#  Supporting Clients' Creativity and Protecting Immigrant Rights 

 





**Sarah Sentilles,** **MDiv ’01, ThD ’08**, a PEN award-winning writer and immigrant rights activist, encourages HDS students to pay attention both to where they find joy and to the needs of their communities.



 

May 16, 2025

 

 

     ![Sarah Sentilles headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-05/author_portrait_sarah_sentilles_by_vev_studios__2__1_.jpg?h=d2d02439&itok=ndU17g0R) 

Sarah Sentilles, MDiv ’01, ThD ’08



 



 

*Sarah Sentilles, MDiv ’01, ThD ’08, Writer, Self-Employed (Idaho)*

*View* [*more stories*](/community-life/career-services/alumni-career-snapshots "Alumni Career Snapshots") *on HDS alumni and their career paths.*

## Describe the work you do today:

I am a writer, teacher, critical theorist, scholar of religion, and author of many books, including *Draw Your Weapons*, which won the 2018 PEN Award for Creative Nonfiction. My most recent book, *Stranger Care: A Memoir of Loving What Isn’t Ours*, was a *New York Times* Editor’s Choice and Idaho Book of the Year. My writing has appeared in *The New York Times*, *The New Yorker*, *The Atlantic*, *Orion*, and *The Los Angeles Times*, among other publications. I’ve had residencies at Hedgebrook and Yaddo. I earned a bachelor's degree at Yale and master's and doctoral degrees at Harvard. I teach writing workshops and work one-on-one with clients to help support their art, writing, and creativity. I am also the co-founder of the Alliance of Idaho, which works to protect the human rights of immigrants. At the core of my scholarship, writing, and activism is a commitment to investigating the roles language, images, and practices play in oppression, violence, social transformation, and justice movements. I have taught at Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland State University, California State University Channel Islands, and Willamette University, where I was the Mark and Melody Teppola Presidential Distinguished Visiting Professor.

## What career advice would you offer to current HDS students?

There are so many options outside the traditional pathways of academia or ministry. Pay attention both to what brings you joy and to the needs of your community. If someone had told me I'd be a writer, leading workshops and retreats to support artists and their creativity, working at a nonprofit dedicated to immigrant rights, and living in Idaho, I would not have believed them. Follow your dreams. There is wisdom there.



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Alumni News and Profiles ](/discover-stories-about/alumni-news-and-profiles)