'Comfort Women' of WWII Is Topic of Talk by Former Faculty Member Evelina Galang
National award-winning author and former Old Dominion faculty member M. Evelina Galang will give a talk, "Living in the Lolas' House," at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15, at the ODU Virginia Beach Higher Education Center (Lecture Hall 244). Her appearance, which is part of ODU's Women's History Month celebration, is free and open to the public.
Since 1998, Galang has researched the lives of the surviving Filipina "comfort women," a euphemism used to describe women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. In 2002, as a Fulbright Senior Scholar in the Philippines, Galang continued her work with these women.
Her book of essays, "Lolas' House: Women Living with War," tells the stories of 15 surviving Filipina "comfort women."
She is the author of two works of fiction: "Her Wild American Self," a collection of short fiction (Coffee House Press 1996), and "One Tribe," winner of the 2004 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Prize in the Novel (New Issues Press 2006).
She is also the editor of "Screaming Monkeys: Critiques of Asian American Images" (Coffee House Press, 2003), an anthology that was awarded the 2004 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Awards Advancing Human Rights.
Galang, who was named one of the most influential Filipinas in the United States by Filipina Women's Network, directs the Creative Writing Program at the University of Miami. She received an M.F.A. degree from Colorado State University in 1994.
Her talk at the Virginia Beach Center will be followed by a reception and book signing. The lecture will be streamed live to ODU's Tri-Cities Center in Portsmouth.
ODU's Women's History Month programming continues the evening of March 15 with the keynote address by author, social critic and political activist Naomi Wolf. She will speak on the topic "What's Next for Feminism, and Why Should I Care?" at 7 p.m. in the North Cafeteria of Webb Center. Her appearance is a special program celebrating the 35th anniversary of the ODU Women's Center.
Wolf's talk is free and open to the public. Joining the Women's Center in sponsoring her appearance are the Office of Intercultural Relations and Division of Student Engagement and Enrollment Services.
Galang and Wolf's talks are among many events scheduled in March for Women's History Month. For a complete schedule of programs go to http://www.odu.edu/womenscenter.