Who Loves the Sun | Chicago Book Launch and Celebration

Join author Fulla Abdul-Jabbar in conversation with Mika Yamamoto for a celebration of her new book, Who Loves the Sun, with performances from Samara Huggins and Sonnenzimmer. 

Who Loves the Sun begins as a study of the scientific poster, in an attempt to understand the object and the people who make them. Eventually focus strays from this subject to explore how the emotional, personal, and expressive leak from all structures that attempt to contain the self, be they molecular, disciplinary, or typographic. Composed of seven chapters, each taking a different form—from email to lecture to personal essay to mourning diary— Who Loves The Sun ultimately embraces the failure of form.

This event is sponsored by Meekling Press, the Guild Complex and Haymarket Books. 

***We ask that all in-person attendees wear masks in the event space during the program for the health and well-being of the speakers and other guests. We will have a reception afterwards with light refreshments and books available for purchase.***

Fulla Abdul-Jabbar is a writer and artist living in Brooklyn. She has performed, screened, and exhibited nationally and internationally at the Electronic Literature Organization, Human Resources LA, the Brussels Independent Film Festival, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Her writing has appeared in DIAGRAM, Bombay Gin, Jellyfish Review, Passages North, Northwest Review, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. Her debut book, Who Loves the Sun was released through Meekling Press.

Mika Yamamoto is a writer and teacher based in Oak Park, IL. She has been published most recently in The Good River Review, Thieving Magpie, and Vagabond City. She teaches at both Oak Park River Forest High School and The School at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Samara Huggins is a poet, performer, artist and alchemist who explores how text interacts and reacts with the body. She embeds language into hidden or undisclosed parts of handmade quilts, tapestries, and garments. Alongside women in her family, she weaves, knits, embroiders, dyes, and stitches stories of ancestry, ecology, grief and healing.

Sonnenzimmer a collaboration between artists Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi, approaches graphic arts with an interdisciplinary mindset, aiming to create new understandings that transcend specific disciplines. Their work encompasses image-making, sculpture, writing, publishing, exhibitions, design, music, improvisation, and performance, exploring the physical and mental effects of visualization. They often discuss the concept of Graphic Arts Future, which refers to the fusion of all human-induced media beyond conventional reception and intention. Through their experimental practice, they aim to evoke metaphysical curiosity and encourage formats that engage with this concept. They believe that by embracing the Graphic Impulse, we can collectively reconsider our approach to mark-making and signage, ultimately benefiting society as a whole.
Sonnenzimmer.com