Suffrage presentation is coming to library Aug. 27

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage, some of the remarkable, but often unsung, women of the Pacific Northwest will be remembered by author Mayumi Tsutakawa on Tuesday, August 27, at the Odessa Public Library. Her presentation will begin at 7 p.m. and highlights five "women warriors" in the arts and journalism whose inspiring stories reach back to the early years of our region: Pioneering photographer Imogen Cunningham, Black American jazz musician Ruby Bishop, Chinese-American artist Priscilla Chong-Jue, leftist journalist Anna Louise Strong and Native American linguist Vi Hilbert. Drawing on her own experience as an activist and writer, Tsutakawa explores how these women inspired others and changed our state and our society.

Tsutakawa is an independent writer and curator who has focused on Asian/Pacific-American history and arts. She received her MA in communications and her BA in east Asian studies at the University of Washington. She co-edited The Forbidden Stitch: Asian-American Women's Literary Anthology which received the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award.

Tsutakawa lives in Seattle.