Alfie Lee: ‘A new environment can change your perspective and revitalise your creativity’

Alfie Lee (South Korea) is an illustrator and comic creator based in Bucheon who draws stories that reflect the lives of women and queer people in contemporary South Korea. She has been one of the first residents at Vil·la Joana this year 2024, a stay that for her has had ‘surprising’ moments, as she knew the more urban Barcelona and the festivals, but instead Vil·la Joana is in the woods. ‘The unexpected encounter with a forest was one of the most memorable moments’, she says.

During her stay, Alfie Lee was able to make progress on her literary project, which focuses on feminism and lesbianism. Inspired by Alison Bechdel‘s Dykes to Watch Out For, Lee worked on a version more adapted to the Korean context, producing a work that could be considered comparative literature in the form of a comic or graphic novel. This residency provided her with new ideas and the necessary motivation to develop the initial synopsis.

The interaction with other writers during the residency was also very beneficial for the illustrator: ‘They were a source of inspiration and advice’, she says. In addition, Lee fully enjoyed the cultural activities offered by a city like Barcelona. She especially recalls the visit to the Ca la Dona feminist action space, ‘an experience that enriched my stay even more’. Alfie Lee has visited Barcelona three times before, but this time she says she explored the city in greater depth and appreciated it in a different way.

That is why she advises all authors who are considering a literary residency not to hesitate: ‘A new environment can change your perspective and revitalise your creativity. Travelling to a faraway place can make you realise that we all breathe at the same time, a reality that helps you to value your life and your work, including the meaning that your readers bring to it’.

Alfie Lee left Barcelona with a suitcase full of projects; she intends to publish the comics she has been drawing for the last two years and start working on more serious projects. She hopes to publish a book this summer and another one in winter.

More information about the residences in Vil·la Joana, in this link.