BIO

About Me — Janna Barrett

An unconventional life makes for interesting stories and illustrations

Photo by my friend Sasja

Hello! If we’d met in person, I’d introduce myself as “Janna Banana.” It’s my silly way to pre-emptively clarify that my name is not Jenna, Janet, Gina, Jenny, or anything else normal. (It’s like my parents wanted me to be weird.) Plus, it’s memorable, and it makes people smile.

Before the pandemic, I worked aboard cruise ships, and now I’m a flight attendant. Global travel has shaped me significantly. I’ve already shared about myself as a traveler, so here’s a bit about myself as a writer, a person, and an artist.

Banana Split! (Me in Split, Croatia. Banana Splits are an American dessert which nobody there was familiar with, so my dreams of eating a Janna Banana Split in Split were dashed.) Photo by my friend Calin.

✍️ Me as a writer

I have always needed a way to process my thoughts and express my feelings, but it started through art. My mom says every school paper since Kindergarten came home with a drawing on the back.

I was extremely shy as a child, and developed severe social anxiety in middle school. That’s when I started turning to my sketchbook for solace. I was afraid to speak up, so I perfected ways to communicate silently. Colors, lines, and forms were how I…