5 zines you should check out at this year's Hamilton Feminist Zine Fair

While still largely an underground phenomenon, zines have recently exploded into the main-stream, with artists like Kanye West and Frank Ocean dabbling in the self-publishing, DIY practice. The fact that celebrities are now making “zines” does take away from the combative DIY ethos that has surrounded zines since their inception.

Originally intended as a means of publication outside of the realm of traditionally stodgy publishing companies, zines have been responsible for the dissemination of marginalized voices speaking about their unique experiences as well as challenging widespread oppression.

Such voices will be able to be heard in abundance at the Hamilton Feminist Zine Fair organized by the Sexual Assault Centre (Hamilton Area) at the Hamilton Central Public Library on Nov. 5. While the event itself is free, an array of creatives from Hamilton and the surrounding area will be selling their wares at tables set up around the library, so make sure to save up.

Here are some of the zines we’re most looking forward to seeing this year.

From The Roots

From The Roots is a zine “dedicated to documenting stories, poetry, articles, testimonies and images of women of colour in Canada.” The publication seeks to maintain a happy balance with the oftentimes kitschy cut-and-paste traditions of zines of the past, while aspiring to be the voice of a quasi punk/literary journal.

Georgia Webber 

Georgia Webber is a Hamiltonian comic artist and writer who has an array of experience working in writing, editing, and design. Her comic series DUMB arose out of her making the best out of a poor situation. After a doctor told her that the chronic pain in her vocal chords would not subside unless drastic measures were taken, Webber took to an extreme form of treatment: total vocal rest. In DUMB, Webber bravely and humorously expounds upon the struggle that her journey since October 2012 has led her through. While she has worked towards being able to speak up to three hours per day, Webber has created a definitive voice of her own that leaps off the pages of her comics.

Amy Egerdeen 

Credit has to be shown where credit is due. As co-founder of the Hamilton Feminist Zine Fair, Egerdeen deserves plenty of it. Egerdeen is a skilled artist in her own right, with her illustrations capturing the eye with their evocative playfulness, but her work within the community as an arts-based facilitator deserves hearty commendation.

From The Margins 

As the artistic collaboration between Geoff and Clementine Morrigan, From The Margins concerns itself with topics as wide-ranging as “queerness, femme identity, sexuality, intimacy, community, addiction, sobriety, intoxication culture, trauma, madness, accessibility and hope.” On his part, Geoff writes about mixed race and genderqueer identity, while Clementine takes up surviving child abuse and intimate partner violence.

Heidi Cho 

A skilled interdisciplinary artist whose works in several mediums (silkscreening, animation, mosaic, drawing, and writing), Heidi Cho essentially just makes cool stuff. From t-shirts and more run of the mill zines, to totes, you can bet that Cho will have something for you, whether that is related to self-care, navigating depression, and intersectionality.