Miami Zine Fair Retrospect

By Sam Isenberg, Junior

The Miami ZIne Fair is a festival that celebrates the many diverse cultures found in Miami. The goal of the Zine fair is to provide a safe space for anyone to express their ideas and culture. This year, 150 artists, writers, and speakers gathered to the Little Haiti Culture Complex to present their ideas to the crowd of thousands.

    A zine is a non-profit, mass produced publication that is centered on any one topic. Usually, Zine are homemade, but they can also be produced digitally. A Zine’s purpose is to spread awareness for a topic or idea. This can be done through normal discussion, or in a satirical way. According to the St. Louis Public Library, in their article “Zines 101,” Zines have been around since the 1700’s. The first known zine was Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, which he wrote to convince Americans to fight for independence from Great Britain.

    The Zine Fair on April 15th, 2018 hosted a variety of live performances throughout the day, including Delou Dance Ensemble, live readings, and other live music. The Fair also featured some of the works of iPrep students. The Wolfsonian Zines for Progress booth showcased the Zines created by Mrs. Keller’s junior class in December of last year. N’agelie Lazo, President of iPrep’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), rented a booth, selling the zines created by student in the GSA. The booth raised approximately $150, which will be donated to the YES Institute of South Miami, a LGBT organization that helps in aiding youth and parents.

President of the GSA, N’agelie Lazo, was “extremely proud of everyone who participated in the Zine making, and to those who took the time out of their day to come and support. I hope the zines inspired the GSA members like they inspired me when I participated in the Zines For Progress with the Wolfsonian. Hopefully, the zines sold at the fair left an impact on the community and to everyone who purchased one.”


Works Cited: 
Exile Books. “2018 Miami Zine Fair.” April 15 2017. https://exilebooks.com/blogs/events/2018-miami-zine-fair

SLPL Entertainment. “Zines 101.” slpl.org.  January 10 2017. https://www.slpl.org/blogs/post/
zines-101/

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