Community invited to create zines at workshop
October 8, 2008
By Laura Geggel
Mount Si High School Librarian Elaine Harger makes a mean zine, and she’s inviting the community to join her. In a free, nine-week workshop, Harger will teach people how to create zines — personal magazines — using silk-screening, papermaking, rubberstamp carving and more.
The workshop, “Zines for All,” runs every Tuesday from Oct. 21 to Dec. 16. Sessions will be held from 2:30-4:30 p.m. for high school students and from 6:30-8:30 p.m. for the public.
Zines can contain poems, photos, updates, histories and artwork. Basically anything the zinester would like to include.
“It is something that people create to share with friends, family and strangers,” said Harger. “They write about whatever it is they’re interested in.”
Once a zine is complete, its producer can photocopy it and distribute it around the world. The Elliott Bay Book Company sells zines. Some zine makers drop off their zines in public areas as free reading material for people with similar interests. For instance, a skateboarder might leave a stack by a skate park.
Harger produced her first zine in 1997.
“I do my own zine that I send to family and friends called E-zine,” Harger said. Now, she creates a bibliozine for Mount Si with her library aides.
Harger started teaching the zine workshop in the winter of 2005 after she received a $1,950 grant from the Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation.
Harger said she hopes to receive more money from the foundation so she can add more silk-screen and papermaking stations. She normally limits her classes to about 10 people.
Elaine Kraun of Fall City took the class with her daughter Ramie the first year it was offered.
“I made a historical zine about growing up in Alaska at the canneries,” Kraun said. “I interviewed some relatives who grew up there.”
Kraun included photos of salmon and her family. When she was done, she sent the zine to several family members.
Ramie, now a freshman at Mount Si High School, composed a zine on an entirely different topic: her gerbil and dog.
“It’s a good experience,” said Kraun. “You can actually publish anything about anything.”
Anyone over 10-years-old can take the class. To enroll, contact Elaine Harger at hargere@svsd410.org or 831-8155. A schedule of the workshops can be viewed at www.mountsihighschool.com/library/zineworkshops.htm.
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
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