ABOUT
Jamjun Rorsoongnern
"jam" she/they
Jam is a queer, bipolar, Thai american (luk khrueng) writer, artist, activist & part-time florist. She will be joining Notre Dame's MFA creative writing cohort under poetry in fall 2022. They received their B.A. in Ethnic Studies (with an emphasis in Literature) from Willamette University in 2021. They are currently based on the occupied land of the Kumeyaay (San Diego, CA).
Jam’s work explores the interplay between intimacy, race, and disability. Admittedly a theory nerd, she finds herself fangirling over Barthes, Vuong, Muñoz, Baldwin, & Derrida. Please don't hesitate to reach out to connect or for accessing any of her work.
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If you are interested in financially supporting her work or commissioning work please contact Jam via the contact page/email or Venmo @jamjun
Dancing with Ghosts & Premonitions: Ballroom as a queer anticapitalist liminal utopia & counterpublic
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Melancholic Masochism: Using Racial Melancholia and BDSM as a framework for resistance
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Visual Riposte: Gaze in Ousmane Sembène's La noire de…
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& Julia: a Disability and PTSD reading of Maria Irene Fornes' Fefu and her Friends
Why ":" ?
I use the colon after my name for a few reasons. I have a tattoo on my pinky from my first year of college that symbolized the number 2 for me. It's sort of my lucky number (22 is the best tho). I come from my dad's second family, was always #2 in class because my dad's last name stated with a B (I recently changed my last name to my mother's maiden name), thought second place meant there was room for improvement, and to put myself second to others.
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Recently I finished A Lover's Discourse: Fragments by rowland Barthes and I fell in love with a quote used in the introduction
"So it is the lover who speaks and who says:"
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The use of the colon as an opening really moved me especially with how it paired with my own two little pinky dots. So I use it here to signify me, a lover, writing and saying what follows.
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In my time at Willamette University I proudly led multiple organizations and cultivated community with those around me. Being a first generation college student made all these connections so meaningful and powerful to me. As a student of color, this pwi institution was not always the most welcoming space, so I am forever grateful to those who made space for students like me and I hope to honor their work in what I've done and continue to do.
Résumé type things
QTPOC- President
Queer, Trans* People of Color club
Asian Coalition for Equality- President
Asian/Asian American activist and community coalition
STEAM- founding member
student lead/founded activist coalition
MOSAICS- mentoring coordinator
mentoring program for students of color
Tiger Club Coordinator
After-school enrichment &support program for local elementary students
Branding Director for PNW SOCC 2019
Pacific Northwest Students of Color Conference
