Tattooed Lady History

A lovely tattooed lady

Join me at Woodland Pattern Books in Riverwest  on Dec. 9th at 7pm.

I'll be giving a short presentation about tattooed ladies as part of their New Prose Series (check out their website for more info: http://www.woodlandpattern.org/)

The event is free and open to the public, and Woodland Pattern will have copies of the book to sell!

Woodland Pattern books is located at 720 E. Locust St. in Milwaukee.

Yes, there has been a delay. The Tattooed Lady will be here in less than one month- first week in December.
You can still pre-order via Amazon.com, which is kindly sending out little emails recommending it to people who have bought other tattoo books.

New tattoos this summer.

You can even browse through a few selected pages!

I'm in the process of planning two book signings at the beginning of December, more details to follow. One will definitely be at Woodland Pattern Books in Milwaukee on Dec. 9th. I will be talking as part of their Prose Series and signing books.

I think there will also be something at Carroll University in Waukesha in March for Women's History Month.

Enjoy the random new tattoo picture from this summer!

Amelia Osterud

Amelia Klem Osterud & James A. Levine

Wednesday, October 7  |  5:30 - 7:00 PM

Venue: Wisconsin Studio/Overture

Presenter(s): Amelia Klem Osterud, James A. Levine

An event featuring two wildly diverse books: James A. Levine’s novel The Blue Notebook, a story about a fifteen-year-old girl sold into sexual slavery in Mumbai, and The Tattooed Lady: A History by Amelia Klem Osterud, on women who made sideshow livings by displaying their bodies onstage in an era when even a bit of ankle was considered scandalous. This promises to spark a provocative conversation about women who, by choice or not, do work that puts them on the fringe of society -- and about the economic forces that foster such "work."
Bookseller: University Book Store
Category(s): Fiction, International, Society & Politics, Work

I was invited to talk on a panel with Anna Friedman Herlihy (exhibit curator) Glen Davies (banner muralist) at Intuit (Outsider art museum in Chicago) for their upcoming exhibit: Freaks & Flash on Tattoo Flash and Circus Banners on Saturday, Sept. 26th @ 3pm.

Free and open to the public

Intuit will host a panel discussion with experts on tattoo history and circus banners and performers. The panelists are Freaks & Flash co-curator, Anna Friedman Herlihy; Amelia Klem Osterud, author of the forthcoming book The Tattooed Lady: A History (Nov. 2009, Speck Press); and former circus traveler turned artist, Glen Davies.

The exhibit itself runs:

September 11, 2009 - January 9, 2010 Opening Reception: Friday, September 11, 5-8pm Intuit is pleased to present Freaks & Flash, featuring artwork from the heyday of tattooing as a Western folk art. Tattoo flash (the design drawings for tattoos) will be combined with sideshow banners depicting tattooed performers and acetate stencils used for transferring tattoo designs on to the skin. From the early days of tattoo shops at the turn of the twentieth century until the beginnings of the tattoo "Renaissance" in the late 1960s and early 1970s, tattooing reflected a wide range of styles and motifs from the mundane to the extraordinary. From the work of "scratchers" to those who bridged the boundary between folk and fine art, the exhibit will offer a glimpse into the multi-faceted history of inscriptions on human skin through the artifacts left behind.

I'll be at ALA on Monday, July 13th, at booth 949 (Fulcrum Press) to talk up the book! Stop by and see me!

Circus World, early 1980s

Speaking of Baraboo- the Circus Parade is almost here! The wagons are leaving Baraboo (I think) July 6th, and will arrive in Milwaukee July 8th for a circus at the lakefront. July 12th is the parade, then they all head back to Baraboo.  I am hoping for good weather for both the circus and especially the parade... good turnout means they'll come back next year.

The book is now up on Speck's website:
http://www.speckpress.com/books/tattooed_lady.html
With a nice write up:

Living in a time when it was scandalous even to show a bit of ankle, a small number of courageous women covered their bodies in tattoos and traveled the country, performing nearly nude on carnival stages. These gutsy women spun amazing stories for captive audiences about abductions and forced tattooing at the hands of savages, but little has been shared of their real lives. Though they spawned a cultural movement—almost a quarter of Americans now have tattoos—these women have largely faded into history.

The first book of its kind, The Tattooed Lady uncovers the true stories behind these women, bringing them out of the sideshow realm and into their working class realities. Combining thorough research with more than a hundred historical photos, this social history explores tattoo origins, women’s history, and circus lore. A fascinating read, The Tattooed Lady pays tribute to a group of unique and amazing women whose legacy lives on.

In the meantime, I continue to proof the proofs! And it looks amazing...

Now you can become a fan of my forthcoming book on Facebook!
Check it out:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Amelia-Klem-Osterud-The-Tattooed-Lady-A-History/74944228596