Do you have some paper, something to mark it with, and some thoughts or creative inspiration to share? Congratulations, you have all the ingredients needed to create a zine!
Encompassing various forms and mediums, zines (short for "magazines") are small press and self-published works including comics, poetry, art — you name it.
The annual Spokane Zine Fest will take place on Saturday, May 31, from 11 am to 4 pm at the Central Library. There will be 67 artists selling all manner of limited-edition works in the nxyxyetk Hall, and three free, registration-based workshops (sign up at events.spokanelibrary.org) will be held in the library's conference rooms.
One of the most alluring aspects of zines is how they can connect nontraditional artists to a like-minded community.
"Zines have long been part of counterculture in our country, and they are still a way for people who feel marginalized or feel like they're an outsider to have a strong artistic voice," says Sharma Shields, the writing educational specialist at Spokane Public Library who has helped coordinate Zine Fest for three years.
Spokane Zine Fest was founded in 2017 by Chelsea Martin and Ian Amberson, both artists and writers, to fill a creative void in Spokane.
Martin made her first zine in university, supplementing one of her writings with drawings, and handed copies out for free to friends.
"We moved to Spokane and just found that there wasn't a zine fest nearby and wanted to make one as a way to be able to participate in one, but also to try to find our community here and meet people," Martin says.
The first Spokane Zine Fest was held at The Bartlett in downtown Spokane with the help of a $1,200 grant from Spokane Arts, and had nearly 20 artists.
The annual event returned to The Bartlett until 2019 (when the venue closed) and then took a pandemic-caused hiatus. When the festival made its return in 2023, it was important for Martin and Amberson to find a space that was still publicly accessible and didn't cost a lot to rent.
"[The Spokane Public Library was] giving us the space for free, which was also an important thing for when you're trying to run an event with very little money," Martin says. "And it's just such a beautiful, huge event space. So it's just perfect. We've been really happy there."
"[The Zine Fest] changed just like in the size of it, but the intentionality with uplifting all these different styles of art and artistry here in Spokane is the same," Shields says.
Even with the space upgrade — which provides room for workshops — the applications for vendors grow each year. Last year the space accommodated 65 vendor tables. This year, to make the event even more accessible there are no vending fees.
On top of being an open-to-all event, people normally sell their works cheap, usually $1-$10, or give them away for free.
"It's a pretty big spectrum because some zines can be really nicely printed like full color, gorgeous things, and some can be just like a single copy page folded up into a tiny zine," Martin says.
After perusing prints, stop by the Eastern Washington University design department's station on the third floor to try your hand at making zines and buttons from 12:30 to 3 pm.
"This year, we partnered with EWU to do our branding and design, and that's been really cool," Martin says. "Students from the design program did all our flyers and our social media graphics as part of a class."
The editors of Spokane Sequential, a free regional quarterly comics zine, will host a reservation-based game workshop from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. The group will do collaborative games like pass-the-comic draw, a mystery relay comic and a match of comic-tac-toe. To learn more about or read Spokane Sequential, visit spokanesequential.neocities.org.
From 1 to 2 pm, Hive artist-in-residence Erica Schisler will hold a flash zine-making session, with participants learning how to make a mini zine from a single sheet of paper. All the materials will be provided — though feel free to bring clippings, drawings or writings — including access to a copier so you can make copies to share with others.
Local artist Emma Noyes will hold the final workshop of the day, from 2:30 to 3:30 pm, guiding attendees through the process of how to keep an illustrated journal to inspire later zine creations.
Noyes will lead writing and drawing exercises, while providing examples of how journal musings can transform into zines. Bring a notebook and writing/drawing tools to get your creative flow going!
The rising popularity of Spokane Zine Fest calls to question why people still gravitate toward print in a digitally dominated age.
"I think people are just increasingly going back to pre-digital media because they're more in control of it and they get to make all the decisions and distribute it how they want to," Martin says.
Where there was once a creative void, Martin has witnessed a community of zine-lovers form.
"You see a lot of the same faces every year, but you also see a lot of new faces," she says. "I think people are just really excited about having a space to show their zines and their more niche art — things that don't have another place to be shown." ♦
Spokane Zine Fest • Sat, May 31 from 11 am-4 pm • Free • All ages • Spokane Central Library • 906 W. Main Ave. • spokanelibrary.org • 509-444-5300
