The participants below are part of the main event in St Kevins Arcade, Saturday 16 July. More details to come shortly.
Sam Orchard – Rooster Rails Comics
A comic artist and queer youth worker; Sam is interested in community development as well as trans and queer activism. Currently studying a masters in creative writing, Sam’s work has been featured in a number of publications including Gender Outlaws and Bitch Magazine. He is currently working on a graphic novel that will tell short stories of queer identity in Aotearoa.
Talk: “Trans and Queer Web Comics”
This talk will explore the importance of celebrating gender and sexuality diversity in media and web comics. Sam believes it is hugely important to create and engage with stories both about and for queer people that move beyond the traditional narratives propagated by commercial media. Sam will examine how comics can be used to empower communities and break down stereotypes by looking at a variety of narratives about queer life in New Zealand, as well as show examples of trans and queer web comics that have inspired his work.
Sam has previously presented a similar talk at Pecha Kucha, as well as given talks at community and non-profit organisations.
David Merritt – Landrover Farm Press
David has been fascinated with zines and self publishing since intermediate school, and later edited Craccum at university. Wanting to engage with the act of publishing itself, David began to create and output his recycled poetic chapbooks from a cardboard box – to have the process transparent, localised and most of all visible to others.
By turning books literally inside out in this process, David is trying to be part of the movement of change inside the publishing industry. He exposes the inner patina of glue and cloth from the books he recycles, believes staples are an honest post modernist method of binding, but also ensures that his texts are available online. David is selective with the publications he re-uses in his work, often gaining masses of Readers Digest from book fairs in Whanganui.
Workshop: “Inside Out”
In this workshop, David will use show and tell methods to demonstrate how to create recycled hardback book covers out of scavenged cardboard and flour sacks.
Rebel Press
Rebel Press is a small anarchist publishing collective based in New Zealand, with the intention to encourage quality anarchist literature written in Aotearoa and the wider South Pacific.
Facilitated discussion: “zines as a tool for resistance”
This discussion is facilitated by Ali from Rebel Press.
The topics to be discussed include: zines a political activity, what kind of role zines play in building resistance against oppression, are zines still relevant in a digital age, and should zines and politics be combined?
Featured speakers include: Bamboo, from Mellow Yellow
Alex, from Cupcake Monsters
Nigel, from Hear No, See No, Speak No and Nausea, from Not Afraid of Ruins
and Imminent Rebellion
Ali has previously held workshops on topics such as ‘zines as feminist activism’, and participated in a discussion on ‘zines and community activism’ at Wellington Zinefest.