Shelby x Grrrl Zine Fair

Zine

Apr 19

ABOUT GRRRL ZINE FAIR

Grrrl Zine Fair is made up of live events, zine workshops, Grrrl In Print zine and a feminist zine library. It platforms women and non-binary artists and is comprised of a self-publishing fair, panel talks, performances, live music, exhibitions and workshops created and curated by artist Lu Williams.

Zine making through Grrrl is presented as an adaptable way of making objects and literature outside of academic or capitalist endeavors. It is a way of elevating craft labour and democratised production in a context which is accessible to communities outside of the insular art world. Zine workshops breakdown hope to breakdown hierarchies and provide a creative outlet, as both a way of sharing your voice and a form of self care.

Lu Williams is a queer, working class artist living and working in Essex. They create cross disciplinary artworks, events and printed matter with a focus on DIY culture, workshops, intersectional feminism and working class culture. Grrrl Zine Fair functions as a collaborative project with revolving collaborations between artists, partners and brands exploring contemporary feminism.

We interviewed Lu Williams, artist and founder of Grrrl Zine Fair, as part of our research for the Bristol + Bath Creative R+D programme to find out more about their work and how it relates to the topic of Amplified Publishing.

Grab a copy of Grrrl In Print via: www.grrrlzinefair.com/product-page/grrrl-in-print-issue-3

Shelby X: Could you start by introducing Grrrl Zine Fair? We'd love to hear how and why you started it and a little about who's behind the brand...

Lu: It’s funny because I’ve never seen Grrrl as brand, more like a title I can work under with other people that removes myself as a focal point for Grrrl activities. I use 'Grrrl Zine Fair' when working on fairs, festivals, workshops, gigs and when publishing fairs because they’re spaces carved out for women, trans and non-binary people to be platformed and to take ownership of that space.

I'm an artist who loves zines and loves the culture around zine making. It started as a group of friends in Oxford putting on the first fair, with myself reaching out to zine makers. I then got asked to run a zine fair in London after I graduated and haven’t looked back since. I've been putting on events since 2015 and publishing zines as Grrrl In Print since 2017. I also have my own artistic practice (which of course involves publishing) as well as teaching at a community college, working at a gallery on their schools programme and many many freelance projects!

Shelby X: What are your thoughts on feminism, radical politics and DIY zine-making?

Lu: So many thoughts! I'm very into politics and philosophy and centre my work around my own personal experience of being queer, disabled, working-class and non-binary and then my ethos has grown from that, using Grrrl as a way to platform marginalised voices in publishing and the arts. We don't get the opportunity to pick between DIY and professional - it’s the only option we have. I left uni alongside students who walked straight into roles in journalism and I went back to Southend and signed on at the job centre. Its important to think about why and where DIY culture and radical politics has come from- its not an aesthetic but a way of existing essentially - or trying to exist!

Shelby X: How and why is Grrrl Zine Fair breaking away from mainstream publishing?

Lu: We are not for profit and have 0 industry contacts within publishing! I don't think we were even part of it to break away from. We're just over here, doing our thing and if people want to help make it a reality and fund it then that’s amazing!

Shelby X: Could you share some of the ways you manage to make your practice sustainable?

Lu: Do you mean sustainable as in *green* or sustainable as in *able to continue and flourish in the currently climate* ?

First option: We're so small-scale and ethically conscious that it’s a given in anything we do - from Soya based risograph ink to not using any plastic packaging, to using local practitioners /carpenters rather than ship in or order materials internationally.

Secondly: I use income from workshops, zine design and then occasional funding to hire other creatives to host workshops , buy zines for the library from those who can’t afford to donate and create pieces for the zine. I pay myself a small fee each month to keep on top of everything and pretty much everything that comes in goes back out to the zine community.

Shelby X: Does Grrrl Zine Fair have any care practices and if so, how do these manifest on and offline?

Lu: Yes! We believe in collaboration over competition and growing relationships and projects slowly. Being aware of neurodivergence and disability is also at the front of how we work. We're part of The Old Waterworks Studios and use their horizontal pay structure where everyone is paid the same.

Shelby X: What's coming up for Grrrl Zine Fair? Have you got any exciting projects you'd like to share?

Lu: We just had Grrrl Zine Fair 2022 at Newington Green Meeting House - an amazing building full of radical history! Work with the feminist library coming summer 2022 and we're in the process of archiving the zine library thanks to some arts council funding, as well as issue 5 dropping in the summer!

Find out more about Grrrl Zine Fair:

Website: www.grrrlzinefair.com

Instagram: @grrrlzinefair