We're introducing a code of conduct

Here at Zinefest HQ we try our very hardest to ensure that Zinefest is an all-inclusive event and a safe space for all. With this in mind, we've created a code of conduct that we expect all our participants and attendees to be mindful of and adhere to. If at any time you have concerns about behaviour, zine content, or feel unsafe at one of our events, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us. We want to make your experience with Zinefest the most positive it can be.

Here is the content of the code in full:

Wellington Zinefest Code of Conduct 2017

We want Zinefest to be an inclusive event where people who enjoy the craft of zine making can share that passion with others. The spirit of Zinefest is one of collaboration and community, and as such we aim to foster an environment where everyone participating is treated with respect and kindness, regardless of their race, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age or physical ability.

We’re dedicated to ensuring that Zinefest is a positive and safe experience for everyone involved, and we pass on the expectation to all vendors and attendees to uphold that. If for any reason someone violates that during one of our events, and you feel you are made unsafe or uncomfortable, please let one of us know and we will deal with the situation accordingly.

Wellington Zinefest does not tolerate any kind of harassment. Any vendors or attendees that participate in any sort of behaviour that constitutes as harassment, including offensive comments, stalking, unwanted physical contact or unwelcome sexual attention will be asked to stop the inappropriate behaviour and to comply immediately when asked. This may also include being asked to leave the event and banning from future Zinefest events.

By paying the stall fare, all zine vendors will recognise and agree to these conditions.

If you are distributing material that some may be considered offensive or discriminatory by a patron or zine vendor, you may be asked to leave. We cannot vet all zines and other distributed material by vendors prior to or on the day of the event. If you are aware of anyone who intends to distribute offensive or discriminatory material, purposefully or otherwise, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us.

If you have any concerns about the event or the comfort and safety of yourself or anyone you know attending the event, please contact us.

Rachel, Ellen, Becky, Gus, Milly, Caitlin & Jewelia
wellingtonzinefest@gmail.com

2016 Zinefest poster - it's here and it's rad!

Thanks to the one & only Pinky Fang for our poster this year. We can't wait to see you all at our market day on November 19th!

//Zinefest meets Matchbox - Queer my Zine with InsideOUT//

Wellington Zinefest is hosting a rad workshop series at Matchbox Studios over October/November, leading up to Wellington Zinefest on November 19th! 

This week we're teaming up with InsideOUT, a national organisation that works to make Aotearoa a safer place for young people of minority genders and sexualities. We've interviewed the artists that will be speaking at the event about their work and what they're passionate about. 

Laura Duffy

• Tell us a few things you are passionate about?

I am passionate about how much I love the ocean. I also really like human beings and art. 

• How did you get into zine making?

I took Bryce Galloway’s zine making paper at Massey during my BFA. After that I’ve dabbled here and there but the main aspects of my practice surround video http://www.circuit.org.nz/artist/laura-duffy and photographic work, as well as sculpture. www.lauraduffy.info 

• What kind of zines do you make?

In the past I’ve made e-zines. Which is a fun way to digitally play with presentation of images with textual elements.

https://issuu.com/lauraduffy0/docs/issuu.com_56890c95c08732 

I also had a mini series on the ridiculous and hilarious letters my nana sends me in the mail, she’s real crack up. I made a mini series about my dreams! 

• When/ why/ how did you get involved with InsideOUT?

I got involved with InsideOUT around Feb'16. I love the work InsideOUT does, I think its extremely important. I wanted to be involved and support it! 

• Any good zine recommendations?

Aether Magazine is pretty cool, they’re an international self published publication which is based in London. They’ve featured my work a couple of times, it’s super fun working alongside other emerging artists around the place. I am really excited because my girl Glossy is doing an interview in the next issue!

https://www.instagram.com/xoglossyxo/

https://www.instagram.com/aethermagazine/

http://aethermagazine.bigcartel.com/

Working collectively across the globe using the Internet is a beautiful thing lol.

I also haven’t seen it IRL yet but the Bunny Collective's publication Bunny looks pretty sick! The content is submitted by international artists surrounding ideas of emotional labour. 

http://www.bunnycollective.com 

• Got any plugs? Plug them now.

I’m in a show called Angelwave which opens 11^th  of November, at Play_Station which is at 8 Egmont St. http://playstationspace.com/ 

The concepts for the show surround binary categorization in relation to the way we think and process the world and the people in it, relating to the ultimate binary of heaven and hell, with a heavy Internet aesthetic. I’m working with Maddy Plimmer, Sean Burn, Dilohana Lekamge, Annalise Enoka, Isaac Dalkie and Kerry Males. Come check it out, it’s gunna be freaky and great! 

• Most importantly, if you were a dog what kind of dog would you be?

The internet reckons I'd be a Boston Terrier but I just want to be a newborn. 

//

Vee

• Tell us a few things you are passionate about?

i'm passionate about many different things. i am currently having a lot of feelings about the lack of mental health care available in Aotearoa for our rangatahi (young people), especially indigenous, transgender, intersex, queer, and the homeless. i am passionate about better access to health services for all people, and this is apparent in a lot of my most recent art. i am also passionate about never using capitals when i type, and about selfies as art.

• How did you get into zine making?

i have always been quite crafty (although i would never have considered it art back then!) so my first attempts at zine making would have been single page collages. i think the first one was about access to reproductive healthcare in Aotearoa. my first ~official~ zine was created on my birthday at an event that rainbow youth put on in Auckland, around 3 years ago.

• What kind of zines do you make?

my first zine was about one direction and cats. my other (currently unfinished) zines are predominantly about mental health and suicidality, as well as love and sex. they feature a lot of poetry and prose. it seems very therapeutic for me, i guess.

• When/ why/ how did you get involved with InsideOUT?

my very first time volunteering with insideout was at a hui for young gender and sexual minorities, called patchwerq. that was back in 2013. i have been involved in more hui since then because i feel that it is becoming increasingly important to have safe spaces for young people to come to. it is something i wish i had when i was at high school.

• Any good zine recommendations?

my favourite zines tend to end up being ones that are illustration heavy. one of my fav collections is 'imaginary lovers' by devon anna smith. i am 10000% sure i feature in issue three!! i believe it is important to support local artists, so i often end up purchasing zines from them as i don't have enough money to buy prints of their art. it's also a fun way to end up with a large collection of tiny artworks!

• Most importantly, if you were a dog what kind of dog would you be?

if i was a dog i reckon i'd probs be an afghan hound - it takes a lot of time to groom me, and i like to be left alone.

//

Nathaniel Gordon-Stables

• Tell us a few things you are passionate about? 

Queers, Poppa Jacks chips & Gordon Ramsay's Nightmare Kitchen.

• How did you get into zine making?

I got into zine making through Bryce Galloway and hearing about the zine scene through Wellington Zinefest.

• What kind of zines do you make?

My last zine was called the 'Brown boy chronicals' which involved stories of racism that myself and friends have endured. From Halloween scares to family "no politics at the table" dinners.

• When/ why/ how did you get involved with InsideOUT?

I got involved with InsideOUT straight out of high school. As far as I can remember I always wanted to give back to the community that helped me when I needed it most.

• Any good zine recommendations?

Never Masturbate in the Morning by Triangle Face Girl has always been a fave for me. Even though I myself, probably wouldn't listen to the title's advice, the stories inside great.

• Most importantly, if you were a dog what kind of dog would you be?

Oh yo, I would definitely be a great sheep dog or a lax sausage dog.

//Zinefest Meets Matchbox - Paper Craft! // Interview with Rachel Lynch

Wellington Zinefest is hosting a rad workshop series at Matchbox Studios over October/November, leading up to Wellington Zinefest on November 19th! 

Committee member Rachel Lynch is hosting a Paper Craft workshop on Sunday Oct 23rd! Rachel had a chat to Ellen about what she loves about the zine world.

• Tell us a few things you are passionate about? 
  Socks, that seems obvious, zines, which also seems obvious. Being a librarian, enamel pins, and animals that are so cute that they make me cry. I’m very passionate about that. Also Netflix.
  
  
• How did you get into zine making? 
  I think I went to a Zinefest workshop two years ago where we weren’t even making zines, we were making paper houses like we are going to be making this week [in Rachel’s workshop, see below for details]. That was my first introduction to zine makers. I think I went to a couple of other workshops after that. Then I just started finding zines to read and making my own.  
  
  
• What kind of zines do you make? 
  I make Sock Review, in which I review socks. It’s self explanatory and exactly what you are expecting. I review socks that I have and tell you if they are worth buying or not. There’s a lot of socks out there and some of them are really bad, sometimes they are really good. That’s what I’m here for. To go with that series I am going to be making ‘how to care for your socks’ zine because it’s important and people don’t look after their socks properly. I can attest to this, if you have not seen how bobbly Amand’s [the boyfriend] socks are, it’s disgraceful and I’m ashamed. I’m making some black out poetry. I’m not much of a poet but I’m liking that style. I’m sure I have a bunch of stuff I said to myself I would work on and I haven’t done them yet.
  
  
• When/ why/ how did you become a committee member (tee hee)? 
  After I had been to some Zinefest workshops two years ago, I ended up getting a stall at Zinefest and that’s why I made my first Sock Review and a comic zine with Ottilie called Mundames. Those titles were our first zines. On that day another committee member asked me if I wanted to join and I said ‘ok. I guess that’s happening.’ She could tell I was enthusiastic enough or organised enough, at least. And that was how that happened.  
  
  
• Any good zine recommendations? 
  Oh boy. One of my favourite zines is this one called ‘Chad.’ A chad is the little circle of paper that is cut out when you use a hole punch. The ‘Chad’ zine is little mini snap lock bags with a chad in them and it tells you where it came from, it could be a credit card, magazine, newspaper or a chip packet. It’s made by kimi, niko and co. They write some cool and interesting zine formats. I also really like Ezra from Dresden Street Distro. He makes listicle zines which is similar to what I do. He creates cool illustrations and design features.  
  
  
• What workshops are you running up to the big event Zinefest November 19th 2016?! 
  Woo! This Sunday I’m hosting a paper craft workshop. We are going to make 3D sculptures- fruit - they are going to look really cool! We will also make garlands and bunting to decorate your stall or room, and origami. If you can make it from paper you can do it at this workshop. I’m providing cool patterned paper for the garlands or bunting. Bunting doesn’t have to be triangles on a sting, it can be anything.  
  
  
• Got any plugs? 
  At home we only have one plug for our bath and our sink and sometimes people are like ‘where’s the plug?’ and it’s in the sink. Also, my twitter is @sock_review and I have the same handle for my instagram, also the name of my zine. Also, please check out the Wellington Central Library zine collection.
  
  
• Most importantly, if you were a dog what kind of dog would you be? 
  Last week I met a dalmatian called ‘Albert’, he belongs to Eloise at the neighbourhood studio and I really resonated with him because every time a new person came in he would look at them asking for attention but in a very quiet way. When he was not on his lead and he could just walk around the studio he was really happy and wagging his tail which hit everybody in the legs. That really resonated with me, hitting everyone with my happiness.

//Zinefest meets Matchbox - Paper craft! with Rachel Lynch//

Tomorrow, Rachel will be showing us all about paper! Creating 3D paper ornaments and origami, "growing" paper plants, garlands, paper chains - if you can make it with paper, then we'll make it happen!

The hands-on workshop will take place at Matchbox Studios, 166 Cuba Street from 3-4.30pm tomorrow, Sunday 23rd October. We've got quite a few supplies on hand, but feel free to bring your own paper, scissors and glue if you want to (or don't feel like sharing!). See you there!

// Zinefest Meets Matchbox - Poetry Zines with Cathy-Ellen Paul //

Wellington Zinefest is hosting a rad workshop series at Matchbox Studios over October/November, leading up to Wellington Zinefest on November 19th! 

Committee member Cathy-Ellen is hosting a poetry workshop on Sunday October 16th. Ellen interviewed Cathy on poetry as a powerful means of self-expression.

• Tell us a few things you are passionate about? Hello, I’m passionate about writing, performing, astrology, spirituality, and working with young people. I work as a librarian at a school library and I'm very passionate about literature as an invaluable instrument of education. I’m enjoying that a lot at the moment. Being able to witness students discovering their identities at a rapid pace is fascinating and beautiful to watch! I get to represent a safe space for them where they can come to recharge, chat about life and discover great literature. I’m also passionate about diary writing. I write at least once a day and it helps me categorise my swirling thoughts. It's a cathartic practice for me.
  
  
• How did you get into zine making? My girlfriend Ellen went along to Wellington Zinefest in 2014 and was asked to join the Zinefest committee, and I instantly wanted to join in too. I realised that zines would be a really easy and empowering way for me to express myself, with my writing.
  
  
• What kind of zines do you make? I make perzines, largely diary-esque zines, sort of poetic prose [in their style]. Sometimes I make poetry zines. I also made a zine about body hair. What would you even class that as? *awkward silence* Sigh. You are no help to me right now. Let’s move on.
  
  
• When/ why/ how did you become a committee member (tee hee)? At the beginning of 2015 I started to become a committee member and then I quickly picked up the role of publicity and social media. I have been doing that ever since.
  
  
• Any good zine recommendations? Out of all the literary zines last year, Ellen’s were so strong in the field, her’s went beyond a common character limit and really made it into a story. I really admire the strength of Ellen’s work. Those zines were called FAY- Back to the Future Islands (volumes 1 and 2.) Other zines you can look out for...I really appreciate Esme Oliver's zines. There was one about self-diagnosis which helped me diagnose myself with mild depression and anxiety. It was empowering to take the reigns on my mental health and to put a label on it. That made me feel like I was owning and acknowledging it, properly. They also write about different forms of intelligence and how each form should be recognised, which is something I have always believed in. And ableism, which is a very important thing to educate yourself about. Other zines I appreciate- I really loved Nina Powells’ zines, I think she has really tapped into a very lyrical voice with her poetry zines and they’re beautiful.
  
  
• What workshops are you running up to the big event zinefest November 19th 2016?! This Sunday on October 16th I am running a poetry zines workshop called 'How Do I Poetry?' That’s going to be about free form poetry because I don’t really write rhyming poetry. I’m going to talk about how it’s empowering to express yourself in a poetic way and how I believe that if people allowed themselves to, pretty much anyone can write poetry. If the feelings are authentic, and if you write from the heart, raw and unselfconsciously, then that’s going to connect with someone. I don’t believe there are rules around poetry.
  
  
• Got any plugs? Plug them now. I’m part of High Expectations Podcast. It’s a podcast of three women who talk about multifaceted topics. I have a blog that I write for occasionally - I'm a little shy about it but you can read it here - https://cathyellenrenee.wordpress.com. On my blog I talk about grief, astrology and queerness. My twitter is @cathyellenrenee and I often tweet about queerness, being femme, mental health, astrology, literature and relationships.
  
  
• Most importantly, if you were a dog what kind of dog would you be? I think it’s been decided that I’m a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel because they’re are a little bit fussy and need to be pampered. I feel like they would love you endlessly but they also need a little bit of looking after.

2016 stalls are fully booked!

Everyone seems to have booked early this year, and all of our stalls are already full up! Sorry for those who missed out - we didn't expect such a large and efficient turnout! If you missed out but would still like a space, send us an email at wellingtonzinefest@gmail.com with a few details about your project, and how much space you need, and we can do our best to match you up with an existing stallholder.

Thanks everyone for your support and for making Wellington Zinefest bigger and better every year!

xx

// Zinefest Meets Matchbox - Literary Zines with Ellen Walker //

Wellington Zinefest is hosting a rad workshop series at Matchbox Studios over October/November, leading up to Wellington Zinefest on November 19th! 

First up is Literary Zines with committee member Ellen Walker. Ellen had a chat with herself about what zines, and writing, mean to her.  

• Tell us a few things you are passionate about? I’m passionate about clothes with patterns on them, especially animals, reading graphic novels, reading reviews of bad films and, of course, art and literature.

• How did you get into zine making? As the story goes I first became interested in zines in 2011. That year was the first Zinefest I attended and I remember feeling incredibly shy and I left after a quick look around. It wasn’t until late 2014 that I got truly interested in zine making after I attended a workshop on how to distribute zines hosted by Claire Harris. It was there that I met Kylie and Tessa, who were working on a project called zine review, which they asked me to contribute to. Zine making is mainly about the community it creates and once I was introduced to that community it caused a snowball effect. I got most of my closest friends and my girlfriend, also a Zinefest committee member, into zine making as well. Within a year I had joined the Zinefest committee and produced many zines with my friends. I held my first stall at the winter market in 2015. It just hasn’t stopped from there. Zines are love, zines are life.  

• What kind of zines do you make? Mostly zines about me or my friends. My latest output was a two part zine totalling at about 8000 words, that was about a year of my life related to the music I was listening to at the time. That zine project was called ‘Back to the Future Islands’. I have also created some poetry and short story zines as a way to practice my writing and share it with people. Before I made zines I wouldn’t show my writing to anyone. The practice has made me a more confident writer.

• When/ why/ how did you become a committee member (tee hee)? I honestly had the best time at the 2014 Zinefest and I met the most encouraging people. Kylie Buck was there selling her zines with Tessa and she picked up on my enthusiasm. She had helped establish the first Zinefest event and was in the loop about the status of the committee. She told me that they were expecting new people in early 2015. I went along to one of the earliest meetings with Cathy-Ellen and my friend Hamish, and I have been working with the committee ever since.

• Any good zine recommendations? All zines are good zines to someone. I personally love the zines my friends have made because you have more context when you know the author, of course. Cathy’s zines are similar to mine in that they are very personal and emotional but she has a style that is distinctly different from my own work. As I’m a big fan of literary work, if you can get your hands on the Food Court zines from last year, you won’t regret it. They are all available at the library.

• What workshops are you running up to the big event Zinefest November 19th 2016?! I’m looking after a literary zine workshop this Sunday the 9th of October at Matchbox Studios. Come and listen to me ramble more about writing and zines.

• Got any plugs? Plug them now. I have a zine collective! We are called Closet Monster Zines and it’s made up of me, Cathy and Hamish. We have a page on Facebook- check us out here! I also have a podcast called High Expectations Podcast with Cathy and Jaslyn where we talk about everything from queerness, sex, relationships, our love/hatred for musicals and KFC. I also tweet under the handle @spike_for_pm.

• Most importantly, if you were a dog what kind of dog would you be? I would be some kind of cross breed scrappy Terrier. Maybe a Jack Russell. I would be slightly internet famous because my owner would dress me up in jaunty vintage outfits, think 1940s-60s little hats and suits that are hand sewn. Dog me would hate photos as much as human me and I would try to destroy the shot often.

Stall registrations now open!

Registrations for Wellington Zinefest 2016 are now open! Spaces usually fill up fast, so get in quick. Submissions close on Friday 28th October or when spaces are full, whichever comes first. Click here to go to the registration form. Go forth and create zines!

P.S. We have a Make n' Swap zine event happening this Thursday from 6-8pm at the Wellington Central library. Come along!

Stall registration 2016

Exciting news! Registrations for Wellington Zinefest 2016, being held on November 19th at Wellington High School Hall, open tomorrow at noon! Registrations close on Friday October 28th at 5pm, so get in quick. Tell your friends!

Winter Zine Market is back!

Remember last year when there was that awesome Winter Zine Market at Thistle Hall?

Well it's back again as part of Wellington Comic Con, this time on Saturday June the 4th! That’s the first day of Queen’s Birthday Weekend. Its in the top floor of Thistle Hall again (on the Southern end of Cuba Street for those who don’t know their way around Wellington) starting at 12 and finishing at 5 pm. Unfortunately it clashes with the Tauranga Zinefest but if you can’t get to that one then you can come to this one instead.

The callout to zine makers is now open so if you want a space email celfbw@xtra.co.nz .
Due to limited space we are only offering half tables which will cost a five dollar rental charge for the day. You can pay this money to me on the day. (Although there may be full spaces available closer to market day.)

So if you are interested, let me know:

Your name and/or zine project name.

How many seats you’ll need (either 1 or 2 for a half table)

and whether you’d be interested in a full table for $10 if space became available.

Thats all I can think of for now. Feel free to ask any questions and if I remember any more important information, I’ll let you know.

Cheers!

Brent

Stallholder applications open now

Hey zinesters! Stallholder applications are now OPEN! This year's Wellington Zinefest will be held from 12 – 5pm, Saturday 28 November @ Ivy Bar & Cabaret, 49 Cuba St, Wellington.

Make your submission now and share it with all your pals! Let's fill up our new venue to the brim!

Also! Our friends at The French Art Shop Wellington are very kindly offering any registered stallholders 20% off all non-discounted products from now until November 20th! Just show your confirmation email either printed out or on your phone to receive the discount.

Registration form here

Kids zine workshops

Hey Zine Enthusiasts! 

Wellington Zinefest Committee members Ellen, Cathy and Hamish are running Kids' Zine Workshops as part of their public programme next month!
Every Sunday at 2pm in September we'll be teaching kids how to make different types of zines, at the Wellington Museum on Jervois Quay.
If you have or know of kids aged 8-12 who are budding writers, zine makers, creative geniuses, send them our way! We have a capacity of 10 kids, so book your space fast. Parents/Guardians are welcome to come along.
The French Art Shop have generously donated materials so we could make individual zine kits for you!
If you're keen to sign up, or have any questions, please email Ellen at walkerelle91@gmail.com.

 (A few of us got together and tested out the activities - turns out they're super fun for all ages!)

ZF + French Art Shop

Hey Zinesters

This is just a quick post about the great French Art Shop. They are helping out the zinefest committee and are great for zine supplies. They have a sale on until the end of the month. Here's their facebook page for more information.

They have helped us out for the children's workshop we have planned for September. By the way, if you have any kids that would be interested in attending some zine workshops let me know by messaging the zinefest facebook page with the following link

Also a reminder that the Winter Zine Market is this Saturday, the 18th of July, at Thistle Hall. Stall places are still available but get in quick.

Application for Winter Zinefest are open!

Applications for the Wellington Winter Zine Market on July 18 are now open! Spaces will allocated on a first applied first served basis. Because the Thistle hall space is a little bit smaller than the James Cabaret space, there will be fewer spaces available so get in quick. In order to cover the costs of table hire, and posters and other admin costs, there’ll be a $5 fee for stall holders, which you can pay on the day. Everyone will get half a large trestle table. There’ll be no full-table spaces available so if have a lot of zines to sell, you may need to leave some at home. If there is enough space for us to have a full table we’ll let you know before the market. There are a couple of small tables available that someone can occupy and those are available to people that turn up early.

The zine market opens at 12 pm noon so you’ll need to be there sometime between 11 and 11.50 am to set up. If you find that you need to cancel, let us know as soon as you can, so that we can notify the next person on the waiting list. In order to make the zine market as comfortable as possible we would prefer not to have more than 3 people behind a table at any one time. At a squeeze we can maybe fit 4 people behind a table but if there’s a large group of you, consider taking turns behind the table instead of cramming everyone in at once.

Email them to celfbw@xtra.co.nz. What we would to know in your application is your name, contact details, the name of your zine or organisation, and whether you need seating for 1 or 2 people (so that if there’s 2 of you, we’ll get you to share a table with 1 person sitting their space and vice versa). And also please remember that the zine market is for people who want to sell (or swap) predominantly zines/small print/ self-published material so if you want to sell mostly other things please consider selling them somewhere else.

So yeah, get in quick. It’ll be awesome!

Winter Zinefest!

Wellington Zinefest is bringing you a Winter Zinefest! Book mark Saturday 18th July now and keep your ear out for the call for stall holders coming soon!

Stall Holder Interview 4 - Dave Tulloch

When did you start start self-publishing?

1991. Wow, that date scares me. But that's when it started.

Primarily you’ve been a writer of comics with other people drawing them. How many many artists have you collaborated with over the years? Who have you collaborated with the most?

I have collaborated with so many artists I wouldn't know where to start counting. One recent project (Duck and Quail) had ten artists alone. At a guess somewhere between fifty and a hundred people.  Recently, the most numerous collaborations have been with an artist from somewhere in the UK who only identifies himself as Skreem.

How many issues of Pistake did you produce? And when did you stop making them?

There were 12 issues of Pistake, the last one in 1994.

Before you started your website, did you publish any other comics or zines outside of Pistake?

After Pistake finished Straitjacket Ninja had a story in Corn Stone's UFO#1, and the nutty ninja was also published in the US by Kitchen Sink in an anthology title. But aside from that I wrote only prose for a while that ended up in a variety of publications from the School Journal to US textbooks on the History of Science.

Is it easier to self-publish now than when you started?

Yes and no. Yes, you can web-publish easier. No, printing was cheaper in the 90s. All the early Pistakes were photocopied for next to nothing, which is why we sold them for next to nothing. Now even printer ink is expensive, making physical self-publishing a problem.

When did you start your website? And can you give me a link to the home page so people reading this interview can check it out?

www.virtuallycomics.com  Um, it started a few years ago now ... not sure exactly when. 2011?

Do you use your website to promote your printed material or is it the other way round?

To promote my website. I can make some cents out of my website. I lose some dollars from the printed material.

You have two major works involving Playmobil figures, One of which is Utterly Rucked which I believe is available as a six booklet set. Will you be selling this at Zinefest? and can you give some background information on it?

Utterly Rucked is a horror/whodunnit/comedy about a rugby team getting slaughtered one-by-one while touring NZ. It was done after watching a terrible Australian cricket horror movie, and me saying I could have written something better that that. My wife said, "Okay then, prove it." My family helped me make the comic by sewing little rugby jerseys, making props, and helping with the photo shoots. It will be available at Zinefest, along with some postcards.

The other major playmobil story on your website is 'Character Development’. Whats that about? And how many pages is it now? Are there any plans to print that out or is it too big?

Character Development is a fantasy parody tale, currently on hiatus. It's over 1200+ pages, so too big to print. There will be a sampler comic available at Zinefest that has three episodes that make up the Game of Scones storyline.  New pages of Character Development will start being posted again in 2015.

Your current project appears to be ‘All unicorns to battle stations’, which you draw your self. Can you tell the readers something about that project?

It should be subtitled "David learns how to draw". It's main purpose is to make me draw everyday. It started out as 'cute' tales of my family, but now various other random things squeeze themselves in there as well, such as a celebrity agent who is managing Jesus on his second coming, and some animals fighting aliens on the moon. Two collections of AUtBS will be on sale at Zinefest.

Do you have any other zines on sale that you’d like to bring to our reader’s attention?

I'll be selling some other bits a pieces, including Tortured Plastic, which was a one-off collection of various collaborations with three artists. Duck and Quail, which collects 80 strips that appeared on the Drunk Duck website, drawn by ten different artists. There should also be some other stuff if I get myself sorted out in time.