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Category: perzines
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Midwest Perzine Fest – Off-Site 10/8
Quimby’s is proud to co-sponsor the 2022 Midwest Perzine Fest, which is Saturday, October 8th at Columbia College’s Conaway Center, at 1104 S Wabash Avenue, 10 am to 4 pm! Make sure to stop by our table to say hi!
What’s a perzine? Perzine is a genre of zine. It is short for “personal zine” and is often a self-identified term used by zinesters to describe their zines written about their own personal thoughts, stories, or experiences and can be of a confessional nature. But perzines are not limited to discussions of emotions; they can also explore topics of interest or interactions with hobbies or travel experiences.
More info at MidwestPerzineFest.com.
Still in town on Sunday afternoon? As a post-MWPZF event, Zine Club Chicago and Quimby’s invite you to join us for coffee and cookies. Come here to Quimby’s (1854 W. North Ave) at noon, Sunday, October 9th, to hang out with your zine friends. Feel free to leave items you want to consign (though we will not be able to do payouts due to how busy we will be or check stock levels). We can’t wait to see you all during MWPZF weekend!
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Midwest Perzine Fest Online Perzine Reading on April 8!
This spring, Midwest Perzine Fest is celebrating perzines — and the friendships they help forge — with a virtual event featuring some amazing zinemakers! The Midwest Perzine Fest Online Perzine Reading will be streamed live on Friday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. Central Time on the MWPZF YouTube channel: tiny.cc/mwpzfyoutube
The readers for the event, who all will be sharing work on the theme of friendship, are Heather Anacker, Nichole Bael, Julie Halpern & Liz Mason, Jessie Lynn McMains, Lynne Monsoon, Red Schulte, and Alisha Walker. The evening’s moderator will be MWPZF founder Jonas.
This event is free! PayPal donations to support MWPZF (which is planning its first in-person Exhibition Day here in Chicago!) are greatly appreciated: midwestperzinefest@gmail.com
This event is sponsored by Quimby’s Bookstore. Poster designed by our Cartoonist-in-Residence Caroline Cash.
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Anne Elizabeth Moore Talks Perzines and Memoirs with Quimby’s Online Nov 5th

Anne Elizabeth Moore’s new book Gentrifier: A Memoir (Catapult Books) is ostensibly about a free house the author was awarded in Detroit in 2016. But after she moves in, pets some cats, and gets to know her delightful neighbors, the murky history of her supposedly free house—more costly than expected—comes to light, illuminating the contemporary American housing crisis. Moore writes about gender, policy, and the downside of capitalism (all of it), plus she includes many jokes, so her books are pretty good. She has been self-publishing since she was 11 and will talk about using zines in a writing practice, and memoir in a self-publishing practice.
Don’t miss Anne on the Quimby’s Instagram, livestreaming on Fri, Nov 5th at 7:30pm CT at instagram.com/quimbysbookstore where she’ll talk with Quimby’s employees and fellow veteran zinesters Liz Mason and Cynthia E. Hanifin, in what promises to be a lively discussion. Because this is a livestreaming workshop event, viewers are encouraged to come prepared with questions to ask about the differences between perzines (as in personal zines) and memoir, moving from one to the other, and incorporating zines into a writing practice and/or memoir writing into a self-publishing practice. Part workshop, part craft talk, part book discussion, part interactive discussion with the audience, this event promises to be fully unpredictable and most definitely fun.
For a limited time! While supplies last, with the purchase of this book, you will get a signed bookplate by Anne Elizabeth Moore, in celebration of this November 5th event! Get Gentrifier at Quimby’s Bookstore here.
“I don’t know how Anne managed to write the funniest book I’ve read in years and the most honest one about the scramble of American life, but she did.” —Jace Clayton, Uproot: Travels in 21st-Century Music and Digital Culture
Anne Elizabeth Moore was born in Winner, SD, and currently lives in the Catskills with her ineffective feline personal assistant, Captain America. In 2019, her book Sweet Little Cunt won an Eisner Award. Body Horror was nominated for a 2017 Lambda Literary Award and a Chicago Review of Books Award, was listed as a 100 Best Books Of All Time on the Political Economy by BookAuthority and named Best Book by the Chicago Public Library. Threadbare made the 2016 Tits & Sass list “Best Investigative Reporting on Sex Work.” Cambodian Grrrl received a 2012 Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Journalism. Unmarketable was Mother Jones’ Best Book of 2007.
For more info: www.anneelizabethmoore.com
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Zine Club Chicago Online: Perzines Edition with Special Guests Jonas and Red of Midwest Perzine Fest, Sept. 21
Zine Club Chicago Online: Perzines Edition with
Special Guests Jonas and Red of Midwest Perzine Fest
7:30 p.m. CT Tuesday, September 21 on Zoom
Free!This month, Zine Club Chicago has a lot to celebrate! The group is incredibly excited to welcome two special guests, Jonas and Red of Midwest Perzine Fest, to discuss one of the most compelling and enduring genres in self-publishing: Perzines.
In a world where too many voices still go unheard, perzines (short for personal zines) thrive at the intersection of the personal and the political, where our individual stories can inspire connection, hope, and revolutionary action. Jonas and Red will talk about their own deeply personal zines, their favorite perzines, and the fest they’re organizing to bring together perzine makers and fans from across the region. Everyone is invited to bring your own most-loved perzines to share, too!
The members of Zine Club Chicago also will be breaking out their finest fizzy beverages and snacks to commemorate Quimby’s’ 30th anniversary! This September marks three years that the store has sponsored Zine Club Chicago, too.
Grab your fave perzines, BYOB(ubbly), and join in on Zoom for Zine Club Chicago Online: Perzines Edition with Special Guests Jonas and Red of Midwest Perzine Fest at 7:30 p.m. CT Tuesday, September 21!
** Zoom info ** Zine Club Chicago wants to make sure that its events are a safe space, so the Zoom link won’t be released publicly. If you’d like to attend, please email zineclubchicago@gmail.com to RSVP by 9 p.m. CT Monday, September 20 (the day before the event). You’ll receive the Zoom link by 11 p.m. CT that evening.
Zine newbies and longtime enthusiasts alike are always welcome at Zine Club Chicago, the city’s only book club-style event for people who read zines. This free monthly series is produced by Chicago Zine Fest/Midwest Perzine Fest organizer Cynthia E. Hanifin and sponsored by Quimby’s Bookstore. Anna Jo Beck designs the club’s monthly flyers, created its logo, and made the Zine Club Chicago Shout-Outs site, where folks can peruse and recommend zines.
More info at quimbys.com and on the Zine Club Chicago social media channels: @zineclubchicago. Facebook event is here.
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#MWPZF2020 Programming Announcement!
Quimby’s is proud to co-sponsor The Midwest Perzine Fest. Here’s the most recent announcement from the founders of #MWPZF2020:
We’re so excited to announce our digital events for #MWPZF2020! Please join us on Saturday, October 10 for the inaugural Midwest Perzine Fest, coming to you globally from Chicago.
Panel Discussion! Telling Our Stories, Claiming Our Power, a panel discussion moderated by Midwest Perzine Fest founder Jonas and featuring longtime perzine makers, artists, and activists Julia Eff, Dawn Graham, Jessie Lynn McMains, and Monica Trinidad, will debut at 3 p.m. Central Time Oct. 10 on our YouTube channel: tiny.cc/mwpzfyoutube
Hashtag! All day long on Oct. 10, perzine makers in the Midwest and around the world are invited to share their perzines and check out the work of others on social media using our hashtag #MWPZF2020. We’ll be reposting as much as we can to our Midwest Perzine Fest accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Perzine Swap! We’re hosting a perzine swap through the mail. If you’d like to participate, we’ll pair you with a perzine pal! Just fill out this Google form by 11:59 p.m. Central Time Sunday, Oct. 11: tiny.cc/mwpzfswap
For more info: linktr.ee/mwpzf
























