Typewriter interview with Julia Rothman

10 questions for the author and illustrator about her eclectic world

Aug 11, 2026

∙ Paid

Describe a perfect day where you live. Lay in bed + do NYT games with Ollie Go to off-leash hours at the park to see all the pooches running around and so happy Stay in the park all day, drawing, reading, snacks with friends. Play Kadima until sunset.

Hey y’all,

Julia Rothman is the author and illustrator of many beautiful books. She just published two really fun ones: a sticker book and a wrapping paper book! To celebrate, we conducted this typewriter interview via the magic of the United States Postal Service. (For a plain-text version with links, see the P.S. below.)

What do you do for exercise? Do you detect any mental, spiritual, or creative benefits? I walk to and from studio every day. It’s about a 35 minute walk. It clears my head, gets rid of anxiety and sets me up for the day and winds me down in the evening.

Do you see yourself as part of an artistic lineage? Who would you place in your family tree? * David Shrigley * Diane Arbus * Ladies Drawing Night * Wendy MacNaughton * Sophie Blackall * The Figure Assembly * Pauline Bellamy * Barbara Nessim * Diebenkorn * Pencil Factory * Paula Scher * Sheila Hicks * Bruno Munari * Keiko Minami * Fort Thunder * Maira Kalman * Henrik Drescher * Marimekko * Marcel Dzama * Hockney * Matisse * RISD students and teachers * Keith Haring * Pee Wee Herman * R. Crumb * Garfield * Matt Groening * Looney Tunes * Gary Larson * Smurfs * Sweet Pickle Books * Chris Van Allsburg * Keith Haring

John Waters says he has “youth spies” that keep him up-to-date on culture. Do you have any youth spies? I wish. Every time I meet a teen I ask them what’s cool. But they think I’m weird. I only have a view of the young world through Instagram. I like watching dancing videos. Thinking of learning how to shuffle.

Do you have any hobbies? Do you collect anything? I used to collect glove molds. But I got too many — people would get them for me as gifts. I wound up getting rid of them all at once. I only saved two special ones. Oh wait. I still have four actually, just remembered.

“What did you do as a child that made the hours pass like minutes?” (C. Jung) Since I was a kid, drawing has been my thing. I can draw for hours and get in a zone and it is so relaxing for me.

What’s your relationship to music? Do you sing or play an instrument? What song do you never get tired of? My mom plays guitar and my dad plays the flute. But I am not musical at all! I can’t sing on tune. I need to make mixes a lot for workshops I do. I usually put a lot of oldies and Motown because it’s liked by most. If I want to start a dance party with friends I usually use the song “Controversy” by Prince. Somehow it gets everyone moving. When I was a teen I worked as a “party motivator” for a DJ. Getting people to dance is my specialty.

I “smoke” a cigarette pencil in the studio. Do you perform any silly rituals when you’re working? I sit too much all day. So I often get up and have a mini dance party by myself for a few minutes.

What’s the most important piece of furniture you own? Tell us about it. I don’t know if this is the most important but I like this chair. Usually it has clothes piled on it. Like laundry that needs to be folded. But sometimes there’s nothing on it and you can lie on it and it’s very comfy. It’s extra long like a lounge chair.

Do you have any advice for people who want to be more creative? Always carry a small notebook or sketchbook wherever you go. There is always downtime. If it’s in your bag, you will use it. Don’t take out your phone!

Big thanks to Julia for being the 26th participant in this series of typewriter interviews.

Buy her new sticker book and wrapping paper book and follow her on Instagram: @juliarothman.

Shout-out to paid subscribers who buy me the time to do all the email coordinating, typing, snail-mailing, scanning, transcribing, and editing that goes into these! You can make more of these happen with a click of a button:

xoxo,

Austin

Here’s the plain text of our interview with links:

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