'Love Letters' Film Premiere & Panel Discussion

Western Washington University in partnership with CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival will host “‘Love Letters’: A Film Screening and Conversation with Catharine R. Stimpson, Elizabeth Wood, and Greta Schiller,” in celebration of International Women’s Day, on Friday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage. 

The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited with advanced registration and tickets required. Ticketing via the WWU PAC Box Office will be open from Monday, January 22, 2024, until the venue reaches capacity. Tickets can be obtained online, or by visiting or calling the WWU PAC Box Office. For more information about ticketing, please contact the WWU PAC Box Office at (360) 650-6146. 

“Love Letters” follows the remarkable love story of professor and feminist scholar Catharine R. Stimpson and musicologist Elizabeth Wood, and includes the story of Wood’s landmark 1970s legal victory in Australia to gain custody of her children. Both women, now in their 80s, recall a time when the desire to live authentically and openly, and to love unapologetically, was itself a radical act. Wood and Stimpson are motivated to tell their story now, as once again a younger generation rises to battle the forces of the patriarchy that seek to suppress their fundamental human rights. The screening will be followed by a moderated panel discussion featuring both the main subjects of the film, Stimpson and Wood, and the award-winning film director and producer Greta Schiller.  

This event is sponsored by Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections; CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival; the Western Foundation; WWU’s Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and LGBTQ+ Western, and is intended for all participants, including those with apparent or non-apparent disabilities. For more information or for disability accommodation(s) (such as ASL interpretation, etc.) please contact Center for Pacific Northwest Studies Archivist Ruth Steele, at Ruth.Steele@wwu.edu or (360) 650-7747. Advanced notice is appreciated and sometimes necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs. 

[Image Description: Black and white photo of Elizabeth Wood, left, and Catharine R. Stimpson, right, at the West Side Highway docks in New York City, 1977. Both women are wearing sunglasses and smiling, posing in front of a brick background with painted graffiti partially visible behind them. Image Credit Information: Photo by Martha Nelson, courtesy of Elizabeth Wood].