Suffrajitsu.com is pleased to present these two guest reviews of the Kindle Worlds stories The Pale Blue Ribbon and The Isle of Dogs, reviewed by Val Brown, author of the Toupie Lowther – her life website. Click on the cover images below to visit the Kindle Worlds sales pages for each story! THE PALE BLUE RIBBON …
Why Persephone Wright rejects the “White Feather” campaign
In the third book of the Suffrajitsu trilogy, Christabel Pankhurst is shown encouraging the women of England to hand white feathers to “every man you see who is not in uniform”. What was the meaning of this campaign, and why does Persephone Wright reject it? In real history, the “White Feather” campaign was initiated during August …
Toupie Lowther referees a women’s fencing match (1899)
In the Suffrajitsu trilogy, May “Toupie” Lowther serves as Emmeline Pankhurst’s chauffeur and getaway driver, as well as the second-in-command of the clandestine Amazon bodyguard team. She also appears as the protagonist in the short story The Pale Blue Ribbon and as a major supporting character in the novella The Isle of Dogs. In reality, …
Edith Garrud’s role in the Suffrajitsu stories
Several Suffrajitsu reviewers have asked why Edith Garrud, who was the real-life jiujitsu instructor of the suffragette Bodyguards, seems to have been downplayed in the graphic novels. Can you comment? Tony Wolf: First of all, I should say that I’ve been learning about Edith Garrud’s life and martial arts activities for the past decade. In recent years I’ve …
BBC World Service and Newstalk Ireland interviews with Suffrajitsu writer Tony Wolf
Here are two radio interviews with Tony Wolf, covering both the real history of the suffragette Amazons and the creation of the Suffrajitsu graphic novels: BBC World Service: Newstalk Ireland:
“Suffrajitsu”: How The Suffragettes Fought Back Using Martial Arts (BBC News)
A BBC News article by Camila Ruz & Justin Parkinson. The film Suffragette, which is due for release, portrays the struggle by British women to win the vote. They were exposed to violence and intimidation as their campaign became more militant. So they taught themselves the martial art of jiu-jitsu. Edith Garrud was a tiny …
Edwardian Amazons: The English Suffragette (Kung Fu Magazine)
The Suffrajitsu media blast continues with this excellent article by KUNG FU MAGAZINE journalist Lori Ann White … Hark back to days of yore, and schoolbook pictures of the women who fought for the vote in the days leading up to the First World War. Ladies in long skirts with grim faces, marching through …
A Suffrajitsu Salon with Tony Wolf and the Obscura Society
“Remember, remember, the 5th of November …” The evening of November 5th marks the commemoration of Guy Fawkes Night in England and throughout parts of the British Commonwealth. Although originally framed as a celebration of the failure of the Gunpowder Plot conspiracy of 1605, the festival has, in more recent decades, taken on something more of an …
The Suffragettes Who Learned Martial Arts to Fight for Votes (Atlas Obscura)
This new Atlas Obscura article by writer Tao Tao Holmes highlights both the Suffrajitsu graphic novels and the real history of the suffragette Amazons, including an interview with Suffrajitsu author Tony Wolf. Here’s an excerpt: “Wolf describes himself as a ‘very staunchly feminist sort of guy,’ and while writing Suffrajitsu, he approached the women as …
“Suffragette” reviewed from the Suffrajitsu perspective
Suffragette is literally the first feature film to offer a dramatic representation of the radical women’s suffrage movement in England. As the movie has already been extensively reviewed elsewhere, and because this is Suffrajitsu.com, this review will concentrate on those areas where the plot intersects with motifs and events also represented in the Suffrajitsu graphic novel trilogy. …