Last weekend, the zine team from the New Paltz Zine Library at Sojourner Truth Library combined their talents to organize a three-day zine-making and zine-sharing extravaganza, concluding with a live music show-slash-zine reading at Lagusta’s Luscious Commissary! on Church Street.
Kicking off the weekend with a community zine workshop on Friday, Feb. 17, zine librarians Madeline Veitch and Lydia Willoughby, along with zine library intern and third-year Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and sociology double major Jasper Campos, enticed participants with the promise of 20 free copies of their zines — provided they handed their finished zines in to the zine team at Sojourner Truth Library before 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18.
According to Veitch and Campos, the event has been “in the works since spring 2016.” In high school, Veitch participated in a 24-hour play project, which she loved. She did some searching and discovered a national 24-hour zine project.
Inspired by both endeavors, Veitch decided to put a local spin in the 24-hour challenge idea, working with Campos and local zinester Kate Larson over the course of two semesters to plan, organize and execute the challenge.
Larson was the New Paltz Zine Library’s contact at Lagusta’s Luscious Commissary!, Campos said. A former student at SUNY New Paltz, musician, chocolatier and passionate zinester, Larson reached out to Veitch when the New Paltz Zine Library was first founded in 2014. She’s been involved with the ongoings of the zine library ever since.
“Kate donated about 40 zines when we first started and didn’t have much of a budget,” Veitch said.
At the reading and music show on Sunday, Feb. 19, Lagusta’s Luscious Commissary! was filled to the brim with people, including Larson, Campos, Veitch and other librarians from the college’s Sojourner Truth Library. Eager zinesters swapped their creations among each other, and a few brave creatives read from their zines in front of a captivated crowd. Veitch, Campos and Larson even collaborated to create a three-part raffle contest, offering participants the chance to win a bundle of Larson’s zines, a giftcard to Lagusta’s Luscious Commissary! or a white mug of Larson’s design, printed with some feminist fighting words.
After the reading, the crowd was ushered into a brief intermission. Birdwing performed next, playing a quick, mellow set of seven songs before the group.
Adult Mom took the stage after Birdwing. Some members of the audience knew the artist’s songs and sung along. Others sat with their legs crossed on the cafe’s hardwood floor, creating an intimate and friendly atmosphere. Musician Stephanie Knipe of Adult Mom opened up to the crowd, sharing insight into her songs and her personal life.
According to Veitch and Campos, the event was a huge success. Over 30 people came to the zine-making workshop to make their own zines, they reported, and the duo received 19 completed zines to photocopy for the reading on Sunday, many of which are soon to be added to the New Paltz Zine Library’s growing collection. Over 60 people crowded into Lagusta’s Luscious Commissary to participate in Sunday night’s festivities, wrapping up one of the New Paltz Zine Library’s biggest events to date.
For more information about the New Paltz Zine Library, follow @npzines on Twitter or visit facebook.com/newpaltzzines. Birdwing and Adult Mom are searchable on Spotify, iTunes and Bandcamp.