Thank you!

The Way the Lights Went Out: A Hurricane Sandy Zine Benefit happened last night at Bluestockings, and we have so much to be grateful for!

A million thank yous to our hosts at Bluestockings Bookstore, Café, & Activist Center, our readers Dre Grigoropol, Jamie Varriale Vélez, Jenna Freedman & James Aviaz, and to all of you for joining us last night and buying zines! Our amazing zine donors made this evening possible. Of course, much gratitude to my co-organizer Kate Angell (and Kate's sisters, Kerri and Kylie!) as well.

Together, we raised just about $400 to donate to the Ali Forney Center!

(For more details about the event, including a complete list of zine donors, our Facebook invite has the most up-to-date info).

VIDEO: ZINE CULTURE AT SARAH LAWRENCE

It's like our own version of LIVE! TONIGHT! SOLD OUT!!

Last Tuesday night, I rode the Metro North up to Bronxville to visit Sarah Lawrence for a zine reading hosted by Kate Angell. Kate, a frequent collaborator and friend, recently established a zine collection at my alma mater, and organized the zine reading as a celebration.

I read the introduction to International Girl Gang Underground and one of my favorite pieces from the zine by contributor Katie Crutchfield. My dear friend Cynthia took this video so I could share it with you. I intended to also read my piece "This is a Thank You Song..." but wanted to leave enough space for the other speakers.

Kate and her librarian-partner-in-crime Charlotte Price (who recently moved to the Music Library at Sarah Lawrence) made delicious baked goods, which I thought looked enticing placed next to Stephen Duncombe's Notes from Underground and Cindy Crabb's Doris collection.

DON'T YOU STOP, WE WON'T STOP

or "My Night with Le Tigre"

Kerthy Fix, Johanna Fateman, Kathleen Hanna, & Carmine Covelli doing a Q&A session after MoMA's premiere of "Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre On Tour."

If you squint, you can see my name rolling during the credits!

& after the show it's the after party...

Kate wrote a sweet post about the DVD and the premiere, too. We met through Kathleen!

& my sister came to town to celebrate!

Thank you friends for sharing this special night with me, and thanks to Kathleen for mentioning the International Girl Gang Underground zine at MoMA!  I think my mantra for 2011 should be something about dreams coming true.

TEEN ZINE WORKSHOP

Last night, Kate Angell and I took the Metro North to Westport, Connecticut, to host a Teen Zine Workshop! It was my first time working with 12-18 year-olds (since I was that age), and it was a really amazing experience.







Kate and I went on a shopping spree at Bluestockings this Tuesday so we could bring the Westport girls some zines to take home with them.



Zines ranged from "Diary of a 13-year-old Foodie" to "Gymnasts" to "Dear Beats," a music review zine, a zine list of favorite people, "Everything Under the Sun," and more. There was even a comic that I didn't get a picture of!









Thanks so much to Jaina and the Westport Library!



Can you imagine if you had this tote when you were a teenager? I mean, I'm jealous now!

TRES BIEN

I am super honored to be featured on my feminist-librarian-hero-riot-grrrl-enthusiast-colleague-and-dear-friend Kate Angell's blog today:

This is only the second time I’ve written a post for this particular category, but it’s about time that I write more, as I’m lucky to be surrounded by many people deserving recognition for their accomplishments.

Today I want to write about a person with whom I share a name, neighborhood, college, and favorite band- Kate Wadkins. I met Kate last summer through Kathleen Hanna, as we both worked for her on various projects at different times. Over time Kate has become my research collaborator, close friend, and feminist inspiration.

Read the full article here.

Needless to say, the feelings are mutual, as I am consistently inspired by Kate's work, which involves radical librarianship and feminist community activism of all sorts. Please check out the rest of her blog for insightful posts and feminist/women's history resources abound!

UPDATE! JUST TODAY Kate's new article, "Feminist Archives: Archiving Grrrl Style Now," was published in the new issue of Feminist Collections! Congrats, Kate!

ZINE NEWS: BRAIN WAVES & TEEN ZINE WORKSHOP

BRAIN WAVES, the print + zine department at STOREFRONT, opens tonight from 7pm-9pm at the gallery [see the announcement here].

I am excited to officially announce that my librarian hero, Kate Angell, and I, will be presenting a Teen Zine Workshop at Connecticut's Westport Library in just two weeks! We'll be talking a bit about zine history in the context of riot grrrl and conducting a how-to session, with materials provided by the library.

THURSDAY, FEB. 10, 2011

Teen Program: Zine Workshop
7:30 pm
McManus Room
Middle School age and up

Westport Public Library
Arnold Bernhard Plaza
20 Jesup Road
Westport, CT 06880

Attention writers and music lovers! Blogging got you down? Tired of merely expressing yourself through Facebook status updates? Take your talent to print by learning how to edit, layout and print your own zine. Kate Wadkins, co-editor of The International Girl Gang Underground Zine and Kate Angell, blogger and librarian at Sarah Lawrence College will lead a discussion of the medium's history in relation to underground music and DIY culture and will then help get you started on making your own.

Materials will be provided. Just bring your ideas and enthusiasm!

Admission: Free (but space is limited). Register at: http://westportzine.eventbrite.com/

Co-sponsored with Toquet Hall.

For more info: Westport Library or Toquet Hall

I was also stoked to discover that the workshop has been deemed parent-friendly by NY Metro Parents. Hi Mom!