Last weekend was LA Zine Fest. We went to see friends, scoop up great reads and to also get a bit of inspiration for a zine we are thinking of creating for the Mad-Men-themed dance party we're hosting at Craftcation. We're big fans of these indie periodicals and even enjoyed making a community zine at our Etsy Party last year at Creative Outlet Studios.
First, you might be reading this and asking what exactly a zine is. Well, they are basically self-published magazines that range from hilarious to informational to incredibly soul-baring. We saw zines ranging from ones that looked more like a comic book to a collection of stories about chronic pain. They can be as simple as a piece of paper cut and folded into eight small pages or look like what one would typically think of as a magazine. But essentially they are highly personal expressions by the people or person creating it. You can see a sample of the variety of zines out there in the photo below.
Co-founder KC's zine haul from LA Zine Fest.
We actually started Zine Fest by going to our friend and member Aurora Lady's reading of her zine Don't Hide Behind You Skirt. It was deeply moving and very vulnerable story of her learning to cope with a crummy and unfair childhood that ultimately gave her freedom later to become the independent and open lady she is now.
Aurora Lady shares her story.
The reading was at Pop-Hop Books in Highland Park and we couldn't help but gush over this embroidered map of Highland Park while we were there.
Sunday we headed down to the actual Zine Fest which was at Helms Bakery in Culver City. We were inspired by all of the creativity that went into all of the zines, from creative covers to poignant and clever writing. It was exciting to see our friend Eleanor tabling, having made quite the trek from NYC. Her book tour panels were two of our very first events!
Eleanor's table at Zine Fest.
We sure did enjoy our time at Zine Fest and are grateful to all of the vendors who were so welcoming to us while we there. Hope to see you next year!
