Photo: Matsu Photography

Thank you to the 200+ people who climbed Paper Mountain to participate in the inaugural Let Them Eat Zines festival, a day of all things handmade and DIY. The weekend is over and we are still amazed and excited about how everything went, and extremely touched by all the encouragment and support we have received along the way. Our fondest thanks to stallholders, our volunteers, guest speakers and musicians. Thank you also to Matsu Photography for the truly wonderful documentation of this beautiful day.

The Perth Zine Collective would also like to thank the kind people who let us borrow their astroturf; all the organisations that helped to promote this event like Paper Mountain, Great About Perth and RTRfm; and all the zinesters in the world, whose ingenuity and courage inspire us daily. See you next year?

More pictures of the day are available here, and another version of this post is available here.

Here is David Craft opening the festival with his voice that is deeper than the ocean. He was accompanied by Pippa Lester (pictured) and Skye. Photo: Matsu Photography

These are just some of the many fine wares from our stallholders! Aunty Mabel was delighted to be in the company of Rebecca Crane, Sticky Carpet, Format, Fergus & Friends, Sticky Institute, Jenii Scott, Shiritori Press, Lost in the Suburbz, Sylvia Shrewsbury, Niina Aoki, ARTillery and PEAC. Photos: Matsu Photography

Taking us into the afternoon was Amanda Merdzan, who is sweeter than sunshine. Photo: Matsu Photography

Below the stairs in a dark seedy corner, Steve titillated adult visitors with a sexy zine peepshow. It wasn’t very steamy because that would have harmed the zines, but it was pretty hot. Photo: Sj Finch

If all that excitement got one’s pulse racing too much, visitors could retreat to the courtyard, browse our zine library, and make a zine! Photo: Emiko Watanabe

Here is Zine Chef host Miko collecting the competitors’ offerings! The zine battle of Thomas vs Danni was well-fought, with two A7 zines created in 45 minutes using the secret ingredient: a book about shipwrecks. Photo: Rachael Kuan

We were grateful for the insights of Thomas from Sticky Institute and Simon from Format Collective during our panel discussion! Our own Rachael represented Aunty Mabel’s and Steve acted as the discussion chair. Photo: Matsu Photography

We were also grateful for the insights of Sue Byrne, who talked about the State Library’s efforts to collect and archive zines. Photo: Matsu Photography

Danni and Alina of Shiritori Press talked about their hopes, dreams and squillions of projects. They have many, many projects. Photo: Shiritori Press

These skewers were the ingenious idea of two volunteers who came in the morning and helped out with food prep. Thank you! They were delicious! Photo: Matsu Photography

Delish Ice! Your popsicles are amazing! In particular, the ginger beer flavour was popular amongst festivalgoers. Photo: Matsu Photography

And to close the festival was Heathcote Blue and his chilltastic tunes. What a relaxing conclusion to a glorious day! Photo: Emiko Watanabe

We have been busy making decorations and the final touches for the zine fair! We look forward to seeing you very soon!

Members from the Perth Zine Collective will be on RTRFM tomorrow (Friday) during Morning Magazine at 10:30am to talk about the festival. Why not tune in and listen to our beautiful voices?

In the afternoon don’t miss the Zine Chef competition to crown the very first Iron Zine Chef in Perth! Who will win and receive the ultimate glory? Local zinesters will challenge each other to make a zine with a MYSTERY SECRET INGREDIENT to be revealed on the day! This is extreeeeeeme zine making at its finest.

(Note: Zines are not about winning, unless you want to win a crown with the ultimate zine crest of scissors, long arm stapler and typewriter.)

Never heard of Iron Chef, the Japanese cooking show? First of all, you’re missing out. Second of all, you can read about the show here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Chef

So here’s how it works:

1. Three or four zinesters will challenge each other and make an A4 foldout zine using the materials from the MYSTERY SECRET INGREDIENT and all the other collage material we have available (typewriter, stamps, pens, etc.).
2. They will have 45 minutes to make their creation.
3. Each zine chef contestant’s zine will be judge by the Perth Zine Collective.

The contestant with most points will be awarded PERTH’S FIRST IRON ZINE CHEF! The winner will receive the ultimate glory and a crown.

Next year, zinesters can challenge the Iron Zine Chef for the crowning title (and the crown).

We will have a few spots open on the day day, so make sure you nominate yourself if you want to be part of Zine Chef!

Sticky Institute (Melbourne) is now coming to Let Them Eat Zines They have bravely conquered difficult airlines and will be here on Saturday. They will join us with a massive stall and as a guest speaker in the afternoon.

If you have ever wondered about the inner workings of Sticky Institute as a shopfront and distro or wanted to know all about their Festival of the Photocopier, now is your chance to ask them lots of questions and hang out with Thomas.

We have Heathcote Blue, David Craft and Amanda Merdzan performing throughout the day.

Check out the program below so you don’t miss when they are playing!

Our program is out! And we are still making some final touches to it so be sure to check back next week. Check the Program of Events page for a downloadable PDF!

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you all next Saturday where you can come and purchase or trade zines, enjoy local music, find out more about zine culture from our guest speakers and relax in our library courtyard!

Here’s what you can expect from the program:

Zine Market (10am – 5pm)
Jam packed with stalls by Perth zinesters and a very special interstate guests – Format Collective from Adelaide! We encourage trading zines, so bring your zine stash and pick up some new ones from the market!

Courtyard Library
Come and relax in the courtyard library to sit down and read your newly purchased zines or peruse the extensive zine library collection.

Zine Chef Competition
In the afternoon don’t miss the Zine Chef competition to crown the very first Iron Zine Chef in Perth! Who will win and receive the ultimate glory? Local zinesters will challenge each other to make a zine with a MYSTERY SECRET INGREDIENT to be revealed on the day! This is extreeeeeeme zine making at its finest.
(Note: Zines are not about winning, unless you want to win a crown with the ultimate zine crest of scissors, long arm stapler and typewriter.)

Guest Speakers
Find out more about zine culture and the future of DIY publishing. Speakers include the State Library of Western Australia, Shiritori Press, Format Collective (Adelaide) and of course, Aunty Mabel & the Perth Zine Collective.

Zine Readings (5pm – 6pm)
All are welcome to join our informal zine reading session, where we will read some passages from our favourite zines. A nice way to relax from the massive day!

Live Music
In case you also want your ears having a good time, Let Them Eat Zines will have performances by local musicians: Heathcote Blue, David Craft and Amanda Merdzan!

Hey everyone!

We are looking for some wonderful, altruistic people to help out with our zine festival Let Them Eat Zines (https://www.facebook.com/events/345997405495660/). The festival will take place on the 24th of November at Paper Mountain (267 William St, Northbridge). Volunteers are needed to help set up between 8:00am and 10:30am and pack up between 5:30pm and 8:00pm and will be treated to an awesome gift (e.g. zine showbag, festival tote bag) to thank them for them time. If you’re interested, flick us an e-mail at perthzinecollective@gmail.com with your name, availabilities (morning, evening or both) and a contact number before Monday the 12th of November.

Hope to see you there!

Love,
Aunty Mabel

Thank you to all that have submitted a stallholder application! We are very excited and will get back to you shortly.

Full program to be announced early November!

Much love,

Aunty Mabel

“Let them eat zines” is the traditional translation to English of the French phrase “Qu’ils mangent de la zines”, supposedly spoken by “a great princess” upon learning that the peasants had no paper. Since zines were made from paper, this apparently reflected the princess’s obliviousness to the condition of the people.

Drawing on this rich history, Let Them Eat Zines is the Perth Zine Collective’s very first zine fair. Held on Saturday November 24th at Paper Mountain (267 William St, Northbridge), it will feature stalls, competitions, sideshows & live music (to be announced).

We’re currently looking for zine stallholders! To reserve a table, complete a submission form here.

Deadline for stallholders: September 30.

Much love,
Aunty Mabel & the Perth Zine Collective