VANCOUVER, Wash. – The book release event for “No Room of her Own: Women’s Stories of Homelessness, Life, Death and Resistance,” (Palgrave Macmillan, Sept. 13, 2011) featuring Desiree Hellegers, associate professor of English and a founding co-director of the Center for Social and Environmental Justice at Washington State University Vancouver, and six narrator-activists whose stories are featured in the collection can be seen and heard on "Women Surviving Homelessness" by the Flying Focus Video Collective during the weeks of Sept. 17 and 24 on cable TV.
“No Room of her Own: Women’s Stories of Homelessness, Life, Death and Resistance,” 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 health issues and harrowing conditions—including routine threats of sexual and physical violence.
The book earned advance praise from an eclectic mix of scholars and public intellectuals, including David Barsamian, founder and director of Alternative Radio, who wrote, "Desiree Hellegers brilliantly collates and connects the stories of disparate homeless women. We learn much about these citizens with no addresses. They have been studied to death but rarely do we hear their voices. Hellegers skillfully and with compassion weaves the tapestry of these women's testimonies. From Sweet Pea to Debra and Marlowe, their accounts of survival and dignity reveal hidden truths of gender relations and our political and social culture."
The narrators Arnette Adams, Anitra Freeman, Debra Martinson, Jessie Pedro and Delores Loann Winston, are involved in intersecting sites of activism in Seattle, including Women in Black vigils. Since the turn of the millennium, Women in Black has stood vigil for more than 400 people who have died homeless in one of the most “livable” cities in the United States. The women were filmed as they read from “No Room of her Own: Women’s Stories of Homelessness, Life, Death and Resistance” last April at a release event in Portland, Ore.
"Women Surviving Homelessness" was taped by Sara Newton and Flying Focus member PC Peri, and edited by Flying Focus member Barb Greene. It plays at the following times:
Part I
- 12:30 a.m. Sept. 18, Comcast channel 22
- 11 p.m. Sept. 19, Comcast channel 23
- 9:30 p.m. Sept. 21, Cable Access Network channel 23
Part II
- 12:30 a.m. Sept. 25, Comcast channel 22
- 11 p.m. Sept. 26, Comcast channel 23
- 9:30 p.m. Sept. 28, Cable Access Network channel 23
DVD/VHS copies of the show will be available in mid-October for a suggested donation of $11 plus $4 postage by visiting .
The Flying Focus Video Collective, a nonprofit educational organization, has been producing works since 1991. More than 700 programs dealing with public policy issues have been cablecast and shown at public screenings.
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Desiree Hellegers, College of Arts and Sciences, 503-927-1709, desiree.hellegers@vancouver.wsu.edu
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@vancouver.wsu.edu