By Reimena Yee Yet another "Uni Assignment Hell" companion piece to Australian Comics Need to Be Supported By Policy and How Comics Festivals Legitimise Comics. This one is a literary review/case study of how 3 comics festivals in France and 1 in Italy help activate the economy, culture and creative production of the cities/towns which host them - again in service of how comics should be supported by policy and arts funding to facilitate its numerous positive outcomes. I am hoping that what I studied will also be true for Melbourne Alternative Comics Expo. Melbourne's City of Literature and hipster artsy centre status means that it is uniquely placed to possibly, maybe, who knows, provide a comics event on the scale of Angouleme FIBD with the activation of bookshops, art galleries, town halls, culture spaces etc (though I think Perth Comic Arts Festival will and definitely arrive at that success first); but hey, one in the west and another hopefully in the east - if we can pull it off, Australia will be the big dog of Asia-Pacific.
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By Reimena Yee Another article from the "Uni Assignment Hell" archive. This one is a companion piece to my other article on Australian comics and Government Policy. Until the ill-fated maybe-death of Angouleme FIBD I was (actually, still am) taken by its history and how it became instrumental to turning comics into a 9th form and an accepted part of culture in France. I see a lot of similarities and parallels to early days of France comics legitimisation and the current era of Australian comics, and I want to be a part of helping to push Australia's scene by learning how it worked in the past.
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By Reimena Yee Something a little different: an actual researched article. I was looking through my 'Uni Assignment Hell' archive and thought, well, I already spent so much time studying for my Masters (which mostly involved obsessively reading case studies on festivals and government arts policy), may as well put this out into the world. I don't claim expertise in this domain (especially in relation to my older friends/peers who have been in Australian comics for ages and actually study the subject!), but I hope the articles I will post in the blog will be testament to my own rabid interest and fluency in the subject. This is an ongoing life-long interest of mine, and explains why I wanted to set up Melbourne Alternative Comics Expo.
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By Reimena Yee On being free from the multi-year Writer's Block, and preparing for the next drought.
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By Reimena Yee I am excited to be making a teen romcom with Erica Eng, one of the best comics creators in Malaysia who I am lucky to also call a friend!! More about Bee's Guide to Applied Romantics in the cut.
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