Susan G. Butruille Writer & Creator Women's Voices series Susan presenting her workshop, “Writing the Western Landscape” at International Women’s Writing Guild, Santa Cruz Photo by Mary Carr Melkonian

Susan G. Butruille is the award-winning author of Tamarack Books' Women's Voices series: Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail (1993), Women's Voices from the Western Frontier (1995), and Women's Voices from the Mother Lode: Tales from the California Gold Rush (1998). www.tamarackbooks.com

The Oregon author’s first book was featured in the 1999 Oregon Public Broadcasting documentary, "Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail," for which Susan served as Executive Consultant and an on-air commentator. www.opb.org

Susan’s second book, Women's Voices from the Western Frontier, was a 1996 Oregon Book Awards finalist in Literary Nonfiction. Women’s Voices from the Oregon Trail and Women’s Voices from the Mother Lode won first place awards from Oregon Press Women. A contest judge said of the author’s work: “Susan Butruille’s work is important in connecting women with their voices, whether those roots are spiritual, feminist or psychological.”

Susan grew up in Colorado, where her father was in the US Forest Service and her mother was a teacher. She began her writing career with a fishing column in Alaska, and went on to write articles for such publications as the Christian Science Monitor, the Oregonian, the Washington Post, Ms. Magazine, and Redbook Magazine. She has edited two national publications, one in the needle arts, the other in training and development. Susan has written award-winning series on the Oregon Symphony Orchestra and on state trooper organizations, plus a women’s history column for The Woman’s Journal.

Susan wrote the script for a new 30-minute high-definition digital film, Bound for Oregon", now showing at the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City. Bound for Oregon brings to life in their own words the voices, stories, and experiences of four emigrants who traveled the 2,000-mile Oregon Trail in the 1840s.

The author now travels the speaking circuit for Inquiring Mind, sponsored by Humanities Washington, www.humanities.org, presenting “Abigail Scott Duniway in Washington” and ”Tea, True Womanhood and Uppity Women.” She also teaches Elderhostels.

A former trustee of the World Affairs Council of Oregon, Susan coordinates the Great Decisions Foreign Policy Discussion series in Leavenworth, Washington, where she now lives with her husband, John. She currently sings in Village Voices and directs the Leavenworth Readers Theatre production “Our Founding Mothers.” Susan and John have two sons, a granddaughter, and a grandson.

Susan's speaking and performance topics:

• Abigail Scott Duniway in Washington. A one-act solo play. Oregon Trail emigrant Abigail Scott Duniway defies Victorian convention and starts her own newspaper as a tool to win rights for women in the Northwest. “A low-key yet dramatic performance with liberal dashes of humor.” -- Oregon Press Women. A 2006-2007 Humanities Washington Inquiring Mind program.

• Tea, True Womanhood and Uppity Women. Watch out for tea parties! That’s where many women have started thinking about their lives, their own freedom, and other radical notions. Through journals, stories, songs, and readings, Susan Butruille explores dynamics designed to keep women in their places, and tell about some women who defied convention and turned toward freedom. Tea, anyone? A 2006-2007 Humanities Washington Inquiring Mind program.

• The Other Pinchot: Cornelia Bryce Pinchot, Feminist and Activist. A lively, emotional solo play featuring a leading activist of the early twentieth century who pays tribute to her husband, Gifford Pinchot, founder and first Chief of the US Forest Service.

• Marie Pantalon: The Lady Wore Pants! This costumed dramatic interpretation is based on a French-speaking miner, a character from Women’s Voices from the Mother Lode. When Susan performed in Marie’s home village of Thônes in the French Alps, the local newspaper reported: “Ce n’est plus Susan qui parle mai Marie.” (It is no longer Susan who speaks but Marie.) Susan’s screenplay, Marie Pantalon, is based on this character.

• Uppity Women of the West. A roundup of women from the West, with sotires, songs, and recipes, telling of women who defied custom and tradition with a “Yes, I can!” attitude. Emigrants, pioneers, cowgirls, ranchers, entrepreneurs, activists, and adventurers. “Super! Made the Old West come alive!” -- Elderhostel

• A Writer’s Journey Into the Wilderness. Take a hero’s journey into the labyrinth of your uncultivated and wild self, where your power and your truth lie. “What a memorable, useful workshop! I especially enjoyed your sharing your own journey through your journal, and I will use what came out of the workshop exercises.” -- Oregon Writers Colony.

• Magical Travels to Sacred Places. Stories, poems, songs, and recipes from Susan’s journeys to discover ancient hidden female spirituality from the American West to Australia, Greece, Turkey, and France.
  Bridget Smith, editor of the Historical Gazette, said: "For nearly 30 years now Butruille has been working to keep alive history of women who helped pioneer the West in this country. I find her books both informative and inspiring."

  Smith's reviews of Butruille's books:
  

  Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail, 1993
  

  Women's Voices from the Western Frontier, 1995
  

  Women's Voices From The Mother Lode, 1998