Providence Zine Fest - April 24, 2004
Words: Maytina
Words: Maytina
Providence will see it's first zine fest this year, thanks to Emily Iwuc (tastes like newsprint distro) and all her hard work. She did an email interview with us to tell us about the planning behind it, and after it happens, we'll have an article up on how the day went.
Tell me a little about why you're doing this.
It shouldn't be, but for some reason this is a hard question to answer. Well, Rich Mackin was always the planner for Beantown Zinetown, a really great fest in Boston, but he had moved to the West Coast. I asked a lot of people if someone was going to keep up BTZT or some other fest, and it became evident that no one really was. Boston is having Boston Skillshare 2004, where people can table, but it isn't solely for zines and the focus on the event is on the workshops. After talking with a lot of people, mostly online, there seemed to be a lot of interest in having one. Eventually the idea evolved into me planning Providence's first zine fest. It's seriously a very artsy city, and very active in many ways, so it was almost surprising to me that it had never had a zine fest.
Being the first providence zine fest, what challenges are you facing? What just feels impossible?
Well, probably one of the strangest things I have to deal with is that I'm from Massachusetts. So people's first question when I asked for help or advice was "Why are you doing this for Providence?" I go to school in Woonsocket, and most of my friends and relatives are from Rhode Island, so I feel more of a connection with that city than with Boston, usually. And like I said, even though there was interest in a Providence Zine Fest, very few people were interested in helping out with the actual planning. I almost gave up because everyone who responded seemed to be a band who wanted to perform or someone willing to go flyering. That, actually, is a really great asset now, because until now it's been an internet-driven event.
Some things happened in Olneyville, where most of the venues we were trying to have the fest at were. By "some things" I mean, a couple buildings were condemned and the venues were shut down and a huge number of residents of the buildings were evicted. Some of them lost a lot of possessions and art because they weren't allowed back into the buildings. One of the girls who had to leave was someone who had been planning an "Unconventional Zine Convention" and we had talked and were going to work together on her idea. It was really great, but apparently she's traveling around the country for awhile. So hopefully she can plan her event in the future, but it was her brainchild so for this I'm just using the basic zine fest criteria.
So all of that, the Olneyville evictions (go to olneyvict.net or the general forums on here), people saying they would help out but having to focus on other things, finding a venue. All of that was difficult. But I don't mean to sound negative at all. I've had so much support with this. Even if people couldn't commit to helping out in a physical, tangible way in terms of planning, they supported the idea and almost as soon as I announced that there was going to be a fest, people sent me emails saying they wanted to table at the event. Meredith from Sweet Anthem Press designed our website (freewebs.com/providencezinefest) and she's in Texas. She did a really great job, and it's random acts of kindness like that that have made this a reality. People from areas away from Providence, actually, have been the most helpful. Meredith, like I said, is from Texas. We've had people from Montreal, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, Oregon. It's hard being the only named organizer of an event like this, but people help in incremental change, and they have made this happen. Every new person that emails me is absolutely psyched for this. That's probably the best thing to know. That you're doing something that people are excited for.
Info on the location.
We're having the fest at the place we should have tried all along. I was looking for a place with more space, because tabling and workshops could potentially be going on at the same time, and I don't want them to interfere with one another. But if we arrange it right, everything should work out perfectly at AS220. AS220 is a great arts collective in Providence. They have a stage and a cafe and a number of small tables and chairs. They're sort of the place to go to if you want to play a show, because mostly you need to send a demo pretty much and book a date. They're involved in WORD RI, a statewide organization sponsored by the American Legacy Foundation that trains youth to use "arts and advocacy" to fight the "predatory tactics of big tobacco." They're a really intrinsic part of the Providence art and performance scene. And people know where it is, unlike some of the venues in Olneyville. Basically, it's a great group of people and a great venue. But we aren't going to have bands play. Then we'd have to pay for a sound person, and that would mean charging people to table, or having a cover charge. And it would probably get claustrophobic, with tabling and bands going on at the same time. This way the focus is on zines. All the workshops are going to have to do with zines, tabling is just for people who make/distribute zines, and the only performances will be zine readings, which will be at the end of the fest.
Ideas for workshops and the like?
We've had a number of ideas come up. One guy is going to do a workshop on prisoner-created zines. About them, about distributing them, etc. Some other ideas have been basic copying skills, organizing events, self-publishing for social change, mail art. Then there's always the basic workshop ideas to go through: zine-making, starting a zine distro, alternative binding methods, DIY comics, things like that. We don't have anything confirmed yet, but we will soon.
What still needs to be done?
If you'd asked me a week ago I would have said that we need to find a venue But, hah! That bridge has been crossed. Now we need to get the word out. I think I've been pretty successful promoting it on the web, but now's the time to make hundreds of copies of flyers and send them to be posted by my legions of flyer-ers from Providence to Boston to New York to New Jersey to Philadelphia, to wherever people who see them might make a road-trip up to see us. So yeah, major promotion is really necessary at this point, even though there's still about two months left. Also, I'm trying to make the schedule flow, and figure out the logistics of finding enough tables to bring to the fest so we don't have to rent them. I've got two, I know some other people who have them, but tables, tables, tables. Agh! Lastly is something I don't think we have to worry about, but maybe. My parents, the eternal rule-book-followers, mentioned vendor's permits. I hadn't even thought of that. But I talked to Rich Mackin, and Alex Wrekk (Portland Zine Symposium), and some other people, and this doesn't seem to be something we have to worry about. I spent an hour reading through the Rhode Island law-book online last night, and I'll probably spend some more time tonight, but I can't see anything that would force us to get the permits for an event this small.
How can people who are reading this help?
Get the word out! If you are anywhere where people might come to the fest, I've got flyers with your name on them. That's really what I'm going to spend money on -- the flyers. Actually, if anyone wants to design a flyer, send me an email at providencezinefest@hotmail.com. If you're far away, support your local zine fest! And if you don't have a local zine fest, plan your own! It really isn't that hard, you just need to send a lot of emails and make a lot of phone calls. Oh, and I could still use help fine-tuning the schedule and layout of the fest, if anyone is into logistical stuff like that.
General Zine Fest Info:
Date: Saturday, April 24th, 2004
Time: (Subject to change, but only by an hour or so) 11-5
Venue: AS220 (http://www.as220.org)
Website: http://freewebs.com/providencezinefest/
Email: providencezinefest@hotmail.com
AIM: (if there's a little picture of a phone on it, don't IM me because I probably won't get it) TastesLikeZines
Phone: (leave a message if I don't pick up) (508)904-9650