Storytellers from around the Midwest and beyond will convene for the Paper Plains Zine Fest in Lawrence over Labor Day weekend. Centered on social justice and art, the two-day festival will celebrate the impacts of zine-making.
The Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity at the University of Kansas, Wonder Fair and Van Go have partnered to host the second Paper Plains Zine Fest, according to a news release.
Zines — short, self-published booklets — can inform and educate as well as allow people to share personal narratives. Zines have no bounds; artists can create what’s meaningful to them.
Started in 2020 with its first event last year, the Paper Plains Zine Fest combines programming with opportunities for participants to make their own zines. The Lawrence community is invited to participate in a series of programs, explore diverse zines and chat with the artists. The main event, a large vendor market, will bring over 100 “zinesters” from Lawrence and across the region to one place.
Megan Williams, planning committee member, said in her role as the assistant director of the Emily Taylor Center, she encourages creating zines to practice feminism and foster community.
“We’re so excited for the return of Paper Plains Zine Fest,” Williams said in the news release. “The success of last year’s event inspired us to expand our programming to a second day, allowing us to look deeper into the impact of zines in our community as well as to grow partnerships with organizations and institutions across KU and Lawrence that support our burgeoning zine culture.”
Paper Plains Zine Fest is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 2 and 3 at several venues in Lawrence. Admission to the two-day event is free, and programs are scheduled throughout both days.
Day 1:
Saturday will be full of programs, panels and workshops that center different sectors of zine culture. Topics such as feminism, trans and queer liberation, and reproductive justice will be highlighted.
Imani Wadud, KU doctoral student in American studies, will give a keynote speech about the way making zines can be a form of solidarity, with a “focus on decolonial and Black feminist thought,” according to the release. Wadud will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday at Spencer Museum of Art, 1301 Mississippi St.
Programming on Saturday will conclude with a screening of “Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution,” hosted in partnership with Lawrence Arts Center Microcinema, KU Libraries and Trans Lawrence Coalition. The documentary “traces the cultural phenomenon known as Queercore and the place of zines within this LGBTQ punk movement,” according to the release.
Afterward, there will be a panel of trans and queer zinesters, moderated by planning committee member and KU student Monty Protest.
The documentary screening event is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St. Organizers suggest the documentary is appropriate for folks 18 and over.
View the list of programs scheduled for Saturday at paperplainszinefest.com/schedule. Some programs require pre-registration on the website.
Day 2:
More than 100 local and regional artists will be selling their work during an art vendor market on Sunday. Vendors will be selling and trading their self-made zines, comics, chapbooks, pamphlets and more. Local food trucks, including JB’s Tacos, Repetition Coffee and Hazel’s Hawaiian Shave Ice, will be selling snacks and drinks.
The Vendor Fair is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Van Go, 715 New Jersey St. Attendees are encouraged to bring cash to purchase the artists’ zines, which are typically priced between $1 and $15, according to the release.
Additionally, a youth zine-making workshop is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Van Go. Jenny Cook, children’s librarian at Lawrence Public Library, and Williams will lead the workshop for kids ages 6 to 12.
Learn more about the Paper Plains Zine Fest and see the schedule of individual programs both days this year on its website, paperplainszinefest.com. Follow its Instagram page, @paperplainszinefest, for updates.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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