The University of Washington, Bothell’s Dr. Julie Shayne, lecturer in the Center for University Studies and Programs and the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences program, released her new book, “They Used to Call Us Witches: Chilean Exiles, Culture and Feminism,” Dec. 28.

To celebrate its release, the university will host a book launch and author signing from 1:30-2:30 p.m. Jan. 12 on campus in UW2-030. The event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase. For questions about the event, call Annie Brelsford at (425) 352-3427.

Published by Lexington Books, the book provides readers “an informative, highly readable account of the role played by Chilean women exiles during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet from 1973-1990. Through the use of extensive interviews, sociologist Julie Shayne looks at the movement organized by exiled Chileans in Vancouver, British Columbia, to denounce Pinochet’s dictatorship and support those who remained in Chile.”

Shayne provides a readable account of this monumental movement from the perspective of Chilean women in Vancouver, B.C., allowing readers a captivating look at how organized Chileans worked to oust the dictatorship of General Pinochet.

Says Shayne, “I met some amazing women who lived through things that most of us will never experience. Rather than be shut down by the pain of exile, Chilean women worked with their communities. They used culture, music and feminism to protest the Pinochet dictatorship and encourage Canadians to support them in their efforts. It is a very inspirational story that I feel honored to document.”

Shayne is also the author of “The Revolution Question: Feminisms in El Salvador, Chile and Cuba” (Rutgers University Press, 2004). She earned her Ph.D. in sociology at the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2000. She currently lives in Edmonds.