QUEER CRIP PAPERTRAILS – ZINE WORKSHOP #2

Long before the advent of Instagram, our queer forebears were creating paper-based zines about their experiences of being disabled and and queer. These zines contain radical re-imaginings about what it means to be disabled, or chronically sick, or have a brain that doesn’t “work” the way it’s supposed to or live in a body that doesn’t conform to normative gender or beauty standards.

In this workshop, we’ll once again be following the queer/crip paper-trail, looking at zines that deal specifically with experiences of neurodiversity. Zines by collectives like the Icarus Project; the formidable Cindy Crabb’s DIY Anti-Depression Guide; Maggie’s Fuck You, I’m Dyslexic and a library of other zines by queer/neurodivergent people. How can zines provide different and more complex narratives about neurodivergence and emotional distress? How might the form of a zine provide a perfect place for expressing experiences that can’t easily be captured in words? These are some of the questions we’ll explore in this interactive zine workshop.

Every participant will also have the chance to create a communal zine, using the classic tool of the cut-out: take an existing text and transform it into something completely different.

No zine-making experience is necessary, and you don’t need to have participated in the first workshop in the series in order to join. The workshop is open to all queers, crips and allies. It will be held in Slash Gallery, a wheelchair-accessible space. If you have questions about the accessibility of the workshop/space, then please get in touch.

SIGN UP
Places are limited, so please e-mail Sara to reserve a space: sararosaespi@gmail.com

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR:
Sara Rosa Espi is a queer parent, archivist, facilitator and writer. In her research as part of the project “Back to the Book” at the University of Utrecht, Sara focussed on the publishing of paper-based zines in a digital age. Her zines Too Much/Never Enough: ADD, Academia and Life in a Wild Mind; Curiosity Killed the Cat But it Saved My Bacon and Burnout all explore what it means to live with ADHD. https:// sararosaespi.wordpress.com

"Image taken at the Queer Zine Archive Project. Check out their digital archive at QZAP.org."