Author: Kate Angell

Kate Angell – along with fellow Pisces/fabulous cartoonist Elvis Bakaitis – is one of the organizers of the NYC Feminist Zinefest. She is an academic reference librarian and a former zine librarian at ABC No Rio. She would like to take this opportunity to thank pie, Diana Ross, Gertrude Stein, and knock knock jokes for their support during the Zinefest’s planning. Her criteria for buying clothes is often, “Would this  qualify me to dance in an ABBA music video?”

Kate is the creator of the zine “My Feminist Friends,” in which she interviews five of her friends on various aspects of feminism. She credits much of her motivation to working on events such as this zinefest to her grandmother, inspiration and close friend, Evelyn (Evie) Angell, who passed away last year.

Only two more days until the NYC Feminist Zinefest – which leaves plenty of time to become familiar with the wonderful work of Rebecca Migdal!

Check out Rebecca’s bio to learn more about today’s zineblog superstar!

Rebecca Migdal draws pictures and writes down words, sometimes all on the same piece of paper. The picture and the words come out of her own head. That is amazing! Rebecca Migdal would like you to look at the papers with the words and the pictures.Look at the papers! Rebecca sometime gets to have these pictures and words printed on lots of pieces of paper, appearing in Comics Magazines like World War 3 Illustrated. Also in zines she makes herself, and soon even in some real books, maybe, that are sold in bookstores.
Support you local bookstore, and buy some books! Lots of Rebecca’s pictures and words can be seen on the web. Some of them are only for grownups. If you are old enough, you can read some grownup comics from Rebecca’s head at www.rosettastonecomic.com. If you are not old enough, no peeking!

Here’s another sample of Rebecca’s work, “NYC Aerial:”

Today we at NYC Feminist Zinefest have the pleasure of profiling DC-based cartoonist extraordinaire Katie Omberg!

Here’s a bit about Katie in her own words:

I live in Washington DC and have been here since college, where I went to Mount Holyoke College in Western MA. I have been drawing ever since I could pick up a pencil, and started doing comic books in elementary school, all of which have now been lost to the sands of time. My current work is mostly auto-biographical, ranging from the mundane (working bad retail jobs) to the personal (about realizing I was gay before I knew the word for it). I self-publish most of my work in minicomic format, and just finished a two year-stint doing a weekly comic for thenewgay.net (now defunct). I am really excited to meet all the awesome people at the Feminist Zinefest!

Here’s a sample comic from Katie’s zine “Gay Kid” (I can’t wait to get my own copy!)

Today the NYC Feminist Zinefest is proud to present the zine “ours to tell,” edited by Elizabeth. According to Elizbeth:

Ours To Tell is a narrative project dedicated to providing a safe space for individuals to tell their first-hand stories of abortion experiences. We believe that, although the pro-choice debate has reached a household level, we still hear remarkably few stories from the individuals who actually elect to have them. There is still a stigma against women who have exercised their right to choose and have come down on the side of abortion. The strongest voice we have is our own and it will be the most crucial weapon in the war for equality, respect, and acceptance. We have the right to live in our own bodies. We have the right to love on our own terms. We have the right to sovereignty, respect, and equality.We have the right to decide our own fate. Tell your story.

Elizbeth’s bio on the project’s site reads:

Elizabeth is a feminist, vegan, urban planning student living in Detroit, Michigan. She is 26 and had an abortion when she was 15. She does not regret her decision. She regrets that other people regret her decision.

Today it gives me (Kate) great pleasure to introduce my dear friend, collaborator, and rah! rah! replica – Kate Wadkins! One of my fondest Brooklyn memories is sitting outside of a Williamsburg laundromat in the rain with Kate listening to (and intermittently singing along with) “The CD Version of the First Two Records.” Kate, along with Stacy Konkiel, is one of the co-editors of International Girl Gang Underground.

Here’s a description of the IGGU project in Kate’s words:

THE INTERNATIONAL GIRL GANG UNDERGROUND compilation zine is a collection of stories, artwork, and critical work about DIY feminist cultural production and punk rock today, twenty years after the riot grrrl movement, and in the wake of its legacy.

The print zine features contributions from Osa Atoe (Shotgun Seamstress), Hadass Ben-Ari (Fallopian Falafel –אשת חיל), Carla Duarte (Histérica), Billy Cheer (This is Fag City), Katie Crutchfield (P.S. Eliot, Bad Banana), Lo (HEARTSREVOLUTION), Mimi Thi Nguyen (Evolution of a Race Riot, Punk Planet), and thirteen other writers, activists, musicians, and artists from ten US states and five countries; with original cover art by Philadelphia-based artist Sonrisa Rodriguez-Harrison.

Online, International Girl Gang Underground has published exclusive articles not available in the print zine. In the interest of relevance, information-sharing, and community-building, IGGU online has created a directory of feminist cultural projects; all are welcome to submit new or recent additions to the directory. Further, the editors encourage submissions of music reviews and original content related to the zine’s mission  to be released on the IGGU website periodically.

Here’s some more info about Kate – or KW, as she is often called 🙂

Kate Wadkins is a Brooklyn-based artist and writer who recently graduated Sarah Lawrence College with an MA in Women’s and Gender History. She is the co-editor of International Girl Gang Underground, a compilation zine about feminist cultural production twenty years after the riot grrrl movement and in the wake of its legacy. In 2009, she co-founded RE/VISIONIST with four other Sarah Lawrence students. Kate is a contributing writer for Hyperallergic (the New York art blogazine), and has written for Maximum Rocknroll, Sadie Magazine, and Hoax zine, among others. She was the gallery manager of Storefront in Bushwick for its two-year lifespan, and has proudly interned for the band Le Tigre. Of late, she curates Brain Waves, a zine and print collection, and assists for The Punk Singer, a documentary about feminist artist Kathleen Hanna. Kate is a founding member of For the Birds Collective as well as a classic virgo, coffee enthusiast, bass player, and rabble rouser.

One of the best aspects of organizing a zinefest in your own neighborhood is that it gives you the opportunity to learn of more and more zine projects being done right in your own backyard!

Such is the case with today’s zinester, Brooklyner Marta Lapczynski. Here’s her bio:

Marta Lapczynski eats, breathes, & dreams the DIY ethos. When she’s not coordinating shows or other community events at Fat Heart House where she resides in Brooklyn, she’s poring over the work of Fat Heart Press, her smallscale DIY publishing company & zine distro, scheming on the deconstruction of systemic oppression, wandering aimlessly through wooded areas outside of the city, nuzzling dogs, riding bikes, making coffee, or singing whimsical songs to no one in particular.

Anyone either living in or visiting Brooklyn should check out Fat Heart House, which hosts DIY community events, including swap meets, skillshares, and music performances.

Meet melissa ann!, creator of the long-running perzine she’s so very…  The description on her blog of #15, the most recent issue, reads:

This issue details my Lady Gaga tribute band, joining the Bloomington Burlesque Brigade, attending a Birth Doula workshop, seeing Crispin Glover and Chris Hardwick and my overwhelming obsession with Depeche Mode.

In her own words, melissa ann!  is a feminist zine writer living in Bloomington, IN and has been making zines for 10 years. she is currently working as a mental health professional and is also a burlesque performer and birth doula.

Here’s a cover shot of the zine’s very first issue, published back in 2002:

Today we’re delighted to blog about local zinester Shawn(ta) Smith, creator of the Black Lesbians in the 70s Zine!

Here’s Shawn’s bio:

Shawn(ta) Smith is an Archivist, a librarian, a writer, and a Zinester.  Shawn is an Archivette and Coordinator at the Lesbian Herstory Archives, and a producer of Theater at the WOW Cafe Theater, where she is proud to contribute to Rivers of Honey, a space highlighting the art of womyn of color.  Her librarianship is academic faculty or young adult, and always reference.  So ask her about books, she might know a thing or two; she’s been known to answer to “Your Lesbian Librarian”.  She just finished a year at StoryCorps, a national oral history project, as the Archive Coordinator, and will continue this year pursuing creative projects, starting with finding a publisher for her Anthology: Her Saturn Returns: Queer Women of Color Life Transitions.  You can find out more about Shawn at hersaturnreturns.com

Shawn also provided us with some really great info about her zine:

Fifty copies of the Black Lesbians in the 70s Zine will be available at the Zine Fest.

As we’re a Brooklyn-based zinefest, it is our pleasure today to introduce a hometown zinester- June Dee, creator of the zine Words Are Not Enough.

Here’s some more info about June and Words Are Not Enough:

My name is June, and I wrote this zine because I wanted to share my experiences working with survivors of domestic violence and homelessness. I hope that folks read this and don’t just feel sad, but feel persuaded to step forward and work to support those who experience violence in realistic, caring, and community oriented ways.

As for me, I no longer work in shelters, and reside in Brooklyn in a house full of cute cats and queers.

Today’s profile is of zinester Stephanie Basile! This is very exciting to Kate, as the two of them initially became friends at Bluestockings years ago through Steph’s longtime zine, Suburban Blight!

In Steph’s own words:

Stephanie Basile is a union organizer who lives in NYC. She is interested in radical politics, particularly anarchism, syndicalism, and feminism. She started Suburban Blight in 2004, editing regular issues until 2007.  She is excited about releasing a new issue of her after her haitus.

Here’s the cover of the newest issue of Suburban Blight, published at the end of 2010 :