I didn't want to get out of bed in the morning. I read part of my poetry assignment from the confines of a comforter cave, waiting for the last possible moment before I had to rise, dress myself, and get on the train to the Feminist Zine Fest. It wasn't out of lack of excitement, oh no - rather, I had just arrived back from a psychology conference in DC the night before and I was unwilling to give up the creature comforts of my bed to go anywhere.
But I'm so glad I did.
When I arrived at the Feminist Zine Fest at Brooklyn Commons an hour or so later, the place was just starting to fill in. I set up my zines (including the new one that I put out just in time for the fest, Hairstory - pictured above!) on a table near the door, next to my boss Jenna and her plethora of zine library-related works. My roommate made the rounds to the different tables as I munched on a granola bar, waiting for people to arrive.
And arrive they did - after just a half hour, the place was buzzing with alternative press addicts, all of them displaying amazing fashion sense and a love for zines. By 2pm, they were bottlenecking near the door and there was great excitement as the first zine reading started, featuring the editors and a contributor (Jenna Freedman, my zine library boss extraordinaire!) of a new book on zines in libraries.
Throughout the day, I met all the different zinesters that I knew way too much about due to having read their zines in our library collection. I would see them, my eyes would get wide, and I would shyly say that I loved their work. Also, completely out of the blue, I met Cynosure, the wonderful blogger that I have been reading for the past year. There were Bluestockings employees right across from us and chill people doing artwork and all types of representation. Every few minutes, I would gasp, fangirl-like, at something new and wonderful that came into my view. In a perfect world, I could keep connected with all the people I saw and met that day.
How many people got their hands on my zines, you ask? I started with somewhere around 90 and ended up with just 8 little zines coming home with me that afternoon. Let's call it like it is: an amazing success! I am so glad to have been able to be part of it.
Interested in other zine-related things I've done? Check out the tutorial How to Make a Micro-Mini Zine and the releases of my other zines on Archive.org.
