Quirky creativity on show at Whanganui Zinefest

Maia-Jeanne McAllister (left) and Anique Jayasinghe hold a winning zine. Photo / Laurel Stowell

The dating profiles of ducks and a newsletter from a fictitious town - these and other wonders of the imagination were on show at the Whanganui Zinefest on February 19.

Zines are works of creativity on paper, Maia-Jeanne McAllister says.

She is one of three in the Whanganui group that organises zinefests, with Anique Jayasinghe and Abby Stewart.

The zinefest took place at Article Cafe from 1pm to 5pm and was part of La Fiesta. There were seven stallholders and about 120 people came through to look at their work.

Article Cafe was the venue because it donated space, is central and is a community hub, McAllister said.

It helped that people could also linger there, and have a cup of coffee.

Numbers were limited because of the presence of Omicron in the community. Vaccine passes were required.

Some stallholders had a lot of zines to show and sell, at prices ranging from $2 to $10. One maker made $40 by selling copies of one zine. The Community Stall showed the zines of people who had only made one each.

There was a competition for the best zine, with Women's Centre manager Carla Donson the judge.

She chose Talula Lamont's zine Ponder - a collection of dating profiles for the ducks of Rotokawau/Virginia Lake.

Anique Jayasinghe (left) looks after a table of zines from a range of makers. Photo /Abby Stewart

The winner was thrilled to receive a copy of every other zine entered and a voucher from Whanganui's Inkt - one of her favourite stores.

Selling is not the main focus of a zine fest. It's more about community and DIY making, McAllister said.

"It's really satisfying to make something and share it.

"From what people were saying, they sold quite a few zines and they had really nice conversations."

Zines are do-it-yourself creations, about something you are passionate about. One of those on Saturday was about a mental health journey, another popular one Abby Stewart's newsletter of a fictitious town, Townsville.

One was a set of illustrated anxiety dreams, another a set of poems to the Durie Hill Tower and its tunnel.

McAllister's was about a 1990s United States band called Soul Coughing. Its music was an alternative 90s mix of hip hop, sampling, soul, dub and funk. The band itself described the music as "deep slacker jazz".

Her zine included collage from National Geographic pictures, an essay and passages from friends. Her dream for that zine came true.

"I made the zine to tell people about [the band] because I love it so much, and multiple people have seen the zine and listened to the band said it's quite good."

Zines are always hand made and can be photocopied or printed. The Wellington library has an "amazing" collection and lends them out.

Zine makers sold and displayed their work at Article Cafe on February 19. Photo / Abby Stewart

It also holds several zine events a year. Saturday's zinefest was Whanganui's second, and it was preceded by a zine workshop where participants each provided a page for the Mish Mash zine.

"It's a nice fun exercise. People might not have a whole zine in them, but they will have a page," Jayasinghe said.

Next year the group would like to involve businesses, and show videos about zine making. It's working toward having a set of zines open to the public at the Hakeke St Community Centre and Library.

Zines are a presence on the internet, but have a very "in person" vibe. They link to an underground culture that is punk, female, "very very queer" and DIY, McAllister said.

It's a space for marginalised voices and a trial ground for budding artists and writers.

The Whanganui group publicises its activities on a Whanganui Zinefest Facebook page and received $1400 from Creative Communities for its 2022 event.