Chicago Zine Fest Review: So Many Cool People in One Room

On July 19th, I spent my rainy Saturday afternoon safe and dry on the ninth floor of the Harold Washington Library, attending Chicago Zine Fest! Below is a reflection on my fantastic experience at the event, as well as a few brief reviews of the zines I bought, in classic Wholesome fashion.

Harold Washington Library’s Winter Garden

I went into CZF somewhat blind. I’d been to a few zine launches before, where there were two or three tables, but only had a vague idea of what to expect from an event of this scale. What I was met with, after a series of eight escalators, was over 70+ vendors filling every corner of the library’s vast Winter Garden, each table adorned with various zines, prints, and crafts. The people who attended CZF looked just as cool and colorful as the zines themselves, so naturally I was terrified.

I bought an issue of Better Homes and Dykes since their booth was close to the entrance, and a lesbian zine is a no-brainer for me. As I paid for the copy, I made nervous small talk with the vendor working there about how I was actually writing about CZF for WholesomeZine, before scampering off to a conference room where a panel was about to start.

The panel, titled “My First Zine”, was amazing, and not just because sitting down in an audience calmed my social anxiety. The discussion featured five zinesters including Keidra Chaney, Layrssa Olmedo (who I bought a capybara zine from!), Anna Jo Beck, Fred Sasaki, and his daughter. They told the stories of their first zines: what they were about, why they made them, what that process was like, and answered questions from the audience. I loved this panel so much because it made me feel more grounded and connected to the whole event. The varying experience levels of the zinesters featured reminded me that they were all just people making art like myself; some of them had been creating zines for years, while others had never attended a zine fest or sold their work in person before. It felt authentic.

I greatly appreciated that CZF found a diverse range of humble and helpful people to lead this discussion. I think this panel captured what is so great about the zine community and the nature of trading zines: all types of creators coming together to share art. You can make a zine about anything, at any skill level, and someone, somewhere, will connect with it. You just have to start.

And that’s what I ended up doing. Well, I didn’t make a zine right there (though there was another panel for that), but I made so many meaningful connections. Marching back into the main room feeling inspired by this talk, I went back around to every vendor, gazing at all the goodies they had to offer. Of course it helped that there were more people at the event now, so I felt less singled out, but I still found myself starting conversations with vendors and other attendees. I didn’t have time to overthink interactions, because pretty soon my mind and mouth were filled with positive comments: “All your work is so cute!”, “Oh my gosh, I love your outfit!”, “I need to get this one for my friend, this is totally her thing.”

Another friendly attendee even came up to me and asked where I got my copy of Better Homes & Dykes, the zine I anxiously bought when I first arrived. I happily pointed over to their table.

I ended up leaving CZF with a stack of zines, a list of successful interactions, and a greater sense of belonging in my community. I was initially so intimidated by being at the event alone, perhaps out of fear of judgement, but I just needed a reminder that the sea of creatives surrounding me were just like me. I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to attend the fest this year, and I’m already scheming how I can come back next year.

From left top to right bottom, the zines I bought are: Better Homes and Dykes, “Feminine” by Hink, Floral Observer by Taxonomy Press, “Capybaras Around the World” by Laryssa Olmedo, “Sex Work & Lit” by The Support Ho(s)e Collective, “Five Friendship Fantasies” by Sheer Spite Press, “10 Things to Know About Tech Fascists” by The Support Ho(s)e Collective (plus a free sticker!), and “Reflections” and “Body Type” by Jasjyot Singh Hans.

As an intern for Wholesome, I’ve been reading much of our original run from the 80s and feel inspired by those old zines, which often featured reviews of other d.i.y. publications. As a callback to that, I will be doing five short reviews of the zines I bought at CZF!

Better Homes and Dykes, Twin Cities Volume 2 Issue 3 (Better Homes and Dykes): Everything I could want from a zine with the tagline “For Dykes and Those Who Love Them”. This Minneapolis based publication is technically a revival of a zine with the same name from Iowa City in the 70’s, and carries that same feminist DIY 70’s sensibility for modern audiences. Each issue is packed with content for sapphic people, carrying a good balance of serious political articles, personal narratives, and queer resources alongside more lighthearted comics, illustrations, movie reviews, etc. I loved this issue’s focus on spring cleaning and what readers were deciding to cleanse and welcome into their lives last season.

Floral Observer, Volume 4 Issue 2 (Taxonomy Press): Possibly the prettiest zine I’ve gotten my hands on. It’s such a beautiful standout that instead of opting for earth tones, a nature-focused newspaper is printed with ink and paper in vivid neons, commanding the reader’s eyes to take in the beauty of our world. I am able to connect with Floral Observer as a casual fan of nature walks, while it showcases plenty of pages for my more serious forager and animal and animal/plant logging friends (you know, the ones who can’t get enough of iNaturalist). A typical issue includes feature articles, comics, personal stories observing nature, guides to species identification, and a few natural recipes for good measure.

“Sex Work & Lit” (Aaron Hammes, The Support Ho(s)e Collective): A thought-provoking analytical zine focusing on the portrayals of (specifically transfem) sex workers in a few modern novels,with a particular focus on Little Fish by Casey Plett and Tiny Pieces of Skull by Rob Kaverey. I found the tone of this zine to be academic and informative while not inaccessible as someone who is supportive of sex workers, but unfamiliar with the literature featured. Sex Work & Lit has helped me remember to recontextualize sex workers in my own mind as artists and narrative builders, as well as how platforming authentic stories told by sex workers can improve their safety and working conditions.

“Body Type” and “Reflections” (Jasjyot Singh Hans): A cute set of two mini comics with minimal words, letting the sketchy charcoal pencil and pink highlighter visuals express the author’s feelings and experiences. “Body Type” and “Reflections” explore the complicated and nonlinear road to self love, touching on bodily image, insecurity, body dysmorphia, materialistic gay dating standards, and moments of chucking all that away in radical self acceptance. What stood out about these zines was how they are formatted; the fact that each of them is one piece of paper cut into a spiral and folded up, so they unwind as you read them making for a more complicated and immersive reading experience.

“Five Friendship Fantasies” (Lee Arden, Sheer Spite Press): I originally bought this zine for my friend who could not attend CZF and she absolutely adored it. It is a set of “Five cozy, yearning short stories about how nice it would be to be around other people, to share meals and conversation and all the other things we’re missing out on”. Written at the height of the pandemic when spending time with friends in person was reduced to fantasy, this zine still holds up incredibly well as an appreciation of the affection and intimacy between people in non-romantic contexts. The way the author writes these simple yet tender scenarios makes me grateful to live in a time now where I could make them reality.

Chicago Zine Fest Info!