S.B. — I Am Drawing You: A Mother, a Child, a Sketchbook - with Matthew Klam
S.B. presents *I Am Drawing You: A Mother, a Child, a Sketchbook*, an art book and personal essay rooted in the sketchbook practice she began ten days after giving birth. Over the course of her child’s first five years, she made more than 200 spontaneous drawings of him nursing, sleeping, crawling, waking, and experimenting with possible comfort objects. The work captures the physical intimacy of early parenthood while also exploring its anxiety, detachment, humor, and boredom.
In her introductory essay, S.B. reflects on the practice through drawing instruction, art history, and elements of psychoanalytic theory. She describes drawing her child at close range as a way to balance attachment with observation and as a possible source of relief from the alienation of new parenthood. She will discuss the book with writer Matthew Klam.
When: Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.
Venue: Politics and Prose at 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, 5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008.
Lineup: S.B. appears in conversation with Matthew Klam.
About S.B.: S.B. is an artist and author recognized for playful criticism and anthropomorphic graphic novels. Her writing has appeared in *The New York Times*, *The New York Review of Books*, *The Atlantic*, and *Artforum*, and has been widely anthologized. She studied drawing at the New York Studio School and the Art Students League and has lectured at Parsons School of Design, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the American Psychoanalytic Association. This is her first book of drawings from life.
About Matthew Klam: Klam is a Guggenheim Fellow and the recipient of a Robert Bingham/PEN Award and a Whiting Writer’s Award, as well as support from the National Endowment for the Arts. His books include *Sam the Cat and Other Stories* and *Who Is Rich?*, both recognized as notable books by major publications. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in *The New Yorker*, *Harper’s Magazine*, *Esquire*, *GQ*, and *The New York Times Magazine*. He teaches at Stony Brook University and in the New Directions Program in Washington, DC, and has taught creative writing at institutions including Johns Hopkins University, St. Albans School, American University, and Stockholm University.
Tickets: Free.
Seating: Seating is first come, first served.
Accessibility: To request accommodations or ask about accessibility, email events@politics-prose.com, ideally at least one week before the event. The venue will make an effort to accommodate requests received up to the event time.
Related book: *I Am Drawing You: A Mother, a Child, a Sketchbook* is available as a $25 paperback.