These are the communities I am a member of, volunteer for and joyfully participate in:
Other Worlds Zine Collective
Other Worlds is a zine collective based in Australia. Every May we hold a zine fair in Sydney. We also run a quarterly postal subscription service.
The zine fair was born out of the 2014 Biennale boycott of Transfield (the then service providers for Australia’s offshore immigration detention centres).
Other Worlds has been collectively organised since 2014. The Other Worlds Zine Fair takes place on the stolen lands of the Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora Nation.
Comic Art Workshop
“The Comic Art Workshop is an award-winning grassroots biennial artists-in-residence program for graphic storytellers run by a cracking team of volunteers. The program provides emerging artists in Australia and beyond with an opportunity to work alongside some of the world’s best cartoonists and comics educators. The major outcome we work towards is the incubation and development of ambitious Australian stories.”
In 2021, I have taken over the role of Head of Selection Committee.
Graphic Social Science Research Network
Graphics Social Science Research Network was born out of a one-day workshop organised by Mark Carrigan in June 2017. I volunteered to co-convene it with Mark. We curated a series of blog posts in 2018, as well as running Facebook and Twitter accounts. Due to other work commitments and projects, Mark decided to step away from the network and I have remained as the sole convenor. The Network is largely inactive, although there are many practitioners using the comics medium to communicate their research in the social sciences.
Centre for Media History
I am a member of the Centre for Media History at Macquarie University, which is Australia’s only centre dedicated to conducting and fostering research on the history of the media, and history in the media. The Centre works with industry to uncover and investigate the history of the rapidly changing media and communications landscape. Its members include award-winning scholars and media practitioners who engage with industry and the community to create innovative historical works. The Centre hosts events, from major conferences and public lectures, to intimate workshops and masterclasses. It provides world-class databases and other electronic resources designed to preserve and make available our media heritage, and works closely with equivalent centres throughout the world.
Activism, Rights and Justice Research Stream
We are an interdisciplinary group of researchers at Macquarie University from law, social sciences, arts and humanities who consider the relationships between activism, rights and justice in theory and practice. Particular strengths include activism and governance in the Asia Pacific region; relationships between art and activism; and interconnections between activism and ethics.
Comics Studies Society
I am a founding member of the Comics Studies Society (CSS), an interdisciplinary society open to all who share the goals of promoting the critical study of comics, improving comics teaching, and engaging in open and ongoing conversations about the comics world.