On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch – Writing, Film, Television and More!

Lois Weber: More than a Writer-Director She’s the Auteur Activist of Early Cinema – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, April 2025

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Her Career Outlasted the Hays Code: Kathryn Scola – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, March 2025

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Friend and editor Anna Weinstein’s book on Shonda Rhimes make Bloomsbury’s Essential New Books list for film students

Congratulations to my friend and editor Anna Weinstein!

The first book in her “Screen Storytellers” series, which is on The Works of Shonda Rhimes is on Bloomsbury’s Essential New Books list for film students.

I’m proud to have a chapter in the book discussing the idea that while most people think Rhimes is ‘only’ a feminist, her writings have always expressed an even wider humanist philosophy.

I can only hope that my upcoming The Works of Susan Harris will make the same list. Look for it in late 2026.

Women Making History Series now in Paperback!

I’m excited to announce that the book series I co-edit with my dear friend and colleague Peg Lamphier – Women Making History – are now available in paperback which makes the books more affordable for birthday and holiday gift-buying!

Our original publisher – ABC-Clio – (who published our award-winning Women in American History: A Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia and Document Collection [4 volumes]) mostly sold to libraries, so hardbacks were the way to go, but Bloomsbury recently purchased them. That means ALL our previous biographies are now in paperback. That makes them much more affordable to our friends and colleagues.

The even cooler first news is that in the last few weeks 2 more of the biographies we shepherded saw publication – one on Dolores Huerta and the other on Sally Ride — so congratulations to authors April Tellez and Jackie Perez! And these 2 new ones will be in paperback about 18-24 months after release.

Here is the email blast Bloomsbury sent out to their list of 20,000 School librarians, 10,000 Academic librarians, and 9,000 public librarians for Women’s History Month:

That means our earlier co-written books: American Women’s History on Film and The Civil War on Film are also in paperback!

But never forget even in hardback it’s worth reminding folks to ask their local libraries to stock a copy so everyone in the neighborhood can read about these accomplished women.

Finally, we have 3 more books in the works right now on Bessie Coleman, Maria Tallchief, and Frida Kahlo with a few more in the works.

Dr. Rosanne Welch Interview, Screenwriting Research Network Conversations [Video]

I sat down for an interview about my time as Chair of the Screenwriting Research Network during our last conference in Olumouc, Czech Republic, last September.

I had the chance to discuss the conference we held at Stephens College the year before, how we chose the theme, and the benefit of being a smaller group where real connections have been made. This is part of a series of oral histories on past created by the Executive Council which have morphed into these “Conversations”recorded by EC member Lucian Georgescu (with Camera and editing by Marius Donici).

You can see several other members interviewed on the SRN YouTube Channel as well.

Rosanne Interviewed About the History of Teen Idols on Cosmoetica #438: On Teen Idols [Video]

Rosanne Interviewed About the History of Teen Idols on Cosmoetica

I enjoyed discussing the phenomenon and possible importance of Teen Idols across the generations with Dan Schneider for his Cosmoetica YouTube channel. Of course, he found me thanks to my book on The Monkees ( whose subtitle is “Teenagers, Television, and American Pop Culture”) and I was happy to report on the research I had done for the book about the rise of the term “teen ager” (post WWII when high school became mandatory), those who came before the Monkees (from Sinatra to James Dean to Bobby Sherman), and those who’ve come after (from the Jackson Five to Leonardo DiCaprio to Miley Cyrus).

I shared the panel with Fred Velez who has written about Monkees fandom and together we all delved into what participating in such fandom offers the audience, how streaming and the internet have changed such fandom, and who will be the most remembered teen idols of the century.

Enjoy the watch and listen

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Julia Crawford Ivers: From Rich Widow to Writer-Director – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, February 2025

Born just 4 years after the end of the Civil War in Boonville, Missouri, the scripts Julia Crawford Ivers wrote (and sometimes directed) often tackled issues of prejudice. After the war, her family emigrated to Los Angeles. As with many female creatives in this era, Ivers used her screenplays to highlight women’s issues from forced marriage to domestic abuse to prejudice.

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New Book: “Shaping Global Culture through Screen Writing: Women Who Write Our Worlds” Edited by Rose Farrell and Rosanne Welch – Available September 2025 [Books]

Shaping Global Culture through Screen Writing: Women Who Write Our Worlds by Rose Farrell and Rosanne Welch

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Excited to announce that the book I co-edited with my Australian friend, and Screenwriting Research Network colleague, Rose Ferrell will be available in Sept. 2025. Shaping Global Cultures Through Screenwriting: Women Who Write Our Worlds is a collection of international writers focused on women and the power of their words to change their worlds.

You’ll learn about the importance of the female perspective in the animated Bluey, female rap artists in North-West Nigeria, the desire-driven filmmaking of Celine Sciamma, the queer utopias of Miranda July’s Kajillionaire, translating blindness and homelessness into video games, and the indigenous roots of Latin American women’s cinema – and so much more. We’re excited about spreading these stories and publishing many first time chapter authors.

I want to thank Rose Ferrell for taking this editing journey with me and doing most of the heavy-lifting. Watch out for more info on when the book is available for purchase – and remember asking your local or college library to order a copy is just as good as buying one yourself.

Dolores Huerta: A Life in American History by April Tellez, Edited by Dr. Rosanne Welch an Dr. Peg Lamphier [Books]

Series co-editor Peg Lamphier and I are proud to congratulate author April Tellez on the publication of her first book with our “Women Making History” series from Bloomsbury. Dolores Huerta: A Life in American History is now available from their website and can be ordered from any independent bookseller you frequent. It’s a great time to read about a woman who is “one of the great contributors to American history, labor history, women’s history, and the history of activism, social justice, and human rights. Here, her story is told in a way that captures the full span of her life and achievements.”

April’s background as a history professor at Mt. San Antonio College who specializes in Chicanx, Native American, Women’s histories and in cultural resistance to settler colonization made her the perfect author for this book. We thank her for all the time and dedication it took the research (during Covid) and can’t wait for new readers to learn more about Dolores Huerta and all she’s done for fairness and equality for workers. She deserves her own national holiday!

Dolores Huerta: A Life in American History by April Tellez, Edited by Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier

Buy Today at Bloomsbury Press | Bookshop.org | Amazon

A comprehensive exploration of Dolores Huerta’s contributions to U.S. labor history and her life’s work of advocating for systematically disadvantaged and marginalized groups.

An iconic figure in American civil rights and one of the most influential labor rights activists of the 20th century, Huerta overcame great odds to make enduring contributions to social justice and advocacy, particularly for farm workers and the Latino community. Organized chronologically, this volume offers the opportunity for readers to better understand Huerta’s life. From her early beginnings in California’s central valley, to her influential leadership on the United Farm Workers (UFW) union, to her work educating on women’s issues and advocating for Latino representation in politics, readers will explore the many efforts that made Huerta’s influence enduring. Beyond a biography, this book places Huerta center stage in the context of American history, looking closely at the Chicano civil rights movement in California; social restrictions, disenfranchisement, and various forms of segregation in 1950’s and 1960’s America; historical labor strikes and boycotts; key legislation and political figures active in labor rights, and more. Huerta is one of the great contributors to American history, labor history, women’s history, and the history of activism, social justice, and human rights. Here, her story is told in a way that captures the full span of her life and achievements.

Buy Today at Bloomsbury Press | Bookshop.org | Amazon

Meet Beulah Marie Dix: Award-Winning Scholar and Anti-War Novelist Turned Screenwriter – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, January 2025

Born on Christmas Day in 1876 in Massachusetts, Dix and her family lived in various cities around the historic state until she moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to study English and History at Radcliffe College. There she became the first female to be granted the Sohier Literary Prize, for the best thesis of a Harvard or Radcliffe student. From there it seemed a quick move into the world of writing.

Dix began with books about her favorite subject – the history that surrounded her in Massachusetts. In 1899, at the age of 23, she published Soldier Rigdale: How He Sailed in the Mayflower and How He Served Miles Standish. Her first play, A Rose of Plymouth Town ran for a month in 1902, followed by The Road to Yesterday, which ran for 8 months in 1907. Altogether Dix wrote 18 books and 5 plays before moving into the new world of film.

Read Meet Beulah Marie Dix: Award-Winning Scholar and Anti-War Novelist Turned Screenwriter

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