Portland Zine Symposium

SATURDAY

Mail Art 101: a Brief Introduction

Mail Art: What the heck is it, anyway?

We will discuss the history and concepts of mail art—what it is, why it is important, and how it relates to the zine community. Samples will be provided from Jennie's personal archive and we will all do a group project. 

Led By: Jennie Hinchcliff (Red Letter Day: http://redletterday.biz)

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Books to Prisoners Programs

Stemming from our experiences with Books to Prisoners Programs in Bellingham and in Portland we will discuss some of the difficulties in running such groups but also the amazing benefits. We will look at where prisons come from and where they are at currently and also read prisoners' letters about the importance of having literature available to them to counter the negative elements of prison life.

Led by: Kyle Crawford (frail roots zine, walking and talking)

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Bookbinding

Simple bookmaking with everyday materials

Sick of stapling? Start sewing! This workshop will teach you several structures that are easily made with everyday materials: one-page books, accordion, pamphlet, stab, and the ever versatile coptic binding. Examples will be shown; inspiration guaranteed!

Led by: Emily Larned (Booklyn, Memorytown, Parfait)

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Radical Mental Health

Mental Health Support, Connection & History

We will spend half of the time investigating the realms of Mental Health and Radical Politics and the other half of the time in interactive exercises. This will be an open space to play with and acknowledge the ways emotions and our interactions with the world are defined by our surroundings, capitalism and our internal processes. This workshop is for people of all genders, abilities, colors and ages. Attention will be paid to confidentiality and respect for each other.

Led by: Jamie Gooley (Bay Area Radical Mental Health Collective)

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Group Zine-Making Session

This session is about communication and action. Pick a theme/topic as a group and make a zine, all within two hours! Veteran zinester and zine teacher Nicole Georges will be on-hand to help facilitate discussion and offer zine-making tips.

Led by: Nicole Georges (Invincible Summer)

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Sex + Zines

Come talk about sexuality, zines, disclosure, communication, love, STDs... everything!

Led by: Cascade AIDS Project (www.cascadeaids.org)

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Artist Trading Cards are totally fun!

This workshop will teach you about the fun world of Artist Trading Cards. We will discuss different ways to make your ATCs (collage, paint, blockprint) and how to find swaps. We will make a bunch of ATCs to swap at the end.

Led by: Becky Morton and Shelley Pearson (The Independent Kitten)

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How to Plan a Spoken Word Tour

Students will learn how to find venues/avenues for booking reading/spoken word (especially in the Northwest), what makes it successful, etc. Participants will receive handouts on where/who can help them.

Led by: Joe Biel & Shawn Granton

SUNDAY

Pimp Your Zine

Participants will have exactly TWO MINUTES to tell us why their zine/dvd/crafty/whatever project is awesome and why we should read/purchase/love it. You will be timed! This will hopefully result in a madcap hour of insanity, during which you can hear about lots o’ stuff you might have missed otherwise. Sign up with Jim ahead of time at the Info Table, or just show up.

Led by: Jim Withington

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The Healing Power of Zines

Exploring the ways in which zine writing and production are used as a healing experience and to process traumatic and live changing events and experiences.

Zines offer a space to process abuse, assault, oppresssion, and other traumatic experiences. This workshop will discuss the importance of zines in the healing process, including the importance of both writing and reading zines about processing/healing. Using writing prompts, we will delve into the ways zines have helped us understand our lived experience.

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Off the Page: Taking Zinemaking to the Community

Zine partnering with other organizations; community networking

Program designed for zinesters who want actions to speak louder than words. We'd like to show zinesters how zinemaking can really make a difference for people. Workshop/discussion goals will discuss why to get involved with other local groups/organization and how to partner with others to establish community networking and spark zinemaking or zine workshops.

Led by: Kim & Ari (Grrrl Zines-a-Go-Go, www.gzagg.org)

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Queer Zines/Queer Zinesters

This is an opportunity for queer zinesters to explore the ways in which zines have provided a space for the voices of queer folks who live outside of the mainstream, assimilated model of acceptability. Also discussed: the power of telling one's own story as a queer person through zines; the importance of this format due to widespread silencing of queer voices in other formats; ways in which zines foster queer community, particularly by connecting those in isolated geographic areas.

Led By: Milo (QZAP: www.qzap.org)

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Kids' Bookbinding

A fun, hands-on lesson in making books for children, parents and educators.

Children and adults will work together to learn the basics of bookbinding, including a one-page folded book, a pamphlet stitch, and an accordion book. Participants will leave the workshop with skills to make a folded book, a small bound journal and an accordion book at home and will have a new appreciation for artists' books. In addition, participants will be able to take home a finished copy of each of these books.

Led by: Theresa Molter (Zine Symposium Organizer)

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Silkscreening 101: The basics

We will be going over the Screen Filler Method. The focus will be on proper swiping techniques and the supplies you will need to do silkscreening at home. Please bring a light colored shirt to print on (limited patch material will be available if you don't have a shirt to print.) Supplemental instructions available at: http://speedballart.com/pdf/screen_inst_eng.pdf

Led by: Smitty (Count Our Culture Collective: www.geocities.com/fightingcocc)

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How to Research-base Your Zine in 100 Simple Steps

Methods for doing research and presenting research in zines

This panel will discuss subject matter, approach, sources, conflicts, perspectives and bias when creating a research-based, non-fiction zine. Audiences, accessiblity, time, and money will also be discussed.

Led by: Joe Biel (CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting, Microcosm Publishing), Ariel Gore (Hip Mama), Sean Aaberg (Adventures of Pipu), and John Marr (Murder Can Be Fun).

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Making Zines with Free and Open Source Software

Learn what free and open source software is available that is useful when making zines. Great programs like Inkscape, the Gimp, and Scribus are available for Linux, Windows, and Macs, and you can run them for free without even breaking the law! If you run Linux, there is an especially huge amount of free software to choose from. Also, learn a little about creative commons licenses.

Led by: Tom Lechner (Consumption, www.tomlechner.com)

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Zines + Libraries = Luv

How zinesters can nurture a relationship between the zine community and libraries.

Librarians talk with zinesters about how to get their zines into local library collections, how to spearhead zine-related events in their libraries, and how to create partnerships between zine-friendly institutions and their local libraries.

Led by: Emily-Jane Dawson, Laural Winter & Jennifer May (www.multcolib.org/books/zines)

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Alarming Press Presents "Zombie Christ and Friends" Short Film Program

Making creative films with a small budget. Q&A with directors after the films.

Zombie Christ: It’s a battle for the souls of all humanity, pitting the Disciples of Jesus against Satan’s most twisted perversion: the Zombie Christ. Written and Directed by Andrew Whitwell Larrison.

The Tapeworm: The meta-surrealist adventures of Byron, self proclaimed hero of his own world, in a challenging tale of his own creation. This short film will push the boundaries of what you think movie making was or is. Written and Directed by Jeremy Martin.

Baggs: Southern-fried sports comedy about hacky sack. Think House Party meets Karate Kid. Directed by Jon Clark.

Maniac Mansion: Music video for the world's first Nintendo-Punk band, Maniac Mansion.

Presented by: Alarming Press (www.alarmingpress.net)

The zine symposium is made possible by volunteers. Please contact us and help out!

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