Illustration Arts Fest / Singapore Writers Fest 2016 - A short interview with Mattias Adolfsson

Famed Swedish illustrator Mattias Adolfsson is coming to town for the Illustration Arts Fest at La Salle at the end this month. Something his fans in Singapore are looking forward to. And he is one of the most relaxed and chilled guys you will get to meet too. He left the games industry some years ago and has not looked back since.

His appearance at the Illustration Arts Fest:
http://illustrationartsfest.org/

And at the Singapore Writers Fest:
https://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/nacswf/nacswf/author-speaker/Mattias-Adolfsson-.html


How burnt out were you when you decided to quit your day job and just go into illustration full time?

Not that much. It was just a growing feeling that I wanted to quit the game industry; the plan was to work a couple of years more as my side business grew on the side. My body told me it was high time, but I guess the brain did not agree fully with the decision.

Are surprised by the success and acclaim you have achieved overseas? For example, the adoration you have received from your fans in Taiwan..

Yes it`s a constant surprise for me but I am very happy that the things I draw are liked all over the world




Where do you get your ideas from?

I get them from my brain, but where my brain gets it from I have no idea.

What is with your fascination with robots, machines and steampunk?

It`s probably from my childhood I have always been fascinated by things I really can`t understand.

Is the future dystopic?

Probably yes, but I like to think positive with my drawings, nothing halters creativity than a depression.

Given the details in your illustrations, how big are your originals?

For most of the time I draw in scale 1 to 1, so if you see something in prints it`s probably its size

What do you expect to find in Singapore?

So many people have told me how wonderful it is, so I have really high expectations. One thing that I`m expecting is to sweat alot.

Illustration Arts Fest 2016 - Interview with Richard McGuire

Most people in Singapore would not have heard of Richard McGuire or his groundbreaking story, Here, in RAW. Nor would they know that he was in the seminal NYC No Wave band, Liquid Liquid, in the early 80s. They were best known for their track, Cavern, which was covered by the Sugar Hill Records house band as the backing track for Melle Mel's old school rap classic White Lines (Don't Do It). You may have heard the Duran Duran version of White Lines.

That is why it tickled me to no end that McGuire is being invited to Singapore for the Illustration Arts Fest later this month through OIC's partnership with NoBrow. An odd choice but I am damn pleased that McGuire is coming, someone so left field which is what we need. And if you need more convincing, the expanded Here (300 pages!), originally published by Pantheon in 2014, won the Gold Prize for Best Album (French edition) at this year's Angouleme Comic Festival.

I emailed him some questions and here are his thoughtful replies.



Did you expect 'Here' to have such longevity? What is its 'staying power'?

When I made the first six page story, I could never have imagined that it would have had the impact that it did. It’s been twenty five years since the original was published and I’m still being asked about it. I think the story, or the concept of ‘the passage of time’, is something everyone can easily relate to.

What do you think is the legacy of 'Here?

I don’t know, that’s not for me to say. One thing I do know is that the non-linear way it works may be closer to ‘new media’ than to a traditional narrative. It’s very fluid, you can open the book at any point and jump in, it doesn’t really matter where you enter or exit. This kind of narrative is more ‘experiential’ than a traditional narrative story arc.



What made you want to do 'Here' the graphic novel?

I had the idea to make it into a book about ten years after the first strip was published. Then it took another fifteen years before the book was realized. Not that I was working on it all that time, I was involved with other projects, directing animated films, designing toys, etc. I always thought the concept was worth going deeper into, something deeper emotionally and also with history. In theory the concept is infinitely expandable, it would be as deep as I was willing to go. I chose a three hundred pages because that felt substantial. I also decided to use an actual location and I chose my family home, so then it became more personal. I did a year of research on that area before I made any serious attempt at the artwork. It needed that foundation before I could start to play around with it. Right before I started to seriously focus on the project I faced some family tragedies. My mother, my sister, and my father all passed away, all within a short time. My parents had been living in the house where I grew up for fifty years. The process of going through everything in the house in order to sell it brought back many memories, it helped as part of the grieving process, but also became part of the research. I used a lot of family photos as reference. The experience set the tone of the book, the idea that life is short, and to appreciate the moments we have. My family is at the center but the scope of time is so vast, I show the formation of the planet and deep into the future. In context our lives are all just tiny blips in time, it can be humbling.

To me, the original 'Here' taps on the synchronic strength of the comic medium - we see six panels (and more) in a single page at one glance and then we start reading the individual panels in 'order'. I find that I could 'read' the panels across, and up-down to come up with different stories and flow. (much like Steranko's Frogs)

Just now I looked up ‘Steranko's Frogs’, it’s fascinating!

Yes, In the original strip there were six panels per page, each with the complete view of the room, and of course including many smaller panels. The reader can scan the information, and make connections much faster in this format. It was also more of a formal exercise. It’s not a real location, I wanted it to be a sort of ‘any-place’ so the reader could feel that it could be their own home. Even the choice of style was very generic, on purpose, it was to read very ‘deadpan’, very clearly, like an instruction manual. With the non-style I felt more could be projected onto it by the reader.

The graphic novel, on the other hand, is more diachronic in nature given the format of the book and its narrative flow (although we do have panels within the panels). What do you think is gained and / or lost when Here becomes a graphic novel?

I don’t prefer one over the other, they both have their strengths. The room in the book is a larger image and fills a two page spread. It feels satisfying that the corner of the room fit’s into the gutter of the book. When you open the book you physically enter the space, it gives it more of a reason to exist in this format.

One thing I was very proud of was that when I decided to do the book, I was equally excited about what I could do with the eBook version. I wanted to take advantage of what the electronic version of the book could do to push the non-linear narrative. I was lucky to meet a developer and together we created a version that could be read faithfully as the book, or go into a ‘random‘ mode, which is kind of the ‘re-mix’ version. The program shuffles all the panels and backgrounds, making new combinations. I was able to incorporate animation too, here and there as a surprise something small will move in ‘real time’. Again I don’t prefer one over the other, they each use the strengths of their mediums, and expand the concept.



Why didn't you do more comics after the original 'Here'?

I made a few but my interests led me to different areas. I made a few books for children. I designed some toys. I was always interested in getting involved with animation, that led to eventually directing for TV and cinema. Having returned to comics I see the possibilities and the advantages very clearly. You can do things in comics you can’t in other mediums. The form allows for a flexibility with narratives, it can be as fluid an experience as reading a map, there are many possibilities. Film in contrast is very fixed and unrolls in one direction always. I’m interested in doing more experimental book projects, film and music too.



You were in Liquid Liquid and you contributed to RAW in the 1980s. Can you share with us those heady days of the 80s working / living in New York City?

We could do an entire interview on this subject. First of all It was a time when you could survive by paying very little rent, that made a lot of things possible. Being in a band we were invited to play clubs which allowed us to experience a lot of different scenes. Different cultures (black, hispanic, gay) were influencing each other in a very fluid way, and music was at the center of that. Graffiti was another cultural connection. Two people I was very fortunate to meet and become friendly with were both Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat. I was very interested in making street art in those days, I would paste up drawings in the streets while I pasted up posters for the band, that work and the designs I made for our record sleeves was the first public work I made. I met Art Spiegelman and all the RAW artists in the late 80’s. Having already had a little taste of the booming art scene, meeting these cartoonists felt to me like what I imagine meeting artists in Paris in the 20’s must have been like. They were making work because they had no choice to do anything else, it had nothing to do with money. There was zero money to be made in comics at that time, there were no ComicCons, no blockbuster films based on comics, no graphic novels before MAUS. RAW artists were a passionate, international group, making exciting work and getting it out to the public the best way they could. It was thrilling to have the first comic I ever made published in it’s pages.

What's next?

I have a few projects cooking. Possibly a virtual reality version of HERE. So far it’s just talk, but with some very interesting possibilities. I also signed an option contract to turn HERE into a TV series, which would be thrilling, but again it’s only talk until it happens. I have a new book coming out next month, it’s a collection of drawings I’ve made over the years for the New Yorker magazine. I am just starting to develop the next bigger project, it will incorporate multi-media. It’s both simple and complicated, it’s ambitious, and it scares me, so I know I’m pushing myself.

What do you expect to find in Singapore?

I was first here very very briefly in 1990, on the way to Indonesia to have my first toy manufactured. I’m looking forward to it, I don’t know what to expect!

Details of McGuire's talk at the Illustration Arts Fest are here:

http://illustrationartsfest.org

SWF 2016 - interview with Chihoi

I can’t remember when I first came across Chihoi’s work but I do remember being blown away by it. One does not so much ‘read’ Chihoi’s comics but one encounters and experiences it in a visceral manner, especially seeing his originals at an exhibition at the Hong Kong Art Centre many years ago.

To me, he is like the third generation of alternative comic artists in HK (he would elaborate on that point in the answers below). But what really differentiates him is the experimental nature of his work, in his play with the form and substance of the comic medium.

I am tempted to say this makes his work closer to literature, but that would privilege the literariness of comics over its other aspects. To me, comics is more than that and it can be anything if we keep pushing the medium. Chihoi is one of these people pushing the frontier of what comics can do. And when I thought about inviting a comic artist from Asia for this year’s SWF, his name comes to mind.



From SWF website:

Chihoi was born in Hong Kong in 1977. He has loved drawing since childhood and started to publish comics and illustrations when he was bored by his food and nutritional studies in university. His comics have appeared in Hong Kong newspapers and international anthologies. Major publications include the collaborative projects Hijacking - Comic Hong Kong Literature, The Train and a solo work, Still Life. His comics have been translated into Italian, French, English and Finnish. His website is www.chihoi.net

Here’s a short interview with him via email ahead of his visit:

Are you doing comics or are you doing art?

Both. There're stories in my mind that I wanna draw in the form of comics. And there're images in my mind that I wanna express as a piece of artwork which I cannot express otherwise.

You didn't grow up reading comics. Is that a good or bad thing for your work?

Good in a way that I didn't have any presumption of what a comic book should look like. I just had something in my mind and tried to find my way to tell it.

In my secondary school days, I used to do some pastel drawings as a hobby. It's like a diary or dialogue to myself. I enjoyed the private time of making art without thinking of publishing them. This private time is important to any artist.

I had not discovered the form of comics until later in university time when I discovered Lai Tat Tat Wing's experimental works.

I see a linage of independent /alternative comic artists from Li Chi Tak to Lai Tat Tat Wing to you. Would this be accurate?

You can say so. Li Chi Tak had been a famous icon from 80s to mid-90s. Lai Tat Tat Wing had known Li's works for a long time until he started to publish comics in mid-90s. For my case, I started around 1996-97, soon after Lai's publications. Sometimes Lai says to me like, "We're actually the same generation, right? I'm not that old!" Haha!

Your preference is for the use of pencil to create very dense and heavy shading. Why did you choose this particular style / way of working?

On one hand I got inspired by some European comics artists like Anke Feuchtenberger, Amanda Vahamaki, etc., their works of pencil and charcoal are just amazing.

On the other hand, in our book Hijacking - Comic Hong Kong Literature that I collaborated with Kongkee, we have tried many different techniques and media to adapt various writers' works. Pencil by then has become my favourite tool. The force and emotion from my heart extend directly to the hand and to the pencil. The smudges create sense of depth, and some kind of melancholic atmosphere that ink cannot do.



I visited Helsinki and Stockholm recently and saw that you were there too for their comic festivals. Do the audience in Europe read your comics differently from the readers in HK?

I guess much the same. In both HK and Europe, they publish my books normally in small print run, like 500 to 1000, sometimes 2000. I guess I'm only known to small circle of people.

But in Europe there're more small publishers who have the sensitivity and guts to discover good artists and publish more edgy works.

In HK, the main problem is the expensive rent that makes small publishers and small bookshops difficult to survive.

How did Fa Fa World come about? I see traces of Lo Koon Chiu's 小圓圓 and also EO Plauen's Father and Son... did you read these comic strips?

When I was little, I didn't read much of Lo Koon Chiu's works except when I visited Grandpa. In Grandpa's place I used to read Wong Sze Ma's 牛仔. In 2008 when the newspaper asked me to do a column, I was re-reading a bunch of 牛仔 and discovered a long lost world. So I created Fa Fa World, and drew simple daily life stories between a father and a daughter.



What is the future for HK comics?

I hope there're more editors to do some archival publications, like re-edition of old comics from 1950s-70s. Or someone who can re-edit those comic columns scattered around so many newspapers of the time.

What is the future for HK?

I'm quite pessimistic, in a way that I'm afraid I'll be blamed for being pessimistic.

Can one still be an independent and alternative artist in HK?

Yes of course, among different arts, comics is the cheapest way to begin.



You can find details of Chihoi’s panels at SWF here:

https://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/nacswf/nacswf/author-speaker/Chihoi----.html

Illustration Arts Fest 2016 - Interview with Isabel Greenberg

OIC is organizing the inaugural Illustration Arts Fest at LaSalle College of the Arts at the end of this month and one of the guests they have invited is the talented Isabel Greenberg. She is one of the most refreshing young comic creators to come out of the UK. Recently she spoke about the future of the graphic novel at the London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre, London.

From her website:

Isabel Greenberg is a London based illustrator and writer. Her first graphic novel 'The Encyclopedia of Early Earth' was publushed in 2013 by Jonathan Cape in the UK, Random House in Canada and Little Brown in the US. It has since been translated into French, Spanish, Korean and Chinese.

It was nominated for two Eisner awards, won the Best Book catagory at the British comic awards, was one of NPR's 100 books of the year, was the Guradian's graphic novel pick of the month and was in the New York Times Graphic Books best seller list.

She studied illustration at the University of Brighton and since graduating has worked for a variety of clients including The Guardian, Nobrow Press, The National Trust, Seven Stories Press, Solipsistic Pop, First Second and The New York Times. In 2011 she won the Observer Jonathan Cape Graphic short story prize. She exhibited work in the Memory Palace exhibition at the V&A, and was a select at Pick Me Up 2014 at Somerset House.

Her second graphic novel, The One Hundred Nights of Hero, will be on sale at the Illustration Arts Fest.

Ahead of her visit, here’s a short interview with her conducted over email.



You entered The Observer / Cape / Comica Graphic Short Story Prize in 2009 and came in 2nd. You entered it again in 2011 and won, which led to the book deal. The Encyclopedia of Early Earth came out in 2013. How have your work and your life changed since then with all the attention and critical acclaim?

Well I get a lot more work which is very nice, and have more freedom to do the projects I like. At the time of making my first book, I had a part time job as a nanny, and after the book I was able to get enough work (and teach as well) so that I no longer had to. That’s the main way it has changed.

In 2014, I saw you many times at the various cons and small press events and I really admire your work ethics. Are you doing comics full time now?

Up until this year I was full time, doing graphic novels, some illustration commissions like children books and also teaching. But this year I have actually gone back to school, and am doing a masters in Animation!



Who are some of your influences? Tove Jansson? Ursula K. Le Guin?

Yes! I love both! Other artists and writers I like include Phillip Pullman, Leanne Sharpton, Russel Hoban, Alexis Deacon, David B, Marjane Satrapi and so many others!

How much preparation do you do for your world building? Do you have stacks and stacks of notes?

Yes, I write lots of stories. Some of them never make it into the final books, but it helps to make the world richer.

Tell us about the new book, The One Hundred Nights of Hero.

The One Hundred Nights of Hero is set in the same world as my first book, but is not a direct follow on. It is set around two main characters; Hero and Cherry, who are forced to tell a series of stories in order to save their lives. It’s a bit of an ode to the Scheherazade.



What do you look forward to in Singapore? What kind of food is on your must-eat list?

I don’t know what food is best to eat, I am hoping I will get to try lots of new things! I am not a fussy eater, so I like trying new things. I am also excited to see the Botanical Gardens.


Details of the Illustration Arts Fest and Isabel’s events are here:

http://illustrationartsfest.org

SWF 2016 - Interview with Peter van Dongen

I first heard about Peter van Dongen’s Rampokan from my friend, Tita Larasati many years ago. A story set in Indonesia in 1946 and spanned the islands of Java and Celebes, with the background of the Dutch police action as its setting. Other than the political intrigue, double-crossing and betrayal (and a huge cast of characters), it is a story of a sentimental young man trying to look for the Indonesia of his past and making fatal mistakes in the process of doing that. In a way, the protagonist, Johan Knevel, represents the old Dutch who still thinks the Indies will welcome them back with open arms. He is trapped in the past and there will be hell to pay for those who cannot live in the present and see the future for what it is.

Book One Java was published in 1999 and Book Two Celebes was published in 2004. In 2014, the books were compiled as one volume and published in Bahasa Indonesia by Gramedia. A year later, Gramedia released the English edition. With the Bahasa and English editions out, I knew I had to invite Peter for the Singapore Writers Fest this year as I felt we do not know enough of our region’s history, especially our immediate neighbour, Indoneisa.

From the SWF bio:

Peter van Dongen is a Dutch comic artist and illustrator. His acclaimed graphic novels Rampokan Java (1998) and Rampokan Celebes (2004) are set in the time of the Revolution in Indonesia and were translated into French, German, Bahasa Indonesia and English. Co-designed by Joost Swarte, Rampokan Java was awarded the 1999 Dutch Prize for Best Book Design. Current projects by Van Dongen include a graphic novel adaptation of Familieziek (Repatriated) by Adriaan van Dis and a collaboration with Teun Berserik to illustrate a two-part adventure of Blake & Mortimer, a quintessentially British detective duo created by Edgar P Jacobs.



What sparked your interest in history, especially that period of Dutch police action? (1945 – 1949) What do you think of the term, 'police action'?

Of course the term 'police action' is only used for all these years to cover up the real story of what was really happening between 1946 and 1949: a colonial war, with probably more then 100.000 Indonesian casualties and 5000 for Holland. We thought for years that real Dutch people were not able to do such things as happens in a real war: killing so many people, the real dirty work as war always is.

So when you tell the Dutch people at home their boys were fighting only for the good cause as in the so-called ‘police action’, everybody wants to believe that. But nowadays, it's a common thought it wasn't like that, but it’s a real dirty war.

So my interest in this period of the Dutch Indies came from my mother who was born there at Sulawesi in 1941 and I realized I didn't knew anything about her land of birth. I never had a proper history lesson about this at all in school, so I decided to make a comic about her home country. Of course, we had heard everything about World War 2 in Europe/Holland, but hardly anything about Indonesia during that time and really nothing about this war of independence.

How many years of research did you put into Rampokan? How many trips did you make to the Dutch and Indonesian archives and visiting Indonesia itself?

Altogether 3.5 years before I finally started with the first page (19 in the English edition), but during my research I was working on the scenario as well. It was before google when I begun to find my way. I first went to the libraries where I found so many written books about it. Strange that in school it was hardly ever told, because everything was already there in the libraries.

In these 3.5 years I visited only once the Dutch archives (KIT, Royal Tropical Institute) and in 1992 some in Indonesia; it was my first trip then to this country. But to finish the project, it took me altogether 13 years, so during that time I visited Indonesia every 5 years and more Dutch archives too. It was and is still a learning curve.



Can you share with us about your own family background and experience and how they have shaped the creation of Rampokan?

My Mother is born in 1941 at Manado, Celebes/Sulawesi. Her father was a sergeant-major for the Dutch Indies Colonial Army (K.N.I.L.); an Indo, of mixed European/Indonesian. He, Henri Johan Kneefel, married in 1937 his mixed Chinese/Indonesian wife, Engelina Ong, on the island of Ternate, their place of birth. They had three daughters, including my mother, the middle one. During World War 2, my grand father was imprisoned by the Japanese for more then two years and finally beheaded on August 16th, one day after the capitulation of Japan.

My grand mother lost everything during the war, so she decided as a widow with three daughters to come over to the Netherlands after the independence of Indonesia. In fact, she was an immigrant trying to find for herself and for her daughters a better life, like so many of today’s immigrants in Europe. But it wasn't easy for her to come to Holland even though her husband lost his life for this land.

Europe is in flux now with Brexit, the immigrant issue, the Burkini controversy in France and the threat of terrorism. To me, your story about encountering different cultures, mixed marriages and parentage/ heritage is all the more relevant now. What are your views about the situation in Europe today?

What I can see as an average man who is reading his daily newspaper and watching the national news, it's all about fear. Fear to lose all the things people had gotten used to in the past 60 years. For instance, the fear of losing their jobs because of the migrants from Eastern Europe, The European Union had taken away their national identity, but above all, it is the fear of losing their national culture and tradition because of the migrants from the Middle East, such as their freedom of speech. Many times we hear on TV or the radio that the people are afraid of the ‘Sharia in Europe’.

15 years ago, the people had a lot more compassion for 'the others', people were able to share more. But since 9-11, everything has changed. During debates, there is hardly any room left for different shades of meaning. It is often one or the other. For instance, I am a product of an interracial marriage and sometimes when I hear people say that they only want a spouse from their 'own group', I feel kind of offended. What are they afraid of? To have a mixed child as I am?

I don't now how this will end: with the constant threat of terrorism nearby, the European crisis with the Southern and Northern parts, the war in Syria, the immigration…It's quite too much for an average man who is just following the daily regular news.



You have quite a big fan base in Indonesia. How have the readers there responded to Rampokan?

Good! Turns out I am telling a story here about their history they never really heard about. From a different perspective. Another thing I found out from talking with lots of Indonesians whom I met is that they love Tintin. My work is quite obvious influenced by Hergé, so Rampokan feels like Tintin in Indonesia. And in some reviews, it was questioned why there was no Indonesian comic artist who could make this book. Apparently, it had to be a foreigner (with Indonesian roots) who was able to do it. I took that as a compliment, haha.

This would be your second trip to Singapore. What are you looking forward to?

The food in Chinatown! I remember I had some delicious meals on the streets. And of course, to meet new people at the festival to hang out with.

Finally, tell us about your band in Holland.

My band, The Original Talkatives, was formed by my eldest brother Arnold (guitar) in 1980 for one gig only at the school party. We were just some kids from 13 (me on drums) to 15 years old from the same school, Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam. We did mostly cover songs from the Police. But because everybody was that impressed, we decided to continue.

Later on, my twin brother joined the band as well on keyboard and during the 6 years, we released 4 singles on vinyl, played everywhere in Holland in clubs, festivals, for radio and TV, and once in Berlin and Curaçoa. We played kind of pop ska/reggae, the music form that was really popular in those days from bands like Madness, The Specials and The English Beat.

So finally the band split up in 1986 after the release of our last single, High Pressure. Actually, we recorded another song for the single, called Squeeze Louise, but the first 10 seconds got lost and there was no time and money left to do it all over again.

For 27 years everybody went his own way, but three years ago I decided to release this song on vinyl, just for fun, and because of this we had the opportunity in 2015 to do a reunion gig to promote this at the festival Indomania in the Melkweg, Amsterdam. Yes, we reformed the original band together but just only for this event. But who knows for the future? We had so much fun playing together after 29 years!

My two brothers kept on going in the music field and played in the famous Dutch band Loïs Lane who was the support act for Prince during his European tour in 1990.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV38Hf77GME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOOpXHdZ84A


Ending the interview with Peter by asking him about his band is deliberate. When he gave me the Squeeze Louise 7” a few years ago, I was intrigued not so much that a comic artist was in a band (we have many examples of that), but that one can be of a mixed parentage like Peter with so much history in his blood, and can still be open and global in outlook – reading and creating clean lines style comics ala Herge and listening and playing in a Dutch ska band influenced by Madness.

That gives us hope and an indication of what the future can be. (Peter’s little boy is into drums at home) As much as we need to know the past, we should not be trapped by it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc3mm2aH2g8



You can find Peter’s panels at SWF here:

https://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/nacswf/nacswf/author-speaker/Peter-van-Dongen-.html

SWF 2016 - Interview with Miriam Katin

Miriam Katin is proof that it is never too late to do comics. Or to do anything at all. I first encountered her comics in the early 2000s in the Rosetta anthologies (Alternative Comics) and I couldn’t find much information about her. In 2006, she released We Are On Our Own, her graphic memoir about her mother’s escape from Nazi-occupied Hungary to much acclaim. A sequel of sorts, Letting It Go, was released in 2013.

Here’s the Drawn & Quarterly bio of her:

Miriam Katin was born in Hungary during World War II. She later immigrated to Israel and then the United States, where she worked in background design for animation studios such as MTV and Disney. She is the author of the award-winning memoirs We Are On Our Own and Letting It Go. She currently lives in Washington Heights with her husband and a giant Ficus benjamina tree.

Here’s how she described herself on her website:

I was born in Hungary during WWII. As far as I can remember there just seemed to have been a war which reminded people of other wars or that war was imminent. A revolution expected, happened, was over…what is next… This made for strange behavior with warped sentiments and scruples all around. While one is swimming as well as one can in this murky environment things do puzzle. In pictures and few words I am trying to find the line connecting events, people, causes and results. There is also of course the pleasure of just looking on…

• Immigrated to Israel in 1957
• Served in the Israel Defense Forces as a graphic artist 1960-1963
• Background designer, Ein Gedi Films, Israel 1981-1990
• Background designer, New York 1991 – 2001
◦ Jumbo Pictures
◦ MTV Animation
◦ Disney Studio

So we finally tracked down Miriam and invited her for this year’s Singapore Writers Fest. Ahead of her weekend with us on 12 and 13 November, here’s a short interview with Miriam which I conducted over email. What really surprises me is her gentle tone and generous spirit. I'm looking forward to meeting her in person.



How have readers responded to your two memoirs?

I received much reaction from young people, some of whom bought the books for older relatives with WW2 past.

The first book especially is being part of curriculums in a number of schools and it is very touching how students relate to the story and also the art.

It has been a few years since the two books came out. Looking back now, who do you intend the books are for?

I did not think about a particular group of readers as I only knew that I had to do this story. And I was sure that I could.

It was very important to me and I wanted it to be very real. But it turned out to be so much more for so many people.

I never expected this to happen.

Why do you think there is such a strong interest in graphic memoirs in North America, especially among the English Literature departments in universities? Is there a community of graphic memoir creators?

Well, this great interest and popularity came about after the publishing of Art Spiegelman’s “Maus”, that is when graphic novels were finally taken seriously in the US and indeed became subjects of academic research and teaching. It became a respected media.

I don’t know about a community but we keep meeting and showing up in various places. ComicCons, book signings, exhibits and parties so I guess we are kind of a “ tribe ”?

We have two years of National Service for all males in Singapore. I was a combat engineer and later, a combat medic. Was the basic military training tough when you were in the Israeli Defense Force in the 1960s? What made you signed up? What was the experience like?

All men and women have to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. ( except for the very religious girls but even they have a choice of civil service ) The basic training was rough, boot camp but after that I served in a Graphic Arts unit which was truly a great time and fine learning experience. Two years of growing up.



You started your comic creating career late. Was it difficult to do so at that point in time? Are you doing comics full-time now? What made you wanted to do comics?

It was not at all difficult because there were those fabulous women pioneers of comics who, during the sixties battled for recognition in the male dominated Comic world. Diane Noomin, Trina Robbins, Aline Kominsky-Crumb and others.

So by the time I entered this realm in 2000, it was smooth sailing. These women are my age, real heroes and now, the very young have opportunities as well. Of course my age and particular background was of immediate interest.

The stories my mother told me and what happened to our family they were like a constant, uninvited, unwanted presence in my daily life. They demanded to be told. I had no choice. But I am not a writer and I also thought who needs an other Holocaust story. Then, when I discovered “Maus” I realized that I can draw my stories. I found my voice.

What is the next book?

I don’t have a new book but I enjoy working on short stories, commissions, and unless something comes up like the Berlin issue, I have a collection of short stories to compile. I am very inspired by Lydia Davis, the Booker Price winner short story writer.

The audacity of a short story of one sentence? I am thinking on that vein.

Just wondering, were you influenced by Raymond Briggs?

When my first book was published many reviews brought up the name Raymond Briggs. I didn’t know him at all and I had to look up his work. I was totally new on the comic field. Being connected with him is a huge compliment to me.

What are you looking forward to for this trip to Singapore?

As always, meeting people, talking to people and being in a whole other world. Always, always a great pleasure.

Being on the panel with such different artists will be a real treat.

Details of Miriam's appearances at SWF in November:

https://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/nacswf/nacswf/author-speaker/Miriam-Katin-.html

SWF 2016 - Interview with Miriam Katin

Miriam Katin is proof that it is never too late to do comics. Or to do anything at all. I first encounter her comics in the early 2000s in the Rosetta anthologies (Alternative Comics) and I couldn’t find much information about her. In 2006, she released We Are On Our Own, her graphic memoir about her mother’s escape from Nazi-occupied Hungary to much acclaim. A sequel of sorts, Letting It Go, was released in 2013.

Here’s the Drawn & Quarterly bio of her:

Miriam Katin was born in Hungary during World War II. She later immigrated to Israel and then the United States, where she worked in background design for animation studios such as MTV and Disney. She is the author of the award-winning memoirs We Are On Our Own and Letting It Go. She currently lives in Washington Heights with her husband and a giant Ficus benjamina tree.

Here’s how she described herself on her website:

I was born in Hungary during WWII. As far as I can remember there just seemed to have been a war which reminded people of other wars or that war was imminent. A revolution expected, happened, was over…what is next… This made for strange behavior with warped sentiments and scruples all around. While one is swimming as well as one can in this murky environment things do puzzle. In pictures and few words I am trying to find the line connecting events, people, causes and results. There is also of course the pleasure of just looking on…

• Immigrated to Israel in 1957
• Served in the Israel Defense Forces as a graphic artist 1960-1963
• Background designer, Ein Gedi Films, Israel 1981-1990
• Background designer, New York 1991 – 2001
◦ Jumbo Pictures
◦ MTV Animation
◦ Disney Studio

So we finally tracked down Miriam and invited her for this year’s Singapore Writers Fest. Ahead her weekend with us on 12 and 13 November, here’s a short interview with Miriam which I conducted over email. What really surprises me is her gentle tone and generous spirit. I'm looking forward to meeting her in person.



How have readers responded to your two memoirs?

I received much reaction from young people, some of whom bought the books for older relatives with WW2 past.

The first book especially is being part of curriculums in a number of schools and it is very touching how students relate to the story and also the art.

It has been a few years since the two books came out. Looking back now, who do you intend the books are for?

I did not think about a particular group of readers as I only knew that I had to do this story. And I was sure that I could.

It was very important to me and I wanted it to be very real. But it turned out to be so much more for so many people.

I never expected this to happen.

Why do you think there is such a strong interest in graphic memoirs in North America, especially among the English Literature departments in universities? Is there a community of graphic memoir creators?

Well, this great interest and popularity came about after the publishing of Art Spiegelman’s “Maus”, that is when graphic novels were finally taken seriously in the US and indeed became subjects of academic research and teaching. It became a respected media.

I don’t know about a community but we keep meeting and showing up in various places. ComicCons, book signings, exhibits and parties so I guess we are kind of a “ tribe ”?

We have two years of National Service for all males in Singapore. I was a combat engineer and later, a combat medic. Was the basic military training tough when you were in the Israeli Defense Force in the 1960s? What made you signed up? What was the experience like?

All men and women have to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. ( except for the very religious girls but even they have a choice of civil service ) The basic training was rough, boot camp but after that I served in a Graphic Arts unit which was truly a great time and fine learning experience. Two years of growing up.



You started your comic creating career late. Was it difficult to do so at that point in time? Are you doing comics full-time now? What made you wanted to do comics?

It was not at all difficult because there were those fabulous women pioneers of comics who, during the sixties battled for recognition in the male dominated Comic world. Diane Noomin, Trina Robbins, Aline Kominsky-Crumb and others.

So by the time I entered this realm in 2000, it was smooth sailing. These women are my age, real heroes and now, the very young have opportunities as well. Of course my age and particular background was of immediate interest.

The stories my mother told me and what happened to our family they were like a constant, uninvited, unwanted presence in my daily life. They demanded to be told. I had no choice. But I am not a writer and I also thought who needs an other Holocaust story. Then, when I discovered “Maus” I realized that I can draw my stories. I found my voice.

What is the next book?

I don’t have a new book but I enjoy working on short stories, commissions, and unless something comes up like the Berlin issue, I have a collection of short stories to compile. I am very inspired by Lydia Davis, the Booker Price winner short story writer.

The audacity of a short story of one sentence? I am thinking on that vein.

Just wondering, were you influenced by Raymond Briggs?

When my first book was published many reviews brought up the name Raymond Briggs. I didn’t know him at all and I had to look up his work. I was totally new on the comic field. Being connected with him is a huge compliment to me.

What are you looking forward to for this trip to Singapore?

As always, meeting people, talking to people and being in a whole other world. Always, always a great pleasure.

Being on the panel with such different artists will be a real treat.

Details of Miriam's appearances at SWF in November:

https://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/nacswf/nacswf/author-speaker/Miriam-Katin-.html