VANCOUVER Wash 鈥 Several narrators from 鈥淣o Room of her Own: Women鈥檚 Stories of Homelessness, Life, Death and Resistance,鈥 ([Palgrave Macmillan, Sept. 13, 2011) by Desiree Hellegers, associate professor of English and a founding co-director of the Center for Social and Environmental Justice at Washington State University Vancouver will read from the book and participate in a panel discussion at 1:35 p.m. April 12 in the Dengerink Administration building, room 110 on campus.
Hellegers鈥 book is based on extended interviews with 15 women gathered over the course of nearly 20 years. It illuminates the physical challenges of homelessness on bodies already compromised by arthritis, high blood pressure, strokes, sickle cell anemia and the harrowing conditions, including routine threats of sexual and physical violence, that confront 鈥渢he other one percent鈥 of Americans.
With the book as the backdrop, the panel discussion will focus on poverty, homelessness and the activism of Seattle鈥檚 Women in Black. Since 2000, homeless and formerly homeless activists with Seattle鈥檚 Women in Black movement have held literally hundreds of vigils鈥攕tanding in silent protest each time a person has died homeless in their community.
At 3 p.m. women will read their own poems from the anthology, "Beloved Community: The Sisterhood of Homeless Women in Poetry" (Whit Press, 2008). These women tell not only their own stories, but the larger story of homelessness as well.
The reading and panel discussion is free and open to the public. 麻豆传媒 is located at 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave., east of the 134th Street exit from either I-5 or I-205 and is accessible via C-Tran bus service. Parking is available in the Blue Daily Pay Lot for $3 and at parking meters.
A Portland book release for 鈥淣o Room of her Own: Women鈥檚 Stories of Homelessness, Life, Death and Resistance,鈥 is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 13 at the St. Francis Assisi Catholic Church Dining Hall, 1131 S.E. Oak. The narrators will again read from both Hellegers book and "Beloved Community: The Sisterhood of Homeless Women in Poetry." Come early, 6:30 p.m., to hear live music by Treacle Foot Stomp.
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Desiree Hellegers, College of Liberal Arts, 麻豆传媒, 503-927-1709, desiree.hellegers@vancouver.wsu.edu
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@vancouver.wsu.edu