HAMILTON FEMINIST ZINE FAIR

By: Vania Pagniello

Good, not-so-ol’fashioned DIY feminism, friends and fun at the Hamilton Feminist Zine Fair this Saturday.

On Nov. 11, Hamilton will be celebrating its third annual Feminist Zine Fair. With double the amount of artists who sold their work in the first year, the event is now being hosted on the fourth floor of the Hamilton Public Library from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., in order to accommodate the increasing number participants.

The free-of-charge event is hosted by the Sexual Assault Centre (Hamilton Area), an organization dedicated to supporting survivors of sexual assault and gender-based violence. SACHA’s intention for the event is to create a safe space for marginalized voices to be heard and to deepen individuals’ understandings of feminisms through discussion and art.

A zine is a self-published miniature magazine. Topics of zines range from political narratives to fan fiction to illustrations. They typically sell for between $2 and $5.

In the case of the Hamilton Feminist Zine Fair, the connecting theme underlying all zine topics is feminism. Promisingly, there will be a variety of topics mirroring the diversity of human experiences and expression.

Zinesters are deeply embedded within the workings of this event. They will be seated behind the tables that showcase their zines and sometimes other purchasable items like stickers, pins, t-shirts, and treats too.

As necessary as the transaction of money is for the artists, they are not just vendors. Many welcome discussions keeping in mind the ultimate objective of the fair: the exchanging of ideas.

An enjoyable experience is easy here. Along with the selling of items and opportunity for discussion, there will also be a “four-hour zine challenge”; a themed zine made during the day that anyone at the fair can contribute to. The theme of the assembled zine this year focuses on supportive messages to survivors of sexual assault. At they end of the day, it will be distributed, displaying everyone’s unique contributions of content.

Although there will be plenty of zines to browse and buy for a small fee, SACHA’s main intention for the fair is to create a space for marginalized people to tell their own stories.

Amy Egerdeen, SACHA volunteer and HFZF coordinator, speaks to this intention.

“We put out a call for people who make zines and do their own kinds of publications who are definitely coming from feminist angle. I also had people that I contacted because we really wanted to prioritize trans* folks and people of colour. So we did some seeking out for people we thought would be a good fit… that’s kind of where we are coming from and what we want to make sure is a really big part of the zine fair.”

Also noteworthy is the way feminist politics and zine publications complement each other. DIY self-publication is a useful tool for activists to disseminate their ideas without having to censor them in order to get approval from a mainstream source.

“[Feminist zinesters] do a lot of work that is personal and that isn’t the traditional stuff that gets published. Its a great way for people to get their voices out there in a way that doesn’t have to be okayed by a big publisher or okayed by a mainstream magazine,” Egerdeen explained.

Ultimately, HFZF adds vibrancy to Hamilton through its DIY art activism.

“[The HFZF] is really growing in the community. We are just watching it become its own kind of thing! So that’s pretty exciting… there’s been a lot more zine activity happening in Hamilton since [it started]… I think it’s really cool what’s happening here,” said Egerdeen.

In its entirety, the HFZF is a marketplace for feminist literature and art. Naturally, its materialization is temporary, but the ideas shared here still transcend their brief presentation.