To celebrate Autism Acceptance Month, the theme for April’s workshop was zines. A zine (pronounced “zeeen”, like the end of the magazine) is a self-published booklet made from sheets of paper. The term was first coined in 1940 by a science fiction fanzine, and zines became a way for people to share information on topics they are passionate about. Historically used by marginalised communities, zines link with this month’s theme of intense fascinations – to allow people share what brings them joy.
The workshop was held at the George and Heart House in Margate. The venue is beautiful and ornately decorated with a separate area called The Nook where the workshop was held. Many people ordered chips – which were delicious. Once we had made our introductions, our host, local writer Emma Robdale, allowed everyone time to make some notes about their intense fascination, then share with the rest of the group. We had a range of weird and wonderful interests: from mushrooms, to true crime, to pre-2005 Doctor Who, to the end of the world. Participants were then given a sheet of paper to fold into six – and plan would be included in each section of the booklet.
Now for the fun part – we could then choose a piece of A3 coloured card to make into our actual zine. We were shown how to fold and cut our paper to form a mini booklet with six inner pages. This took a bit of trial and error and a few mishaps along the way, but once we had got to grips with it the booklet looked amazing. We use various coloured pens and textured paper to fill out our scenes and make them sparkle.
At the end, we had a sharing session to showcase our wonderful creations. The zines were great for sharing information and there were some true works of art – from a booklet of joy and peaceful quotes to a game to escape from the Daleks. It was a great evening where the group seemed to bond and have fun – along with learning some cool facts about each other’s interests!
