Books – On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch

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

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

I Read A New Christmas Gift

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Book: Didion and Babitz

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Save 35% on McFarland Books – One of My Publishers is offering a 35% Discount on Their Catalog This Week!

Save 35% on McFarland Books – One of My Publishers is offering a 35% Discount on Their Catalog This Week!

Along with your other holiday shopping over this Thanksgiving weekend, I’m happy to pass along this lovely discount from McFarland Publishing, the fine folks who published two of my favorite books:

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

AND

When Women Wrote Hollywood: Essays on Female Screenwriters in the Early Film Industry

Direct from the McFarland site, From now through December 2, they are offering a full 35% off ALL of their titles with coupon code HOLIDAY24 at checkout.

See the entire McFarland Catalog

You can buy one of my books — or any other cool pop culture book you find — for yourself or anyone else on your gift list this year.

Happy Holidays!

Rosanne speaks as part of Art for Healing and Renewal, Part ar the Jacksonville Museum of Science and History, November 21, 2024, 6pm

On November 21st I’ll be in Jacksonville, Florida on a panel at the MOSH (Museum of Science and History) to discuss a chapter I wrote in the upcoming book Stories Of The Holocaust: Art for Healing and Renewal, edited by Dr. Karen Berman and Dr. Gail Humphries.

I was honored when Dr. Humphries invited me to write the opening reflection to a section in Vol. 2: On Screen and in the Gallery. Then, being me, I asked if they had a chapter on screenwriters Frances and Albert Hackett who adapted The Diary of Anne Frank from book to Pulitzer-Prize-winning Broadway play and then into the film. The editors hadn’t planned such a chapter but it sounded valuable to the collection so they commissioned me to write it. Now I’ll have the chance to tell even more people about the brilliant work of this married team of screenwriters who also gave film fans The Thin Man, Father of the Bride, Easter Parade, and It’s a Wonderful Life.

Joining Dr. Humphries:

Elizabeth Gelman, Senior Director of Arts and Cultural Programming for Creative Pinellas, previous director of The Florida Holocaust Museum (Pinellas County, Florida)

Ruth Gordon, Former social studies teacher in Miami-Dade County and founder/current advisor for Holocaust Impact Theater (Miami, Florida)

Dr. Laurence Sherr, Award-winning composer of international stature, concert producer, and professor of music, Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw, Georgia)

Dr. Rosanne Welch, Executive Director of Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Program, author and screenwriter (Los Angeles, California); also author for Reflection

Link on MOSH Site

My new book chapter in The Works of Shonda Rhimes from Bloomsbury [Book]

Order from Bloomsbury | Amazon | Bookshop.org

I’m very proud to have a chapter in this new inaugural book in the Screen Storytellers collection covering The Works of Shonda Rhimes. Edited by Anna Weinstein, an Assistant Professor of Screenwriting at Kennesaw State University, the series is designed to do one of my favorite things – bust the outdated ‘auteur’ theory by bringing attention to the writers of the stories we have loved and watched – and rewatched – all our lives.

For this collection, my chapter focuses on how Rhimes’ shows come from the Humanism ideology even moreso than simply a feminist one, though that is what many people think. But Rhimes’ hired Dan Shapiro, chair of the College of Medicine’s humanities department at Penn State Hershey, as a consultant for her first two medical dramas Grey’s Anatomy (2005–) and Private Practice (2007–13). In this way, Rhimes was able to bring the real-world philosophy of medicine to her fictional hospitals, presenting authentic depictions of humanism to her audiences. One of the things I love about research is learning new things about people/shows/events I thought I already knew well.

The other exciting thing about this inaugural book arriving is that I have signed on to edit a similar book on The Works of Susan Harris so this book is my example of what that future project will feel like when it arrives in the mail!

The Monkees Pad Show – Ep 15- MONKEES MASTER CLASS – Why The Monkees Matter with Rosanne Welch and JoeR [Podcast]

I always say I could talk about The Monkees all day – or at least for an hour, which is what I just had the privilege of doing with Joe Russo of The Monkees Pad on YouTube.

It’s especially fun to talk with folks like Joe, who know The Monkees so well – both the music and the TV show, which is more my specialty. We covered how the show got on the air (thanks to a young Grant Tinker), how so many of their counter-culture jokes made it past the censor, and why the fandom keeps growing across the generations.

If you love The Monkees individually or as a group, and if you love the TV of the 1960s, I hope you enjoy the listen.

Get Why The Monkees Matter” Today!

Available in Print and Kindle Versions

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Our Book, “Civil War on Film” Now As An Affordable Paperback! – Pre-now for August 22, 2024 Release

One of the benefits of the merger between our first publisher – ABC-Clio – and Bloomsbury Publishing is that Bloomsbury is a larger, more international company with more reach. What that means for my co-writer, Peg Lamphier and me is that our book, The Civil War on Film, will be available in paperback with a $26.95 price tag (much more accessible than the hardback version that is $63) on August 22, 2024.

So if you’ve always wanted to read what Peg and I have to say about which Civil War films are the most honestly historical (spoiler alert – it’s Glory) now’s your time to buy a copy! We were so pleased to include chapters on such great films as Friendly Persuasion (1957); Gettysburg (1993); Gangs of New York (2002); Lincoln (2012); and Free State of Jones (2016)

As they move forward they plan to release American Women’s History on Film in paperback as well so stay tuned!

The Civil War on Film at the Bloomsbury Publishing Web Site

Recognizing Female Genius by Dr. Rosanne Welch

I was doing editor rewrites on a chapter titled “Dorothy Parker: The Creative Genius Behind Film Franchise A STAR IS BORN.” To the note asking me to consider a “less hagiographic title,” I said “No”.

A quick check showed me that many, many, many male writers are called geniuses – but few women.

For instance, this article, Genius – still a country for white, middle class, heterosexual men*, notes:

“Try a quick google search of the terms “literary genius”. The same names keep appearing: William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Henry James, William Chaucer, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger, and so on.”

But I would object to J.D. Salinger. Catcher in the Rye did not move me at all – but S. E. (Susan Elizabeth) Hinton’s The Outsiders moved me and all the generations from mine through my son’s Millennial group and into the folks watching the musical on Broadway right now – while teaching us all to love the poetry of another male genius – Robert Frost. See, I’m willing to use the adjective on men when they deserve it.

So the lesson of the day is that if any writer deserves to be called genius, it’s Dorothy Parker.

Own your genius. And use it to describe other female creatives. And maybe refrain from using it on less men for once.

* Genius – still a country for white, middle class, heterosexual men, Natalie Kon-yu, The Conversation

Opportunities and Adventures in Scholarly Publishing with Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Kristine Ashton Gunnell, Claremont, CA, February 22, 2024 [Video]

Here’s the video of the presentation that my friend Kristine Gunnell and I recently made to the current History and English masters at the Claremont Graduate University campus where we both earned our Ph.D.

Surrounded by our most recent publications we discussed “Opportunities and Adventures in Scholarly Publishing”. I shared ideas for gaining your first academic credits – from doing book reviews in journals to writing entries for encyclopedias to submitting essays or chapters to anthologies and discussed creating working relationships with editors. Kristine went in-depth into working in archives when researching and writing books on very specific subjects and how to find connections in the lives of other women whose lives you are bringing to the attention of modern readers.