Welcome to KC Zine Con #6: A Virtual Zine Fest!
2020 was our first-ever virtual festival! Below are all the cool things that happened at the virtual fest, which you can still check out today! (Interested in our next fest? Click here to learn about our plans for KC Zine Con #7.)
While the circumstances that caused us to go digital are truly awful (if you haven’t heard, there’s a worldwide pandemic happening), we are excited by the possibilities this format has opened up for us: we’ve developed a virtual table system that will help people find zines from the comfort and safety of their own homes, our programming is accessible to more people, and we’re able to interact and connect with zinesters WORLDWIDE! It’s been an exciting experiment and we’ve learned so much.
We want to acknowledge that our organization inhabits land stolen from the Kansa, Osage, and Shawnee Nations — the traditional guardians of the land on which we live — and that our nation was built on a legacy of chattel slavery — the brutal enslavement of Black people, whose exploited labor created this nation’s wealth. Black Lives Matter.
Special thanks this year goes to Nika Winn, who created our beautiful poster art!
Have fun and happy zine-ing!
Panel Discussions
Zinesters & Astrology, Herbalism, and Witchcraft PanelAilin Lu (Mamagui Speaks) (She/They) - Ailin (she/they) of Mamagui Speaks is a self-taught Asian American and queer astrologer, interdiscplinarian, artist, and data nerd. In addition to consulting with clients, she acts as VP of programming at the Aquarian Organization of Astrologers. “Mamagui” is a play on words that draws on Ailin's Chinese American experience. Gui <鬼> is the word for ghost. Mama precedes gui to honor the wisdom and guidance of her maternal ancestors. You can find them on IG @mamagui_speaks or visit mamaguispeaks.com to peruse astrology content and book a reading.
Neelybat Chestnut (she/her) - author of Mend My Dress, and good witch/badwitch, publisher, Mend My Dress Press, and practicing JeWitch. @neelychestnut
Nikki Minor (she/they) - (chicory.) is a zine and line of small-batch herbal goods handmade in New Orleans, Louisiana by Nikki Minor. Nikki's passion is demystifying herbalism making it accessible to marginalized people and using plants as tools for liberation. To learn more follow @chicoryzine on Instagram or visit linktr.ee/chicoryzine.
Rayne Klar (they / them / theirs) - nonbinary witch living in the midwest making comics and zines . rayneklar.com
BIPOC Zinesters Panel
Alexa Lima (She/Her) - I am a Black zinester and musician based out of Atlanta, GA. I primarily make perzines and collage zines with a focus on political and social issues that affect Black people.
Carmen Pizarro (She/they) - Hey, I’m Carmen Pizarro, I’m a Latinx Illustrator based in NYC. My work ranges from making illustrations to comics and creating zines and other products in my spare time!
Jonas Cannon (They/them (preferred) or he/him) - I've made 45-50 zines, with topics ranging from punk to mental illness to parenting. I live in Chicago and am a founder and organizer of the Midwest Perzine Fest.
Kayla Shaggy (She/They) - Kayla Shaggy, a Two-Spirit woman of Dine and Annishinabe descent, is an artist specializing in illustrations and comic books. Her artwork is inspired by personal experiences and stories from her Indigenous heritage. She also tries to bring awareness to Indigenous and LGBTQ issues within her art as well.
Raffle
It just wouldn't be a zinefest without a raffle, now would it? KCZC #6's raffle featured some incredible prizes from KCZC sponsors, and there were FOUR WINNERS! We donated 75% of the proceeds from the raffle to local causes that KC Zine Con cares about: Black Rainbow, KC Tenants, and Stand Up KC. The remaining 25% will go on to support future KC Zine Con programming and events. Wow! Congrats to our winners: Hayley Simon, Tyler Absher, Anna Beck, Jennifer Bayer.
We raffled off these great prizes:
3-3-3 Prize Pack from Neither/nor Zine Distro: Enough zine swag for the whole family! This prize pack includes 3 glow-in-the-dark Neither/nor Zine Distro T-shirts, 3 Neither/nor tote bags (also glow-in-the-dark) and a 3-month zine subscription! Allow Jess to curate three-months worth of zines just for you, from the over 200 zines they have in stock!
Custom Buttons (or Magnets! or Mirrors!) from Portland Button Works: If you've ever wished you could design your own button, then this is the prize pack for you! The winner of this prize will get a $50 digital voucher to the PBW online store that they can use on custom buttons, magnets, or mirrors. PBW even has a handy Design-o-matic that you can use to create the art.
Catalog Shopping Spree from Portland Button Works: Go on a shopping spree at Portland Button Works! The winner of this raffle prize will receive a $50 digital voucher for the PBW online catalog that they can use to purchase zines, books, and comics.
Zine Fest Lovers Prize Pack from KC Zine Con: The winner of this prize pack will recieve tons of KCZC merch! You'll get this year's shirt and poster, as well as stickers, pins, posters, zines and a shirt from years past! A zine-fest-lover's dream!
KCZC 6 - The Playlist
This year's playlist is once again made up of suggestions from our community! We posted a survey link a while back, and asked YOU for recommendations. Here's the stuff y'all chose — happy listening!
Workshops & Meet-ups
All of the workshops listed below took place over Zoom; thanks to everyone who participated!
| Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|
Collage: The Art of Self-Creation 12pm - 1pm CST | Quarantine Zines at The Ohio State University’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Library 12pm - 12:45pm CST |
Panel Discussion: Zinesters & Astrology, Herbalism, and Witchcraft 1pm - 2pm CSTThis panel will be livestreamed to our website. | Panel Discussion: BIPOC Zinesters 1pm - 2pm CST |
1-sheet, 8-page books 1:30 - 2pm CST | This panel will be livestreamed to our website. |
Inclusive Digital Spaces for Women-Identified and LGBTQIA Creators 2:30 - 3:30pm CST | Political Comics That Spark Conversation 2:30 - 3:30pm CST |
Successful Comics Collaboration 4pm - 5pm CST | |
Tabling Zinesters Meet-up 5:30 - 6:30pm CST | |
Workshop Descriptions
Saturday, September 5
Collage: The Art of Self-Creation Presented by Trish (she/her, they/them) + An Sasala (they/them, ze/zir)
Collage, the process of piecing together bodies, identities, and art, has long been a part of trans and nonbinary creative and self-making practices. Join us and learn about the history of trans artistic and zine making practices, make a self-portrait, and tell your story.
Tools needed: Good attitude, glue, tape, magazines, scissors, paper, pens and markers (the usual zine-making and collage supplies)
This workshop is for All Ages
One-sheet, eight-page books Presented by Matthew Friedrichs (any pronouns)
I love to read. I love works on paper. I love personal and quirky storytelling. I teach English. I used to edit. Rural. Both coasts. There are awesome people everywhere. Every kid can be a self-published author. All they need is one sheet of paper, using photos, collage, text, drawings, a simple cut, and three folds.
Tools needed: One sheet of paper
This workshop is for All Ages
Inclusive Digital Spaces for Women-Identified and LGBTQIA Creators Presented by Annie Brown (they/them)
Watch the footage from this workshop Social media sucks, especially if you are woman-identified or a member of the LGBTQIA community. 73% of LGBTQ content online is flagged as inappropriate, and persons highlighting inequalities of sexuality, gender and race are removed from mainstream platforms by the thousands each day. In a socially-distanced world, this makes it incredibly hard for marginalized creators to thrive online. A better (digital) world is possible! We’ll share Lips’ 10+ years of research into mental health and inclusive digital spaces, and what you can do to make the Internet a better place for all of us. We’ll also have an interactive co-design session, where creators can give their say on what a more equal sharing platform looks like! For more info, click here.
Tools needed: Web browser! Ability to open a link for codesign session.
This workshop is for Teens, Adults
Successful Comics Collaboration Presented by Michael Sweater (he/him), Rachel Dukes
Michael Sweater and Rachel Dukes met at the Center for Cartoon Studies and are working together to create The Wizerd! For Oni Press. They will discuss how to start and keep a successful comics collaboration going through multiple books. From finding potential collaborators to different methods of collaboration this talk will discuss the ins and outs of team based comics projects. For more information about their work, visit www.mixtapecomics.com, @MichaelSweater, and @MixtapeComics
This workshop is for Adults
Sunday, September 6
Quarantine Zines at The Ohio State University’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Library Presented by Jolie Braun (she/her)
When COVID-19 caused the world to go into lockdown, many found solace in creating quarantine zines documenting their lives during the pandemic. This spring, the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library (RBML) began seeking out these publications, and now has a collection of more than 50 zines from the United States, Canada, England, France, and Australia. This talk will discuss how and why RBML is building a quarantine zine collection, including the process of finding and acquiring zines, highlighting items from the collection, and reflecting on some common themes and experiences. Jolie Braun is the Curator of Modern Literature and Manuscripts in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at The Ohio State University, where she oversees the modern literature and history collections and provides special collections-based instruction. She is building the unit’s zine collections. Her research interests include women publishers and booksellers, zines, and self-publishing. Learn more about her at https://hcommons.org/members/joliebraun/ and https://twitter.com/joliebraun.
This discussion is for Teens, Adults
Political Comics That Spark Conversation Presented by Nhatt Nichols (she/her)
Watch the footage from this workshop Do you want to create a comic that sparks real conversations and change in your community, but you're not sure where to start? We'll look at how to find a subject, and how to use language and visuals to that will inspire community engagement. Nhatt Nichols is a editorial cartoonist for the Port Townsend Leader. Every week she researches the issues in her community and distills them down to be easy to comprehend, and conversation provoking. Nhatt has a masters degree in drawing from the Royal Drawing School in London, and is the author of Boats, Bears, and Bad Life Choices: The Race to Alaska. You can find more of her work at nhattnichols.com. Instagram @nhatt_attack
Tools needed: A general idea of what is happening in your community, paper, and a pencil with a good erasure.
This workshop is for Teens, Adults
