Interview with Sarah Becan

For my sixteenth interview, I met up with Sarah Becan, comics artist, writer, illustrator and more, to talk about her work. She has the amazing webcomic Sauceome (rhymes with Awesome) that talks about body image and food in very meaningful ways. Her treatment of weight and self-perception really resonate with me. I also love how she talks about food and relishes in the diversity of food in Chicago. It’s an important and witty comic.

She's also published The Complete Ouija Interviews, a collection mini-comics based on Ouija conversations in Nantucket and Shuteye, a comic exploring dreams in a compelling and novel way. Both are well worth checking out. We talked about her work as a comic artist and her work as an illustrator, often creating designs for restaurants and other businesses around the city.

Then we had one of those amazing Chicago moments. At one point during the interview, Sarah asked me if I smelled smoke. I had remarked that there had been a strange smell when I walked to our meeting place but I didn’t. Not long after, a fire truck with sirens blaring pulled up in front of the building. I paused the interview so Sarah could investigate.

There was a dumpster fire in a nearby alley! So we resumed the interview as the firemen worked to put it out. At one point, I noticed one of them was standing on top of the fire engine, gazing into the alley. Hilarious. I love this strange and wonderful city. Sarah provided me with this image of the dumpster fire from this morning. Thanks Sarah for the photo!

What a wonderful interview! Looking forward to seeing more great work from Sarah Becan.