The power of welcome is now out!/JAM bookshop signing event
The Power of Welcome officially came out on the 11th of may this year. I was delighted when Hackney’s Jam Bookshop invited myself and co-authors Nadine Kaadan and Ramzee to do a book signing on June 3rd. I started my career in illustration with an Illustrated book - Marshland - by Gareth E. Rees. (Influx press) As with TPOW I designed the cover and interior illustrations as well as a chapter that was entirely in a comic strip format. I also dabbled in small personal comics but my career took a very different path so it feels very strange but also thrilling to come back around to book illustration and comics, I would love to do more in the future.
Jam Bookshop is run by fellow illustrator David Ziggy Greene with a focus on comics, graphic novels and beautifully designed books. I was particularly looking forward to meeting Nadine and Ramzee as we had not yet met in person at all, communicating only via email for the whole of the project. Illustration can be a lonely profession so it is always a thrill to meet other creatives out in the real world!
The signing was a great event and it was wonderful to see so many people turn out to support the book. Being able to discuss the project and personal experiences with the other authors was very powerful , David hosted an ad hoc Q&A session where we spoke about the creative process but also about our own perceptions of refuge, asylum and the political climate around displaced people.
I am extremely grateful to Nadine, Ramzee and David for making such a wonderful event possible and I am looking forward to seeing the impact The power of welcome makes now it is out in the world! You can read our stories as well as those of Sonya Zhurenko, a teenage girl from Ukraine, and Marie Bamiyan , a young woman from Afghanistan. I am also grateful to them for sharing their stories with me and trusting me to illustrate them.
Please support independent bookshops by ordering your copy of The power of welcome from Jam Bookshop:
https://www.jambookshop.co.uk/product/the-power-of-welcome-ada-jusic-ramzee-more-paperback