Novelist Gail Tsukiyama to Speak at University of Richmond

March 7, 2002

Gail Tsukiyama, whose novels relate experiences of Asian girls and women, will speak on "Women, Work and Writing" at the University of Richmond March 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Keller Hall Reception Room. The talk is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow.

Tsukiyama was born in San Francisco to a Chinese mother from Hong Kong and a Japanese father from Hawaii. "Writing chose me," says Tsukiyama. "It came out of the need to learn about my heritage."

Her first book, "Women of the Silk," describes the lives of young women in the Chinese silk industry in the early 1900s. Although they worked 14-hour days, these women achieved a level of economic autonomy and often spurned marriage. The book was a West Coast best seller in 1991.

Since then, Tsukiyama has written four other novels, all dealing with work, family and conflict in Asian women's lives. Library Journal says she "writes with great sensory detail, allowing the reader to touch, taste and feel the world she creates." Her most recent effort, "Dreaming Water," will be published in the spring. Also an accomplished poet, Tsukiyama won the Academy of American Poets award.

The talk is the last event of the university's WILL/Women's Studies Speaker Series, which has focused on the theme, "Beyond 9 to 5: Women, Men and Work." For more information, call 804-289-8578.