Author, Book Artist, and Illustrator Hannah Batsel with Jamie Thome

Evanston Bound features studio tours and artist's talks/conversations with artists, writers, artist's book publishers and bookish friends!

On 21 May, 2020 we visited book artist, printmaker and  illustrator Hannah Batsel. Hannah’s work explores, often through fictional narrative, the real-world power structures and tensions that exist not only between different cultures and social classes, but also between humanity and the natural world. More specifically, she constructs stories about people who have gained or lost power, people who have given their power willingly, and people who have had their power taken from them.

Hannah feels that her role, in the end, is that of the storyteller: to entice and engage, but also to investigate real-world power dynamics through a more inviting, fictional lens.

We discussed these points, her recently published children’s picture book A is For Another Rabbit, making art and writing in the time of a pandemic, and other fascinating things.