Elisha Lim (born 1978) is an artist and graphic novelist living in Toronto. Lim advocates the use of the gender-neutral pronoun "they". Lim is currently a

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

candidate, writing a

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

on social media and race.

Early life

Elisha Lim was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and attended

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

convent primary and secondary schools in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Their sister is the writer and cultural critic Thea Lim.

Career

Graphic novels

Lim's upcoming graphic novel, ''7 Dreams About You'', is about the author's "effort to quit identity economics", and nightmares arising from past romantic relationships. Their first graphic novel, ''100 Butches'', is a collection of queer portraits and anecdotes amassed while travelling around the world. It was due to be released in 2008 through Alyson Books, but many of Alyson's contracts were suspended as the publishing house sought a new buyer. When negotiations failed, its parent company switched Alyson to e-book only publishing in 2010, and several titles including ''100 Butches'' were dropped. Lim signed a new contract with Magnus Books in 2011. It has received gay media coverage regardless, which dubbed Lim a "Queer Woman to Watch" on

afterellen.com AfterEllen (also known as AfterEllen.com) is an American culture website founded in 2002, with a focus on entertainment, interviews, reviews, and news of interest to the lesbian and bisexual women's community. The site covers pop culture and li ...

, and an "Artist in Residence" by

Curve Magazine ''Curve'' is a global lesbian media project. It covers news, politics, social issues, and includes celebrity interviews and stories on entertainment, pop culture, style, and travel. History and profile Founded by Frances "Franco" Stevens in San ...

. Lim also toured North America with Michelle Tea's queer writer's caravan

Sister Spit Sister Spit was a lesbian-feminist spoken-word and performance art collective based in San Francisco, signed to Mr. Lady Records. They formed in 1994 and disbanded in 2006. Founding members included Michelle Tea and Sini Anderson, Other members i ...

, presenting excerpts from the novel. ''100 Butches'' has been awarded grants by the

Canada Arts Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

and the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly-funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by On ...

Comics

Since finishing ''100 Butches'', Lim has drawn a variety of comic strips. ''The Sweetest Taboo'' was a comic about children's pop culture in the 1980s that ran in

Capital Xtra! ''Xtra Ottawa'' (formerly ''Capital Xtra'') was a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was launched in 1993. Unlike its biweekly sister publications ''Xtra'' in Toronto and '' Xtra Vanc ...

, "Queer Pioneers" ran in Diva Magazine, and the 12-panel wall calendar "Sissy" is a self-published celebration of femininity and sissydom.

Art practice

Lim creates portraits of marginal subcultures out of traces or pastels, and usually incorporates anecdotes or captions in the subjects' own words. Lim's exhibits include ''The Illustrated Gentleman'' at

Allyson Mitchell Allyson Mitchell is a Toronto-based maximalist artist, working predominantly in sculpture, installation and film. Her practice melds feminism and pop culture to trouble contemporary representations of women, sexuality and the body largely through t ...

and

Deirdre Logue Deirdre Logue (born 1964) is a Canadian video artist and arts administrator, based in Toronto, Ontario. Career Deirdre Logue studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (BFA) and Kent State University (MFA). She has been creating film an ...

's ''FAG'' Gallery, ''100% Mixed Race'' at the ''A-Space Gallery'', "Generations of Queers" at OCAD University, ''Sissy'' at William Way Community Centre.

Personal life

Lim came out as

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

before moving back to Canada, where they credit the Asian Arts Freedom School for inspiring a turn to anti-racist activism. Lim has organized and co-founded events in

that promote queer and trans people of colour, including ''Fresh to Def'' and ''Les Blues''. The

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

called Lim a 'Celesbian', and in 2012, Lim was called one of the Top 25 Significant Queers of 2011, and one of 100 Canadian People of Colour activists.

Music

Lim pursued a music career until a fortune teller told Lim to quit and take up drawing. Nevertheless, they play in a band called The Sex Appeals, whose members are queer people of colour, and whose music has been noted for having original "poppy hooks and quirky song titles"; their drummer, Nadine Forde, describes their music as "crotch pop". Other members include Ali Naqvi on synth, Sarah Creagen on violin, and Patrick Salvani on bass. Amongst other gigs, they have played at Toronto Pride and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Bibliography

Graphic novel

* ''100 Butches'' (Magnus Books, 2012, )

Articles

* Identity Politics Economics in ''C: International Contemporary Art'',
143
, 50+.

Chapters

* In ''Handbook : supporting queer and trans students in art and design education'' (OCAD University,

018 018 may refer to *Air Canada Flight 018, an airline flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver, Canada, illegally boarded by a Chinese man wearing a disguise in 2010 *Area code 018, a telephone area code in Uppsala, Sweden *BMW 018, an experimental turboje ...

) *"Immigrants in solidarity with indigenous people" in ''The solidarity struggle : how people of color succeed and fail at showing up for each other in the fight for freedom'' (BGD Press, Inc., 2016. ) *"A Conversation about Art and Activism with Trans and Genderqueer People Labelled with Intellectual Disabilities" (illustrations) in''Trans activism in canada: A reader'' (Canadian Scholars' Press Inc., 2014)

Comics

* "Queer Pioneers," Diva (magazine), about notable dead lesbians * "Sweetest Taboo,"

, 2009, memoirs of a gay child in the 80s * "Big Mama Thornton
Shameless Magazine
Issue 13: Fall 2009 * "The Illustrated Gentleman," ''No More Potlucks,'' 2010 * "Gender Revolution," ''Women's Review of Books,'' July/August 2011 * "100 Butches," ''Gay Genius'' edited by Annie Murphy, Sparkplug Books, 2011 * "Trans ladies first" Bitch Magazine, Issue 52: Fall 2011 * ''100 Crushes'', Koyama Press, June 2014.

Cover illustrations

One in Every Crowd
by Ivan Coyote, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2012,
Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme
edited by Ivan Coyote and Zena Sharman, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2010, * Shameless, Issue 13: Fall 2009
Briarpatch Magazine

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Elisha Canadian graphic novelists Living people Canadian LGBT artists Queer artists 1978 births Queer writers Artists from Toronto Artists from Montreal Writers from Toronto Writers from Montreal Canadian LGBT novelists LGBT comics creators Non-binary artists 21st-century Canadian artists 21st-century Canadian writers 21st-century Canadian LGBT people