Press : References, Mentions, Interviews

Press on Illi Anna Heger in English can be found here including references, mentions and interviews. A press page for xier pronouns which are German neo-pronouns and a German press page are also available.


2022

Gender-inclusive language and the German classroom

Article for the Website of AGS – Association for German Studies in Great Britain and Ireland, 22.11.2022 (accessed 26.12.2022)

On gender-neutral pronouns, we refer interested parties to the work of Illi Anna Heger. The document linked to here, which was developed by Dr Sheila Watts in discussion with colleagues, including linguists in the Forum for Germanic Language Studies, for use at the University of Cambridge, may also serve as a helpful starting point for discussions.

Approaches to Queer Temporalities in German Studies

Article by Kyle Frackman and Ervin Malakaj, in Monatshefte, by University of Wisconsin Press, Volume 114, Number 3, pp. 353-362, 21.09.2022.

And it is precisely in moments in which the irritation between an attempt to be inviting some while repulsing other use that Heger’s minicomic also pertains to temporality. Use-specific design abides by its own spatiotemporal logics. As such, those unaddressed or unaccommodated by these logics are cast as outside or adjacent to the use-structure.

Queer Visualities – Queer Spaces – German Language LGBTQ+ Comics

Text Book Chapter by Susanne Hochreiter, Katharina Serles, Marina Rauchenbacher, Chapter 7 in “LGBTQ Comics Studies Reader: Critical Challenges, Future Directions”, University Press of Mississippi, edited by Alison Halsall and Jonathan Warren, ISBN 978-1496841353, 17.10.2022.

However, the majority of works in the field are still either mostly published online (cf., e.g., Illi Anna Heger’s crucial works, among others, Minicomics, 2010–16); self-published (cf., e.g., Elke Renate Steiner’s Love Migration, 2019); with small/independent publishers – often after having been published online, as is the case with Joris Bas Backer and Nettmann’s Familienjuwelen, 2019; “Familiy Jewels”; or in magazines respectively. This vivid independent scene is difficult to survey in its entirety and scatterdness, especially online. Lists provided by interested individuals (such as on Heger’s website) help but are not exhaustive; academic attention institutional/professional representation, and public campaigns are fairly new.

2021

Rainbow Connection

Announcement published in New Zealand magazine Capital-The Stories of Wellington, issue 76, 22.02.2021

Everyone’s welcome at Goethe’s launch (26 March) of a print version of web comic Queer Conversations by Wellington’s Sam Orchard (pictured) and Germany’s Illi Anna Heger, whose fictional versions of themselves have »rainbow conversations« in important locations. Flip the book to read it in German.

Queer as German Folk

Announcement by Goethe Institut Neuseeland, 17.02.2021.

The Goethe-Institut New Zealand is delighted to launch the print version of a new comic by Illi Anna Heger and Sam Orchard. Hosted at the Goethe-Institut, the event will include a conversation between both artists, with Illi joining us from a distance.

2020

Illi Anna Heger’s Grammatical Futurity

Article by Nichole Neuman, in “Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies”, Vol. 56 Issue 3-4, 12.11.2020, pages 302-321, ISSN 0037-1939.

As a committed member of many communities (queer, comics artists), Heger uses zines to both support community and create space for themself and others in the German-speaking realm. And, as much as zines are forms of self-expression, they are also spaces that carry potential for intervention and social justice.

Together in Colour

Article by Daniel Welsch for the Website of Goethe-Institut, translated by Faith Ann Gibson, 17.7.2020

The artists Illi Anna Heger and Sam Orchard send their avatars to various places in New Zealand and Germany for the comic series “Queer Comic Conversations”. They talk about their experiences as queer people, encounters with hatred and violence and about support systems. […] The two artists worked together on the six episodes. The color scheme indicates who drew which part of the comic. Figures and objects framed in green are by Sam Orchard; Illi Anna Heger uses violet tones. At the end of each episode there is a collection of explanations and helpful links to further information so that interested readers can delve deeper into the topics covered.

Talking about unusual ways of collaborating in unusual times

Interview by Markus Pfalzgraf for the Digital Comic Salon Erlangen 2020, 12.7.2020, Youtube video.

In their new monthly series „Queer Comic Conversations“, artists Anna Heger and Sam Orchard meet online and take each other out to their surroundings and favorite spots. They share their experiences and visions on queer life in Munich, Wellington and in between. They talk about drawing together apart, about non-binary language, and getting to know each other from a distance.

2012

trans*_homo – Differences, Alliances, Contradictions

Exhibition Catalogue edited by Jannik Franzen, Justin Time, NoNo Verlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-942471-02-2

Complex gender deconstructions titled Theory of the Eggplant are practiced by Anna Heger in her comics. Depending on the direction of the cut, gay, lesbian, bi, trans* or cis come to light, or maybe also a mix of all of the above. Reflections of gender have entered into contemporary art.