Do-it-yourself publishing lives!
When Iron Feather Bookstore and the Denver Zine Library jointed forces three years ago to celebrate the world of underground, DIY-publishing, they weren’t sure how the public would respond. But the first annual Denver Zines Fest was such a hit that they did it again. And again. And here we are in 2008, with the third annual installment.
The event, which takes place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at First Unitarian Church in Denver, will be teeming with zine writers and publishers vending their wares, comics and other projects. Volunteers will run workshops and demonstrations throughout the day offering how-to instruction on cartooning, screenprinting and (natch) zine-making. The best part? Everything free and open to the public.
We talked via e-mail with organizer Stevyn Prothero of Iron Feather Bookstore about the event, the importance of hard copies in a digital world and why Denver could use a little more collaborative spirit in its underground arts scene…
Can you briefly describe the setup and goals of the Zine Fest?
The festival is a place for zinesters and self publishing folks to gather, share and network. Anyone and everyone can create a zine but it is a labor of love so only a handful of people actually do it. When you get these like-minded people in one room the energy is amazing. Zinesters only have a few places that will feature their publications as chain shops ignore stuff without proper distribution or UPC codes etc so this event gives the zinester a chance to present their publicatin to the public directly.
What’s different about this year’s fest over last year’s?
This one is a bit more organized, more workshops and more zinesters booked.
How many people do you expect this year?
Last year we had 700 people through out the day, I expect the same. The only difference would be that most colleges are out of session so maybe we will lose a few students who have left town.
In an era in which an increasing amount of people get their information and entertainment online, what’s the appeal of a handmade zine?
This has really impacted the zine scene as it is much simpler to express your thoughts online than produce and distribute a publication. With paper costs and postage being very high it is also a money loser. The appeal of the zine is the hard copy in your hand. The feeling when you finish it, run off copies is wonderful. To send one in the mail to a pen pal or trade for another zine is exciting. Also to read a publication in your hands feels good. With everyone going online, creating a zine is even more special that it was in the past.
How many zines are participating this year, and are they all from Colorado?
About 80 zinesters will be there in person presenting their works. Many other zines will also be represented and available also. The majority of the zinesters are from Denver but we do have people from out of town showing up as well, the furthest travelers are from Portland, Ore., Florida and Ohio.
What kind of styles and sensibilities will be represented at the fest?
The beauty of zines is that it is all ages and from all spectrums. Since people publish their own stuff they can express themselves freely without censorship worries of any sort. You will find lots of teen angst, etc but also older people writing about rock music or artists drawing comics, etc.
In your estimation, what’s the overall health of the national zine scene? How does it differ from the ’80s when zines first caught fire?
Sadly, paper costs, Xeroxing costs and postage prices have really hurt the zine scene. Also very hard these days is distribution as most nationwide distro companies want to see UPC bar codes, mass quantities, etc. In the ’80s there existed a zine called Factsheet 5 in which any and all zines sent in were reviewed. It was like the grand networking tool for all zinesters. Since it ceased publication nothing has replaced it so the network has fragmented now you must look hard to find zines.
How and when did you get into zines?
I bought my first zines in Ann Arbor, Mich. in 1986 and by 1987 I started publishing IronFeather Journal which was dedicated to the hacker movement of that time period. Now the zine is dedicated to all sorts of underground cultures, music scenes, art, photography, etc. We celebrated out 20 year anniversary of being in print last year.
Are you partnering with any other organizations for this event?
Yes, the Denver Zine Fest is organized by members of the Denver Zine Library as well as Kelly and myself from the IronFeather Bookshop which does have a zine section. Everything is run by volunteers and no profit is produced. Any donations, etc are given to the Denver Zine Library.
How related is the Denver (or regional) zine movement to other cultural art forms, like music, visual art, etc.?
Unfortunately, Denver is not unified and networked as some cities like Portland, Ore. is. Little pockets of activity are happening all over Denver but are unaware of each other. Some social networking is starting to happen online and some local boutiques are encouraging it also with workshops, discussion groups, etc. I am very surprised that we don’t have many music or art related zines as obviously the art & music scene is flourishing here.
For more information about the third annual Denver Zine Fest, check out their website.
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