NYC Feminist Zinefest

Interview with a Zinester: Ponyboy Violet!

Ponyboy – radical eating disorder activist, author of ANAlog, tabler at this coming Feminist Zinefest – gives us the scoop on their work:

1. Kindly give us a short description of yourself and the work you do.

i write a zine called ANAlog: dispatches on d.i.y anorexia recovery. it’s a zine about grappling with eating disorders that i write for radical-identified folks specifically, because, while a lot of mainstream literature has been created to try and address why eating disorders happen and how to recover from them, i have not found these narratives to adequately address my own struggles, or the struggles of the other radical and queer folks i know who’ve lived with eating disorders.

2. How did you get introduced to zines? Were you influenced by anyone?

it was all about doris for me! i had read zines before doris, but i didn’t fully understand their magic until doris was introduced to me, and i can’t actually sum up the humungous impact this zine has had on my life. doris is profound without being pretentious, self-reflective without being self-important. it is poetic and playful and political in equal measure. it’s silly and severe, shy and bold. it’s been a giant influence.

3. What does it mean to do “feminist zine-making”? Does feminism appear in your work (explicitly or implicitly)?

i am genderqueer — though i was female-assigned at birth, i don’t fit into the female/male binary and don’t identify as female. given this, i’ve had a complicated relationship to feminism — or, maybe more accurately, i’ve had a complicated relationship to some feminists and their expressions and definitions of feminism. i don’t identify with an essentialist feminism, one that focuses on sussing out who the “real” women in the movement are, and in my zine i talk about the liberation i experienced when i discovered that i could call my body parts whatever i wanted, and when i realized that i didn’t have to let culture dictate what my body should look like/behave like. all of that being said, i think feminism should be widened, not done away with, and i think a lot of good people are doing good work to widen feminism today — to make sure that it includes all kinds of bodies and identities, to make sure that it stays within a radical framework. i would like to think of my zine as a contribution to this widening feminism, and think it’s crucial that any radical examination of eating disorders take place through a feminist lens: eating disorders are rebellions against capitalism and patriarchy’s incursions on our bodies, and the state has always attempted to control the population by controlling female-assigned bodies first and foremost.

4. What is your favorite zine or piece of mail art? Do you like any specific style/part of a zine?

see question number two! : )

5. If you could sum up your zinester life in a kitchen appliance, what appliance would it be?

hmm… as an eating disorder activist, this is an interesting question to consider! i think i’d be a knife with a pink handle.

Interview with a Zinester: Julia Lipscomb!

We’re back with Interview with a Zinester! This time, we’ve got Julia Lipscomb, a bi-coastal zinester that has volunteered at several zine libraries, including the Zine Archive and Publishing Project (ZAPP) in Seattle and currently ABC No Rio. We’re excited to have her table at the zine fest this year! Let’s hear what she has to say:

(psst, if you haven’t checked out our last interview with new zinester Devon Spencer, you can see it right here!)

1. Give us a short description of yourself and the work you do (including any zine samples if you have them!).

I write personal zines! I’ve been writing zines since 2004, and honestly my zines have gone through as many phases as I have. In high school, I wrote about music. In college, I was writing poetry and chapbooks and sometimes zines about archiving from my internships. After college, zines proved to be my only recession-proof skill. How NOT to Write a Resume is a comic published after sending my resume to over 200 positions and getting rejected by 30 interviews. I think it’s important for zines to come full circle. When you evoke difficult feelings in zines, it is the responsibility of the zinester to start in a happy place and end in a happy place. Whether that’s framed by poetry, comedy or another rhetorical device is up to the zinester. No matter what I write about, it’s always personal.

Currently I’m pursuing a Masters in Arts & Cultural Management at Pratt Institute. Basically I love working in nonprofit arts organizations so much that I decided to study them! My classmates and professors are very inspiring.

2. How did you get introduced to zines? Were you influenced by anyone? And what was your seminal zine moment?

Like most zinesters, I started publishing zines before I even knew what a zine was! My seminal zine moment was visiting the Zine Archive & Publishing Project (ZAPP) in Seattle the summer after graduating high school. In Spokane, Washington, where I grew up, I could count the number of zine publishers on one hand. At ZAPP, there were thousands – and by thousands, I mean twenty thousand – zines in every genre imaginable (or unimaginable). It was unreal and definitely humbling. I knew I had to step up my game.

Growing up in Spokane, I was influenced by local writers and cultural leaders, by people who included zines in a larger community of artists, musicians, writers, publicists, record labels, and other innovators doing their thing independent of profit. Local journalist, Isamu Jordan, was publishing a weekly music column in the alternative publication, 7, and interviewing every musician in the community – I was very inspired by that and started interviewing musicians myself. Sadly, Isamu passed away suddenly last September and I can’t think of my earlier beginnings without remembering him.

3. What does it mean to do “feminist zine-making”? Does feminism appear in your work (explicitly or implicitly)?

Anyone regardless of gender who uses zines to protect and defend their political, economic and social rights is doing feminist zine-making, in the broadest definition of the term. I also believe that keeping a space open for zinesters – whether for a one-time event, open hours library or in collaboration with another arts venue – is inherently political. That’s what makes public spaces for feminist zine-making so difficult – and necessary.

Most of my zines are more implicitly feminist, though I can’t deny once publishing a zine titled sex + intellect aimed at sexism in academic circles. My latest zine, One Ear Bud Free, is a work zine inspired by other work zines like Dishwasher and Temp Slave. One Ear Bud Free is an exposé of all of the temp jobs and unpaid internships I worked and the music that got me through them. You may recognize a few jobs where being a woman or having a speech disability simply got in the way of my performance or chance at long-term employment.

I’m super inspired and excited for NYC Feminist Zine Fest, and I want to write more feminist zines! Lately this past season I’ve received a lot of criticisms for being a woman who watches football by both men and women alike, so I think a zine about football is in order. Go hawks!

4. What is your favorite zine or piece of mail art? Do you like any specific style/part of a zine?

A friend from ZAPP in Seattle makes these beautiful silkscreen zines and runs Blue Dot Prints. I also love Gina Siciliano’s zines that I picked up in Portland. She draws these beautiful, incredibly-detailed comics and her narratives are very moving and relatable. I’m attracted to more “art” zines, though I do have a soft spot in my heart for grainy offset zines found in old school punk zine archives.

Blue Dot Press’ work: http://www.bluedotprints.com/

Gina’s work: http://ginasiciliano.com/home.html

5. If you could sum up your zinester life in a kitchen appliance, what appliance would it be?

This is my favorite question of all because I had to think the hardest on it. I keep thinking of the broiler underneath conventional ovens. The broiler is the best way to make the yummiest open face grilled cheese sandwiches. You can make something gourmet with your best cheese, or you can use the broiler to simply make something good to eat at 500 degrees in less than 5 minutes.

Shameless zinester plug: Come read and make zines with me at ABC No Rio. The ABC No Rio zine library is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6-9pm. I’m in on Thursday’s!

Interview with a Zinester: Devon Spencer!

For the upcoming fest, we are reviving our “zinester profiles” in a slightly different way: zinester interviews! This first interview is with a self-identified first time zinester, Devon Spencer. She is a current Gender Studies and Anthropology student at Purchase college using zines as part of her senior (zine-ior?) thesis project! Here’s what she has to say:

Jordan Alam (JA): Give us a short description of yourself and the work you do (including any zine samples if you have them!).

Devon Spencer (DS): I’m native to Washington, D.C. but love New York! The idea of leaving post-graduation makes me sad because I’d like to experience the city without the madness of being a student and campus employee. I also want to be a part of the camaraderie at nonprofits and zinesters collectives more fully by being the city.

I’m a senior Anthropology and Gender Studies student at Purchase College with particular attention to Art History and Media Studies. I’m currently working on my senior thesis, which has been interdisciplinary means of integrating these four fields. I am researching, through social science text and my own ethnographic research, the various contexts that exist within intellectual, liberal, and radical spaces. I am particularly interested in how spaces are adopted as “queer” even though they may not be explicitly labeled as such. Within this framework, I am researching these spaces to see how materials, community, and the physical space become valuable and comfortable to certain identities. Because radical spaces favor the DIY aesthetic of zines, I have embarked on making one for the creative and collaborative component of my project. It’s in the works and I’m very excited about it!

JA: How did you get introduced to zines? Were you influenced by anyone? And what was your seminal zine moment?

DS: Although I can’t pinpoint one precise moment in which I was introduced to zines, I recall reading them at Bluestockings in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I was also encouraged to read them by one of my best friends, Rani, an avid zinesters, feminist, dog lover, and generally wonderful person. I would have to say that my “seminal” moment was when I was discussing zines with you (Jordan)! I’ve always thought that it would be cool to make a zine, but never seriously pursued it. When I realized that zines could be a canvas that blends my anthropological studies and crafty ambitions, I was so thrilled. The idea of sharing this intellectual and artistic mixture with friends, family, and academia at my school is also very exciting. The only restraints are the paper or digital dimensions–I love that zines are quite aesthetically limitless.

JA: What does it mean to do “feminist zine-making”? Does feminism appear in your work (explicitly or implicitly)?

DS: I think that feminist zine making is about creative collaboration and progressive conversation. These two things (collaboration and conversation) exist in a new way because feminist-identified people are not only talking about desired improvement within the movement, but are they are writing about it, drawing, and photographing their visions of it for others to see. By compiling these ideas, people are comparing and contrasting their perspectives. I think this is a healthy and productive way of maintaining relationships and promoting discussions of intersectionality and diversity in this artistic and radical medium.

I haven’t figured out how to incorporate feminism into my zine project yet, but it is definitely a prominent part of my thesis writing. I would like to write a personalized zine manifesto, which could serve as a way of connecting these dots because this zine will be a compilation of artistic submissions (including my own). If anything, I think that feminism will inherently, therefore implicitly, be a part of the zine because of my values.

JA: What is your favorite zine or piece of mail art? Do you like any specific style/part of a zine?

DS: So far, my favorite zine is Hoax! It’s unusual for me to say this because Hoax is text heavy, but I’ve gained so much from the poetry, short stories, and essays that they’ve included. I’ve loved reading it, but it has also been very been helpful with my research on queer and feminist zine making. I also really love themed photo/drawing zines with recipes, natural remedies, and tea treatments. It’s hard to choose one medium though… I’ve also seen fantastic screen printed and comic strip zines as well.

JA: If you could sum up your zinester life in a kitchen appliance, what appliance would it be?

DS: I classify my zinester experience as the nice food processor that you’ve been waiting to use. I say this because I have been doing creative projects, such as collaging, poetry, socially-conscious writing, drawing up tea remedy lists, etc. for as long as I can remember but have now found a fun means of stockpiling them. If I continue to make zines past my senior project zine, I have a feeling they will always be a chopped up mixture of one particular theme.

How to Make a Micro-Mini Zine (Video!)

A while back, I was sitting in the Barnard Zine Library folding and unfolding a really tiny zine… I couldn’t figure out how it was put together! Despite some intense Googling, no one had made a tutorial on how to make such a tiny 16-page zine. So – after what felt like hours of staring at 1 sheet of paper – I decided to make my own. Check out this blast-from-the-past video tutorial on how to make a micro-mini zine.

Hope to see some of you employing this technique at FZF this year!

* Check out our rad new logo *

Yay!

* Apply to table at the zinefest! *

_DSC0107_preview Applications for 2020 are open! You have until 12/15/19 to complete the application! The zinefest will be Sunday, March 29th at Barnard College. Table payment is voluntary/sliding scale and will go toward inclusion, accommodations, childcare, tabler snacks, and other ziney causes. Holla.

Application is written both in English and en Espanol.

Hooray!

* Save the Date – NYC Feminist Zinefest 2014 is ON! *

We’re *super* excited to announce that on March 1st, 2014, the NYC Feminist Zinefest returns!

Mark your calenders, folks – March 1st, from 1:00PM to 6:ooPM.

This year we will be at Barnard College in uptown Manhattan, 3009 Broadway in the James Room on the 4th floor of Barnard Hall. (See the “WHERE” tab for map, location info, and transit directions)

We will be opening the call for tablers *very* soon, so if you’re a zinester interested in sharing your work, simply keep an eye on this here site (https://feministzinefestnyc.wordpress.com/) for updates.

We’ll also need volunteers to help the day run smoothly; if you think that sounds like you, email us at feministzinefestnyc@gmail.com

Thank you for your support & excitement!

Feminist Zine Reading at Bluestockings Bookstore – – Sunday, October 21st!

It’s Fall, the leaves are turning…and you’re wondering, “Where O Where can I get my fix of feminist zines?!!”

Never fear, Kate and I have just the thing for you – – a rad feminist zine reading at Bluestockings Bookstore!

Sunday October 21, at 7pm, a couple of tremendous zinesters will come and read from their work:

* Jordan Alam! of Letters to Self, and Hairstory

* Daniela Capistrano! She just organized the multi-city POC Zine Project tour…plus she’s the author of Bad Mexican!!

* Rachel Levy! of HOAX zine and Reimagining Queer Community, who just moved back to NYC (welcome back Rachel!)

* Kate Angell, my awesome NYC Feminist Zinefest co-organizer, author of such zines as My Feminist Friends and the brand-new A Thousand Times Yes

* Me; I’m Elvis and I will read to you something from Homos in Herstory, my epic queer history zine series

So there you have it! What more could be better than a cozy night in a radical bookstore with your local zine pals?

See you there 🙂

from the bsox events calendar:

Coming soon: POC Zine Project Tour – Fall, 2012!

The awesome POC Zine Project is visiting *13* cities this Fall, on their epic 2012 tour!

Definitely help support in any way you can: get in touch through their website to volunteer, table with zines, or donate funds to this 100% volunteer-run project. You can also help bring the POC Zine Project to your school/college – check here for more details:

http://poczineproject.tumblr.com/
“The POC Zine Project’s mission is to makes ALL zines by POC (People of Color) easy to find, share and distribute. Community and activism through materiality.”

Here are the tour dates, so mark your calendars!

Sept 24 New York, NY
Sept 25 Philadelphia, PA
Sept 26 Pittsburgh, PA
Sept 27 Athens, OH
Sept 28 Detroit, MI
Sept 29 Ann Arbor, MI
Sept 30 Chicago, IL
Oct 1 Champaign, IL
Oct 2 Bloomington, IL
Oct 3 Columbus, OH
Oct 4 Blacksburg, VA
Oct 5 Washington, DC
Oct 6 Baltimore, MD
Oct 7 New York, NY

For more info:
http://poczineproject.tumblr.com/
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/POCZineProject

Coming soon – Philly Feminist Zinefest!

Mark your calendars, folks – an amazing team of zinesters & activists is putting on the PHILLY FEMINIST ZINEFEST this summer, on August 26th!

The event looks incredible – there will be tons of zinesters, workshops, a raffle, *plus* vegan baked goods (mmm). The zinefest is also a fundraiser for Project Safe, a social justice organization providing advocacy, harm reduction, and support for Philadelphia sex workers.

If you want to table, registration is still open until July 15 – sign up here: Philly Feminist Zinefest Registration. And don’t miss the zine reading they’re planning for Saturday, August 25, at The Wooden Shoe Bookstore!

Also, these workshops will be held throughout the event (summaries and more info can be found here):

From Smoochin’ to Sexin’: Navigate, Negotiate, Communicate – by Screwsmart
Project SAFE: Decriminalizing Sex Work by Project SAFE
Soapbox Alternative Zine Structure – by The Soapbox
Puttin’ the Pain to Paper: Writing about Tuff Stuff – by the For The Birds Collective
How to be an Ally to Sex Workers – by members of SWOP and PERSIST Health Collective

Find out more info on the Philly Feminist Zinefest blog/homepage!