How Did We Get Here? Book Release Event at Verbatim Books!

3793 30th Street,San Diego CA 92104

12 February, 2023

Description

ABOUT THE EVENT: Please join us for the release of, "How Did We Get Here?" at Verbatim Books, February 12th, from 6:45-10pm. We will be hosting a panel discussion about the history of City Heights and the making of an original, narrative novel. The Panel will consist of the Founder of The AjA Project, Shinpei Takeda, the Author and Editor Haneen Oriqat, Illustrator Chey Diehl. "How Did We Get Here?" was created with great support and collaboration with Urban Habitat who made the first comic in 2005 about the city that they live and work in Oakland, California. The AjA Project was inspired to create a similar graphic novel with City Height's story, and started the project in 2018. The graphic novel with fictional characters from multiple diverse backgrounds illustrates the history of City Heights, focusing on issues like race, class, transportation, land-use, and housing for immigrants and refugees that make up City Heights. We hope you come out and join us to grab a comic book, and meet the artists and community members who made it possible! The Comic Book Artists of San Diego including the novel Illustrator Chey Diehl, will be joining us as vendors, offering their collection of illustrations, comics, and information on their work and upcoming events. ABOUT THE ARTISTS: Haneen Oriqat is a Muslim Palestinian-American writer, editor, and photographer. Along with her writing aspirations, she is dedicated to fostering a career in the publishing industry with the commitment of supporting diverse voices by increasing the visibility of writers of color who have been marginalized. She has worked at the agency level and held various positions in education and the arts, including being hired as a consultant to write and edit a comic book project for The AjA Project. Haneen is currently the Operations Coordinator for Electric Postcard Entertainment and Cake Creative Kitchen, an IP story development entertainment company dedicated to bold and diverse storytelling across publishing, books, audio, podcasts, and film/TV for all ages. Haneen received her MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Fiction and Writing for Young People from Antioch University, Los Angeles. She is an alumna of the University of California, San Diego, where she received a BA in Political Science with an emphasis in International Relations and a minor in Literature/Writing while taking extensive courses in Photography. Her work has been featured in The Manifest-Station, Everyday Feminism, Angels Flight ∙ literary west, This is Worldtown, and BuzzFeed Books. She was also selected as a finalist for Voyage YA Journal’s First Chapters Contest for Women Writers. Haneen is a fellow of Highlights Foundation’s first Muslim Storytellers Fellowship and VONA/Voices for writers of color. Haneen was born and raised in San Diego, California. Despite her sarcasm and unhealthy amount of coffee often getting her in trouble, she is always working on a few manuscripts. You can find her at haneenoriqat.com and on social media @haneenoriqat. Illustrator: Chey Diehl Chey deMesa Diehl is a Filipina-American comic artist, picture book illustrator, and crochet enthusiast. Her husband is in the military, which is what has brought her to San Diego. While at San Diego she decided to pivot her career into comic books by taking classes at the local Little Fish Comic Book Studio. Chey co-founded the Comic Artists of San Diego Collective in 2021 with the goal to help showcase local comic book artists and to create a greater awareness of the San Diego comics scene. You can follow local artist's work at @comicartistssd and casdcollective.com Chey graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in June 2016 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration, Summa Cumme Laude. Before finally being able to go to art school she received her AA from Napa Valley College in Psychology, Social & Behavioral Studies, General Ed, and a Certificate in Women's Studies. You can follow Chey on IG @CheyDiehl and cheydiehl.com Who Else Will Be There? San Diego Comic Artists San Diego @ComicArtistsSD will be at the book release as a vendor! They will be offering their illustrations, comics, and more! Come shop local with us at Verbatim Books!