April 27-29 | Food for Thought Books | Amherst, Ma

Pioneer Valley Zine Fest is a three day event that strives to bring accessibility to DIY zine making as well as supporting radical independent publishing. Our goal is to bring writers, activists, artists and community members together through sharing, connecting, and collaborating. 

Zines, which are written in a variety of formats, strive to set importance on bringing literature, art, and politics out of a profit oriented industry. This lets information that is often exlusive to academic or privileged spheres available to a more general public. Zines offer a founding basis of Do-it-yourself “DIY” communities and encourage anyone to write fiction, non fiction, or anything else without the need of a publisher.

Tablers: Chelsea Dirck -Nail Biter Zine Distro -Derrick Spotts -Phoebe Harris -Flying Object Center for Independent Publishing, Art, & the Book -Fight Boredom Zine Distro -Emily Barroso -Caleb Mackenzie -Self Made Something -Cometbus -Katie Omberg -Paper Bag Press -Alex Connors -Rob Tocchio -UMASS permaculture collective -Rachel Roth -Queer Zine Archives Project -Papercut Zine Library - Riot Nrrd Comics -Pickled City -High 5 magazine -Hoax Zine - Easy Jaw Food Zine -Joe DeGeorge -Nothing Mattress -Mariposa Endeavors -Poetry is Flammable / Jude Bower -Loud & Queer/Riot Girl Problems -Wild Isle - Bread & Puppet -Youth Action Coalition -Wren Awry -AK Press 

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Schedule:

FRIDAY APRIL 27:  Zine Reading, 7pm, Food For Thought

***zine reading lineup***

TARA JOHNSON of Stunned Lungs
ANDREA LAWLOR fiction writer, zine lover, and editor of the Pocket Myths series 
KIM FUNK comic illustrator from New York
XAVIER MALDONADO reading from Explorers Are We
CRISTY ROAD reading from her new book, Spit and Passion
SUZY X illustrator and writer from New York
AMBER DEAREST of Culture Slut zine series and Fight Boredom Distro
AARON COMETBUS from Cometbus zine series

SATURDAY APRIL 28: ZINE EXHIBITION AND WORKSHOPS. 11am-6pm, Food For Thought


***WORKSHOPS***

11:15 am -12:15pm
Beyond Verbal Consent: A Workshop About Communication, Journals, Zines, and Feelings
Facilitated by Parks Dunlap of Oh My! Sensuality and AASECT 
As awesome as verbal consent can be, its not always the best way to communicate. In this workshop will discuss how to use written negotiation as a tool to enhance and create clearer communication between awesome people. We will cover fun things like negotiation forms, consent logs, email negotiation, erotic writing as scene planning, relationship forms, and info-share forms. Bring a pen/pencil/brightly colored glitter crayon to take notes!

12:30-1:30 pm
Zine and Ethics Facilitated by Rachel of Hoax zine series
This workshop will focus on how the ethics of zine writing & how zine format influences how and what we choose to write about. we will collectively explore the following topics: navigating personal disclosures, call outs, censorship & trigger warnings, how privilege impacts what we choose to write about, protecting the anonymity of third parties, crediting other people's work & much more. please come prepared with a writing utensil and a critical mind.

1:45-2:45 pm
Letterpress Printing Facilitated by Flying Object Printing Press
Letterpress Printing on a Kelsey 5x8: Learn the basics of hand-setting type, composition, registration, and printing on a table-top letterpress---the perfect press for printing cards, zine covers, and other ephemera. A very informal history of letterpress printing may also be included

3:00-4:00 pm
Papercut Zine Library Presentation
Librarians from the Papercut Zine Library in Cambridge will lead a discussion on zines, beginning with the very basic questions of what a zine is, what they look like and why they are important. Using the group's own definition and analysis of zines, each participant will then create one page of a compilation zine -- which they will receive a copy of later in the day. This workshop will exhibit the theoretical aspects of zine-making and zine culture as well as the very participatory, concrete act of "doing it yourself." Great for those unfamiliar with zines as well as seasoned zinesters alike! 

4:15-5:15 pm
Communicating Identity in Zines by Sari of Hoax Zine series
zines give us the opportunity to talk openly about certain facets of our identities that we often feel compelled to minimize or conceal in other areas of our lives. giving a voice to the intersection of our statuses, zines can be a place to work out intimate aspects of ourselves while reaching out to others for connections and support. unfortunately, certain styles of confessional writing can often keep us stagnant or even reinforce dominant narratives about authenticity. how can we write zines that focus on our marginalized identities without losing focus of the ways in which we are privileged? can zines help us heal through storytelling without pushing us to reveal too much about ourselves, thus being counterproductive? how do certain identities and experiences gain legitimacy and concern in the zine community while others do not? these and other questions will be raised and discussed in this workshop and round table.


***FILM SCREENING, 7pm, Food For Thought***
local filmmaker and professor Bernadine Mellis will be screening her film The Forest For The Trees with a Q&A to follow. food will be provided.

***LADYFEST EASTHAMPTON BENEFIT SHOW, 7pm, Flywheel Arts Collective***
BAND LINEUP: Parasol, Retch, Peeple Watchin', Missing Data, more TBA
5-7$ suggested donation! No one will be turned away!



SUNDAY April 29: RECORD FAIR!! 11am-3pm, Flywheel Arts Collective

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For more information about the organizations/locations involved, or questions about volunteering, tabling, reading, or participating in any other way, please email zines@foodforthoughtbooks.com