When the world shut down for COVID, we moved our writing group 100% online and became very familiar with all the ins and outs of ZOOM rooms. Given that a number of our members were located in far-flung corners of the world, we had already been holding some online meetings, so the transition wasn’t as challenging as it might have been, but somehow the online gatherings never felt like they would completely replace face-to-face events.
This past weekend the Canmore Public Library provided the space (thank you!) for a One-Stop Poetry Shop workshop. Fellow Writer on Fire and good friend, Carol Thornton and I led a full-day session of poetry-writing and zine-making.
Using scads of art supplies, a few prompts and suggestions, and some basic instruction in paper folding (and cutting), participants wrote poetry, experimented with erasure poems, and got wildly creative with paints, crayons, watercolours, and collage to produce a whole collection of zines.
As is always the case at the end of a full day of creative endeavour, it was pure inspiration to see the huge range of approaches, styles, and output that resulted from everyone diving in, experimenting, playing, and… making stuff.
We had just enough time at the end of the day for each person to do a short reading from their new zines and share thoughts and reflections on the process of making them. After a mad flurry of photocopying and then more folding and cutting, each participant also wound up with a tiny library of diminutive zines to take home.
The energy, enthusiasm, laughter, creativity, curiosity, and sense of support and community left me buzzing for the rest of the evening. I’m beyond delighted that we are once again able to gather and share in person and so impressed with what resulted from everyone’s sustained effort over a long, full, exuberant day.
Make Your Own Zine(s)
If you are interested in creating your own zine (be warned, these are kind of addictive, you may wind up with a whole stack of them), the video below provides simple instructions for how to make a basic 8-page zine from a single piece of paper. If you start with a standard sheet of 8.5 X 11” paper, it’s easy to make copies to share with friends, swap with other poets, or sell on Etsy.
I made copies of these templates so everyone could practice a couple of times to see how these go together (feel free to shoot me a message and I could probably figure out how to send you one if you are curious. But really, they aren’t that hard to make.)
If you prefer a text-based set of instructions, here you go.
Note that we folded first and then filled in the pages after the blank blooklets were created (try different papers for different textures, patterns, and effects). To experiment with text placement, some people used sticky notes of various sizes. We had a basic printer on hand, so some chose to type up their poetry and then print it out (which also meant font and paper options for the printed text).
In the video, the zine-maker opens his page out and draws onto the unfolded/flattened paper. Note that if you are going to go that route be careful to pencil in (or follow a template) Front Cover, Back Cover, and number the various pages because it is very easy to get lost and lose track of page order and orientation.
If you decide to try your hand at zine-making, have fun - and, if you are willing, share the results! It’s always cool to see what people come up with :)
So fun!