The number of vendors in the annual Charleston Zine Fest has more than doubled since its first iteration in 2016. Consider it proof that the day-long, free event celebrating independent makers and publishers resonates strongly with the Charleston art community. Add the dedicated efforts of organizers Leigh Sabisch and Sage Graham, and the zine fest won’t be stopping anytime soon.
Graham, who joined with Zine Fest founder Sabisch in 2020 to co-organize the event, said zines (defined as small-circulation, print publications) range from poetry chapbooks to comics, instructional pamphlets, photography collections and more — “The short answer is that a zine is something that is not sponsored by a big corporation, it’s under 100 pages, and is directly connected to the author,” Graham said.
The DIY vibe that zines represent is also embedded in the festival’s history — it was Sabisch’s community-driven idea that, six years later, has grown into a national and eclectic celebration of indie makers and publishers, with people traveling from all over to attend and sell.
On August 4, the Zine Fest will celebrate its sixth anniversary at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art.
From then to now
Sabisch first started the fest while working at the now-closed Pulp Gallery on King Street.
“It was like this cool, deviant art, very interesting place, and they had a lot of zines there for sale,” Sabisch said. “It was also one of those very DIY spaces, where we floated around questions like, ‘How do we activate the community, what does the community need from a place like this? I realized there were a lot of local people making zines and nowhere for them to sell their work.”
So she worked with Pulp owner Will Eiseman to establish the festival and hold it at the gallery in 2016. Sabisch said the support she found through Eiseman was invaluable in getting the festival started. “His early support allowed it to snowball into something.”
When Pulp closed in 2017, The Zine Fest moved to the Charleston Library Society for its second year. From the third festival onward, it’s been held at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. Back then, the festival was taking over just the hallway outside of the gallery — now, there’ll be vendor booths taking up the entire Halsey space.
Expect to see
It’s the first and only festival of its kind in Charleston, so it’s not surprising that lots of local artists are getting involved. Some will give lectures, too, like Charleston City Paper’s own political cartoonist, Steve Steglin.
Find zines from fashion designer Andrea Tuton, visual artist Caro Anderson, painter Emily Furr, plus cartoonists like Caroline Cash, an Eisner Award nominee; Sarah Davidson, a comic book artist; or a zine with interviews by the local musician-led collective, Sugarcube. The festival also offers six lectures throughout the day, including one about the solar system from an organization called Helios Genes.
Graham said the lecturers and vendors are of vastly diverse backgrounds and experiences. “There are really interesting artists of note. But there are also a lot of authors and artists who are unknown. And that’s kind of the point — there are people in here who this is the first time they’ve ever shown their work” alongside more established artists. “It’s very much intergenerational.”
Graham and Sabisch said they had an overwhelming amount of applications when they put out an open call six months ago. They’re excited to welcome new faces to the festival, though a good handful of the 50 total vendors have in fact participated since the beginning, Sabisch said.
“A lot of the people who were there at the start are still vendors, which is a really fun part of it,” she said. “It’s kind of like we’re coming home and seeing the whole family.”
Print is punk
Zines are self-published, handcrafted publications that bypass traditional publishing channels, and thus embody a punk, do-it-yourself approach. Zines provide a platform for marginalized voices, allowing people to share their opinions, ideas and experiences outside of mainstream media.
Graham said, “There’s this inherent camaraderie that goes beyond the monetization of the items. Like, you can come in and not spend a dime and that’s okay. It’s free parking, it’s free to walk in, it’s free to go to one of the six lectures that we’re going to have. It’s free to come up to one of the demo tables that we have, and make your own button pin, or watch one of Leigh’s demo’s on printmaking.”
That’s why Graham and Sabisch emphasize they hope attendees walk away with a sense of inspiration as well as empowerment from zine-making’s DIY approach.
“Walking around, there’s all sorts of levels of production,” Sabisch said. “Some people are creating incredibly polished, really professional publications. And then there’s other people who are throwing some ideas together and seeing the response. Both are equally valid and both are accessible in different ways. Something that makes me feel good is when people come to the festival, and they say, ‘I feel energized; I feel inspired.’”
Don’t miss the Charleston Zine Fest, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 4 at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. Free to attend. Learn more on Instagram at @charlestonzinefest.
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