Info Bites: 24 Hour Comics Day and Singapore Writers Festival 2012

Hello again everyone, it’s been a (long) while since I last updated this blog! I’ve been really (REALLY) busy for the past 8 months, travelling, drawing and whatnot! It’s been a crazy ride but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, though I do regret not making time to write about the comic-related things I’ve been up to. So this is me trying to make amends by kickstarting my writing engines again with an update.

24 Hour Comics Day

24 Hour Comics Day is just around the corner (like this weekend!) and will be happening on the 20th till 21st October worldwide. This year I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and commit to participating in the Singapore version of this event (since I’m still working here) but for those of you in Malaysia, there’ll be one taking place at the Balai Seni Visual Negara  organized by none other than Sarah Joan Mokhtar (about time too after the last one held back in 2007)!

 

The Poster for the Malaysian version of 24 Hour Comics Day

Both versions of the event require pre-registration so that spaces will be allocated for your participation, so please register quickly if you’re interested! I’ve not participated in one before but I am pretty sure that it’ll be a great experience as well as a good way to meet people who love comics!

The Poster for the Singaporean version of 24 Hour Comics Day

More information and details on how to register for 24 Hour Comics Day Malaysia can be found here on their Official Facebook Event Page while the 24 Hour Comics Day Singapore has its own pages for Rules (aka what to expect) and Registration.

Singapore Writers Festival

If you were like me a few days ago you’d probably be wondering what does the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) that will be taking place between 2nd till 11th November 2012 have to do with comics, and you’d be delighted to know (like I was) that SWF has a lineup of comic panels/sessions in their itinerary!  Here are some of the comic-related highlights that I am itching to attend, if possible (click on the links for details of each event):

Brand New Books: Lingua Comica – Graphic Novels from Asia and Europe

Panel: Comic Artists Capture Singapore (Featuring Sonny Liew, Oh Yong Hwee, Miel)

Workshop: The Making of a Graphic Novel (Featuring Khalil, Creator of webcomic and graphic novel Zahra’s Paradise)

Meet the Author: Jimmy Liao

I’m definitely attending the Lingua Comica book launch session even though it’s on a weeknight I need to grab a copy of each of the books, especially the ones containing Hwei and Sarah Joan Mokhtar‘s comics when they attended Lingua Comica, a comics exchange program by the Asia-Europe Foundation! I’m still trying to make a tough decision on whether to attend the workshop or the meet-and-greet session with Jimmy Liao (a very famous Taiwanese Illustrator, in case you didn’t know. Go brush up on him on Wikipedia!), as the last three items on the list (Panel, Workshop, and Meet the Author) are taking place on the same day with overlapping time slots! The pains of being an avid comic lover!

Well, that’s all I have for now (that is, until Comic Fiesta rolls around in December)! Till next time, keep drawing!

P/S: There’s loads of drawing competitions currently bring co-organized by Comic Fiesta in conjunction with Comic Fiesta 2012, so you should probably take a look at the Comic Fiesta Forums if you want to join in! (Yes, I’m lazy to write about them now, haw!)

Info Bites: Weekend Fillers

Hey all! As usual, long time no update, my apologies! Just wanted to pop by and inform you all about the two events I know that are lined up for this and next weekend.

First off: Fusion of Passion Showcase

 

 

In conjunction with MASIF 2011 (an acronym for ‘Music, Arts, Style, International Festival’), Galeri Petronas is hosting the Fusion of Passion exhibition which features canvas-printed artworks of various Malaysian artists, including those of the graphic novel persuasion. Artworks by some of my favourite local artists such as Zid, kiDChan, Hwei, and Quartz (just to name a few) will be on display there, which is such a pity as I won’t be able to attend this exhibition before it ends!

 

One of Zid‘s artworks on display – ‘The Amazing Race’

This exhibition will come to a close on the 25th of September (this Sunday), so if you’re looking for something to feast your eyes on this weekend perhaps a trip down to Galeri Petronas at KLCC isn’t such a bad idea.

Next up: 24 Hour Comics Day Singapore

 

 

After a pretty long drought since the last 24 Hour Comics Day held in Malaysia back in 2006, our neighbours down South have have picked up the slack since 2010 with their own version of the event…and it will be happening again really soon! The Singapore 24 Hour Comics Day will be held on the 1st of October and sadly, all the places for the on-site drawing area at the Goodman Arts Center have been taken but don’t let that put a damper on your spirit! The Singapore 24 Hour Comics Day is still open for registering home participants, which means you can still take part in this event no matter where you are, from the comfort of your own home!

 

Participants from last year’s Singapore 24 Hour Comics Day (Picture taken from Singapore 24 Hour Comics Day website)

I know what’s the next question running in your mind: What are the benefits of participating from home? Well, for one, registering for this event (even though you say you will be taking part regardless) is the first step in making the commitment to participate 24 Hour Comics Day since from my own experience, you’ll be more likely to give it some serious thought instead of just ‘accidentally’ forgetting about it altogether! You can register to be a home participant here then take a look at the other participants that will be joining you on this journey (My name is somewhere in the home participants list…haha).

They also have a Google Group for this event for participants-to-be to exchange tips and carry out discussions. It seems that there’s some kind of collaboration going on between writers in Indonesia who want to liaise with artists to produce a comic for 24 Hour Comics Day there too, so some of you might want to give that a try!

Also, just a final shoutout to all of you to buy Craig Thompson’s latest book, Habibi, which was just released on the 20th of September to raving reviews. I’ve not gotten my copy yet, a terrible act that I will remedy once I post this entry and head off to enjoy my weekend!

With that, I hope that you’ll have some fun-filled weekends ahead, and till next post (really soon, promise!), I bid you adieu!