The inaugural Asian American Zine Fest, held on December 1, 2024 in Chinatown International District (CID), brought together artists, activists, and newcomers to celebrate the transformative power of zines.
Initially called the Super Secret Asian American Zine Fest, the event took on a life of its own attracting 24 zine enthusiasts, drawing a diverse audience eager to explore the power of self-published storytelling.
“We originally thought it’d be kind of just like friends of friends, but we surprisingly got a national audience on our first post,” said co-organizer Meilani Mandery. “We had to backtrack and you know, make sure we had all of our details planned.”
According to zine maker and co-organizer of the festival, Ahmoy Lau, the festival emphasized storytelling outside the constraints of mainstream narratives.
“Recently, there’s been a lot more representation of Asian Americans in mainstream media, which has been exciting for alot of folks,” Lau said. “At the same time, much of this representation reflects American politics and a push toward assimilation into the ‘American Dream.’”
Lau shared the accessibility of zine making as a way of self-expression and an outlet for Asian Americans to create their own narratives.
“Something that I find really powerful about zine is that It has a very low barrier entry,” said Lau. “All you need is some paper and a pencil, and you can make a zine. Historically, zines have been used by marginalized people to create their own narratives, their own stories, and put them out into the world without having to make it past a publisher.”
For Mandery, the goal wasn’t just to create a marketplace but to foster collaboration and amplify voices within the Asian American community.
“It was not supposed to be a market style zine fest in which people could, buy and sell, but more so a chance for Asian American zine makers to meet each other and trade within each other and plant the seeds of collaboration,” Mandery said
The festival featured a reading zone for attendees to explore a range of zines, a trading zone to exchange creations, and a making zone where participants could craft zines on-site.
“We had a few folks make their first zines at the event, It was really sweet, ” Mandery said.
The attendees brought in zines tackling different subject matters ranging from political advocacy to personal views.
“Folks brought in zines that they had made themselves about topics that they care about, like red tagging in the Philippines… There were zines about gentrification in the Chinatown-International District and the impact that has on people,” Lau said.
The festival also functioned as a space to explore the intersections of art and activism. Mandery shared that for many Asian Americans, it can be hard to see how hate crime laws might do more harm than good, especially without a clear understanding of the political issues involved. Zines and other DIY forms of expression offer a simple but powerful way to push back against these mainstream ideas of Anti-Asian narrative and tell a different story.
“Anti-Asian racism is quite intense all the time, in the news you’re seeing articles about how evil China is and you can see the direct impact that xenophobia has on our communities and zines are a way for us to get straight to what we want to say,” Lau said.
Additionally for Mandery, the fest was also a response to a growing hunger for connection, especially after the election.
“I’m glad people are finally waking up to that [the importance of connection] and seeing the importance of being able to lean on one another, not just for personal comfort, but also for political agitation, and to see that together we have a lot more political power than divided,” Mandery said.
The 2024 event was only the beginning according to Mandery. Organizers are already planning a larger zine fest for 2025, incorporating feedback from attendees. Plans include workshops to guide participants through political thought and organizing, as well as resources to connect attendees with Asian American organizations.
“Once Donald Trump becomes president, we’re really going to need to be in touch with each other,” Lau said. “Zines might seem like a silly way to do that, but honestly, the community that we were able to bring together, even the small group of two dozen people, we were able to share a lot of resources, a lot of information with each other. And I’m hopeful that a larger festival can be a space for that.
The Asian American Zine Fest draws inspiration from a rich history of grassroots publishing. “We’re not reinventing the wheel,” Mandery explained. “We’re shining a light on a community that needs it right now.”
As plans for the 2025 festival take shape, one thing is clear: this is more than an event — it’s a movement rooted in creativity, resistance, and connection.
