Pete's Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
I had read about zines and zinesters, visited zine collections, and bought zines, now it was time to get me to a zine fest. One was coming up at Pete's Candy Store (a live music venue) in Brooklyn. A chance to visit New York, see friends, finally get to Pete's, buy more zines, and meet zinesters -perfect!
July 8th, 2017. It was a helluva walk through blazing heat from the L train station to the fest. Everyone I asked for directions was a tourist. Did anyone actually live in Williamsburg? But I was finally there, and that's what mattered. Zinesters were tabling both inside the venue and out in the garden area. I found the live music area. It's small. intimate, dark, I sink into a comfy chair with a cool drink. There is no live music. Most of the people sitting around me are the significant others of zinesters and folks who wandered in by chance. I had an interesting conversation with the college-aged boyfriend of a zine distributor and a young man in his thirties who biked his way across the U.S. The drink and conversations refreshed me. Time to check out the zine scene. I decided to work my way back from the farthest point.
Bill Roundy
First stop. Bill Roundy's table where I bought and read two of his zines - seated right next to him. Seriously, there was a spare chair right there...He welcomed my comments and questions and shared some of his quite funny personal experiences at various zine fests. It was like the Zine God(dess) set up a personal Welcome Wagon just for me.
Orientation Police is a short comic about dating transgender men, and how some people react to that.
The Amazing Adventures of Bill is a collection of two years of the best from the webcomic of the same name.
Bill is the creator of Bar Scrawl, and a lot of other really cool comics, visit him at www.billroundy.com
Marguerite Dabaie co-hosted the fest and tabled with Andria Alefhi of We'll Never Have Paris.
Can These Cookies Stop Islamophobia? seized my attention and heart, and again I bought and read a copy of a zine right in front of the author. Several years before a few Tunisian friends (all Muslim) had lived in the Tri-State area for work and educational purposes. I knew first-hand what they went through - especially post 9/11. Most notably, that they spoke only French amongst themselves in public areas because one had been hit with a bottle by a drunken man who overheard their Tunisian dialect.
Ever have one of those moments when you read something that you wanted to see featured on the news? This was one of those for me.
Ms. Dabaie is also the author of The Hookah Girl and A Voyage to Panjikant. Ali's House, a comic she co-created with Tom Hart is syndicated by Go Comics.
Visit her online at mdabaie.com
Andria Alefhi gifted me with a copy We'll Never Have Paris Greatest Hits when she found out I had come from Cape Cod for my first zine fest. She also offered me a personal tour of the Bluestockings Bookstore in Manhattan, where she served as zine buyer at the time. Additionally, a year later she noticed my absence at the 2018 Fest and emailed me to see how I was doing. Much appreciated because at the time my husband was seriously ill; he has since fully recovered. Thank you Andria!
As you've probably guessed I spent hours at the zine fest. My many purchases included Rocket Queen #1 & #2 by Janet. Issue #1 details how Janet turned to exotic dancing after being out of work for a month in Asheville, a small tourist town in North Carolina. Issue #2 is about her experiences dancing in New Orleans. Janet's writing is about as mature and honest as it gets. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to talk to a sex worker - read it. And if you've never wondered what it would be like to talk to a sex worker - read it anyway.
I was pretty sure I had visited every table and needed a drink before dealing with mass transit again. On my way to the bar, right near the ladies room, only she could pick such a prime spot, I found Ayun Halliday. I had read her work in zine library collections. I had read about her online. And now here she was exiting the lady room's room right before me - I wanted to yell "Tadaaaaa."
It was the perfect zine ending. She autographed and even added "one of us" to one of the zines I purchased.
In addition to being a zinester, Ayun is just about everything; mom, playwright, book author, and actress - she's played Mrs. Claus in The Truth About Santa.
So are you wondering if there's a Part 4 to the About Me & Zine series? You bet your sweet bippy there is!
What or who is going to be about?
My beautiful badass zine pal Hadass of course. Stay tuned my darlings.
While you're waiting, visit her at her blog Riot Grrl & her Etsy shop PMSmess