Zines, Zines, Zines!

For the past several months I've gotten into zinemaking- exploring creativity, queerness and community that comes from both making and distributing zines.

I attended a local mini zine fest in November 2024 and felt the spark of inspiration. I only had my first zine, Megazumi Halloween to share so I gave them out to the tabling artists and I was surprised to find that they would give me a zine in exchange! I discovered that trading zines was a big part of the community- it was like trading Pokemon cards.

Additionally, I got to meet and talk to the artists. I've been trying to get more involved in art spaces by reaching out, asking questions and being genuine to connect with people on a more personal level. One person I talked to mentioned a zine Discord server for the region and I decided to give it a go, despite not enjoying being in servers. (They tend to overwhelm me x_x)

I'm so glad I joined, it was a fun space to connect with other zine makers and keep an eye on interesting events. I would also share my art and ask questions when I didn't know something. It's been a wonderful experience.

Over the next few months I made 7 more zines and set my sights on attending a zine meetup and zine fest, both happening on the same weekend! I had to travel for it, so I took off Friday from work and drove down with my friend and fiance.

The entire weekend was so much fun!!! I ended up buying and trading tons of zines, stickers and other art materials. I haven't counted, but I have roughly 30-40 new zines? More? I have no idea.

In addition to the meetup and fest, I met up with a mutual/zine pen pal and got to check out where they work which had a variety of printmaking studios and workspaces, a gallery and shop dedicated to zines and bookmaking! They gave me some zines and art, including this little guy here.

I met so many people from the server and made new connections. I'm excited to continue this journey and continue collecting more zines. And hopefully, you've been inspired to make some zines yourself! If you do and want to share them with me, reach out on social media or send me an email: megazumi.contact@gmail.com

Thanks for reading! Maybe sometime I'll share my zine collection in more depth. If you're curious about a specific zine I've showcased here, reach out and I can give more information!