological Union (for some future researcher!). Please contact Mer to send.

Q: I need Starhawk's counsel on a personal problem. OR I'm having this psychic issue... OR Can Starhawk heal my back problem? OR Can she visit my dying friend? OR My soon-to-be ex-husband is challenging my child custody because I'm a Witch...

A: Starhawk strongly feels that people experiencing problems—emotional, physical, magical, legal, or whatever—should seek help from skilled people in their home communities, face-to-face. Please take responsibility for your own needs and look for a good advisor near you, then follow through with action. Many helping professionals are Pagan themselves, or are open to the positive values of Paganism, so if that perspective is important to you, ask around to find the right person. Some networking tips: Check the Reclaiming www.reclaiming.org "Resources" page to help find a therapist/healer/priestess in your community. Reclaiming Witchcamp communities are also a good source of networking. Covenant of the Goddess may have some leads. Many Pagans in different regions have started local referral networks (check bookstores and Pagan magazines, or do web search.) Local Unitarian churches often have a CUUPS chapter.

Anyone experiencing discrimination because of their religion needs solid legal advice. Try your local ACLU for starters. We also recommend the Lady Liberty League, run by Circle Sanctuary in Wisconsin. Also look for these books: "Pagans and the Law: Understand Your Rights" and "The Practical Pagan: Commonsense Guidelines for Modern Practitioners," both by attorney Dana D. Eilers ("licensed attorney in three states [who has] practiced law for nearly 20 years.…a Witch and a modern Goddess worshiping woman"). Published by New Page Books www.newpagebooks.com.

Q: Can Starhawk cast a spell for me?

A: No. She does not cast spells for or about other people, and instead suggests that the most powerful spell is one you do for yourself.

Q: I want to learn how to be a Witch.

A: One good place to start is to read Starhawk's books, especially The Spiral Dance and The Twelve Wild Swans. Actually do the exercises! She rarely teaches beginner classes anymore, except as part of the Earth Activist Trainings. There are many other great priestesses teaching; check out the Reclaiming website for regional classes and Witchcamps (week-long magic intensives). There are also useful Pagan resources on the net where you can meet teachers and potential circlemates—for example, the Covenant of the Goddess web site.

Other general wisdom for beginners: Understand that Paganism is a spiritual practice of connection, not a get-what-you-want-quick scheme. Be in Nature as much as possible; Nature is our "sacred text." Read widely, read smart (that is, test what you hear and read—there's a lot of garbage in print). Trust your own intuition, but also beware of projecting fears and prejudice. Practice "deep listening within." You are your own highest spiritual authority; respect and hear others, but don't abdicate your power.

Q: I want to work with Starhawk in person.

A: Keep an eye on her calendar page, to see if she is doing any workshops near you (schedule is updated regularly, and sometimes events come and go quickly). A simple booksigning event is an easy way to say hello. Something like a Reclaiming Witchcamp that she's teaching at, or an Earth Activist Training, give an extended opportunity to connect. Or you can volunteer in one of the many national or Bay Area political causes that she works with.

Q: I just want to offer my appreciation for all her amazing work in the world, great writing, clear analysis...

A: Thank you! We can't always respond, but it's nice to hear, and we do pass on the gist to Starhawk.

Q: I want to let you know how awful I think Starhawk is, why she's wrong, and anyway she's a traitor ...

A: Thanks for sharing, Mr. Bush. How's Dick doing these days?

Q: I'm a Pagan and I don't understand why Starhawk messes around with that grubby political stuff... OR I'm a committed leftie and I don't understand why Starhawk has to include that woo-woo spiritual stuff...

A: People who've only read her first book, or who haven't read her at all, often don't realize that Starhawk's life work is the fertile interaction of these two areas. For her perspective, see "Toward an Activist Spirituality" on this web site, the "Spirit and Action" chapter in her book Webs of Power, and indeed, most of her writing.



All pages copyright ©2002 -2012 Starhawk. Site by Terrapin -- all rights reserved.