Can’t make it to South Side Zine Fest? We’ll match you with a zine pen pal!

We’ll be hosting a pen pal station so festgoers can create and send some fun snail mail to a new out-of-town zine friend right from our event.

Sign up for a pen pal here: tiny.cc/SSZF2025PenPals

Our international friends are welcome to participate, too!

Pen pal sign-up closes at 10 p.m. CT Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

Image description: A flyer featuring illustrations of envelopes and writing implements, the South Side Zine Fest logo, and this text: “Can’t make it to South Side Zine Fest? We’ll match you with a zine pen pal! Sign up by 10 p.m. CT Wednesday, July 23: tiny.cc/SSZF2025PenPals

Allie Scholten (she/her) is Midwest-born, living in Chicago and working across libraries and archives. Her work focuses on collage and mail art, using archival materials to reinterpret long-held histories. Find her on Instagram: @for.namessake

Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest at 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 26 at the Richard J. Daley Branch of the Chicago Public Library, 3400 S. Halsted St. in Bridgeport. Free!

Image description: A collage of images of zines created by South Side Zine Fest 2025 exhibitor Allie Scholten, with this text: “Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest! Welcoming Allie Scholten!; July 26, 2025; Chicago Public Library; Bridgeport”

Want to get involved with South Side Zine Fest? We’re looking for volunteers to help out on the day of the event!

We’ll need assistance with the following tasks: Set-up, breakdown, greeting fest attendees/answering questions, staffing zinemaking stations, and covering exhibitors’ tables so they can take breaks.

If you’d like to sign up for a one- or two-hour volunteer shift sometime between 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on fest day in exchange for our gratitude and a fun zine grab bag, please email us at zineclubchicago.com

The inaugural South Side Zine Fest will be held 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 26 at the Richard J. Daley branch of the Chicago Public Library, 3400 S. Halsted St. in Bridgeport. Free!

Image description: A blue and red flyer featuring the South Side Zine Fest and Zine Club Chicago logos and this text: “Join Us for the Inaugural South Side Zine Fest! Presented by Zine Club Chicago; A celebration of self-publishing with Zine Camp vibes!; Volunteers Needed! If interested, email zineclubchicago@gmail.com”

Midwest Perzine Fest, organized by founder Jonas (they/them), Angel (they/them), Red (they/them), and Alex (she/her, they/them), is a Midwest- and Chicago-centric zine fest that celebrates the radical, DIY art of perzines. The inaugural MWPZF was held online on October 10th, 2020. In 2021, they hosted a snail-mail perzine swap in lieu of a fest. The first in-person MWPZF was held at Columbia College in Chicago, on October 8th, 2022. Find MWPZF on Instagram at @midwestperzinefest and online at midwestperzinefest.wordpress.com

Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest at 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 26 at the Richard J. Daley Branch of the Chicago Public Library, 3400 S. Halsted St. in Bridgeport. Free!

Image description: A collage of photos of the organizers of South Side Zine Fest 2025 exhibitor Midwest Perzine Fest and images of graphics created for MWPZF, with this text: “Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest! Welcoming Midwest Perzine Fest!; July 26, 2025; Chicago Public Library; Bridgeport”

Jen Chavez (she/her) is a Chicana illustrator and comic artist. Her zines focus on various mental illnesses, troubles with catholicism, and the occasional natural disaster When she’s not drawing she likes to pace around Chicago for as long as possible. Find her on Instagram: @Jen.kneefer

Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest at 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 26 at the Richard J. Daley Branch of the Chicago Public Library, 3400 S. Halsted St. in Bridgeport. Free!

Image description: A collage of images of zines created by South Side Zine Fest 2025 exhibitor Jen Chavez, with this text: “Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest! Welcoming Jen Chavez!; July 26, 2025; Chicago Public Library; Bridgeport”

Marimacha Monarca Press is an artist and educator collective of, by and for queer & trans familia based on the southside of Chicago since 2017. MMP provides workshops in printmaking, seed paper making, piñata making, and zine-making as a means of self publication, communication, and reflection. Working alongside themes of queerness, race, language, migration, accessibility, and visual storytelling, we hope our conversations allow us to see the power in illustrating our own histories.
Find them on Instagram: @marimachamonarcapress

Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest at 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 26 at the Richard J. Daley Branch of the Chicago Public Library, 3400 S. Halsted St. in Bridgeport. Free!

Image description: A photo of a member of South Side Zine Fest 2025 exhibitor Marimacha Monarca Press with zines created by the collective and this text: “Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest! Welcoming Marimacha Monarca Press!; July 26, 2025; Chicago Public Library; Bridgeport”

Teddie Bernard (they/he) is a queer cartoonist, writer, and printmaker. His work explores queer identity, history, and connection. They spend their time refurbishing obsolete printers and researching obscure lesbians. Find them on Tumblr at @tea-ddie and on BlueSky at @tea-ddie

Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest at 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 26 at the Richard J. Daley Branch of the Chicago Public Library, 3400 S. Halsted St. in Bridgeport. Free!

Image description: A collage of photos of South Side Zine Fest 2025 exhibitor Teddie Bernard and their zines, with this text: “Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest! Welcoming Teddie Bernard!; July 26, 2025; Chicago Public Library; Bridgeport”

Midwest Books to Prisoners wields the printed word as the weapon of choice to break down prison walls and build bridges of solidarity. We fight to undermine the lack of access to communication and education while amplifying voices the system silences by helping people self-publish their works as zines. Find them on Instagram: @midwestbooks2p

Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest at 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 26 at the Richard J. Daley Branch of the Chicago Public Library, 3400 S. Halsted St. in Bridgeport. Free!

Image description: A collage of several images of zines distributed by the South Side Zine Fest 2025 exhibitor Midwest Books to Prisoners and this text: “Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest! Welcoming Midwest Books to Prisoners!; July 26, 2025; Chicago Public Library; Bridgeport”

Río (they/them) at Amor as Lucha is a migrant nonbinary brown person who makes arty zines about life and random things. Find them in Instagram at @amoraslucha +@fediverse; on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/echeri.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy; and on Mastodon at https://mastodon.art/@echeri
 
Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest at 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 26 at the Richard J. Daley Branch of the Chicago Public Library, 3400 S. Halsted St. in Bridgeport. Free!

Image description: A collage of several images of zines created by the South Side Zine Fest 2025 exhibitor Amor as Lucha and this text: “Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest! Welcoming Amor as Lucha!; July 26, 2025; Chicago Public Library; Bridgeport”

The Support Ho(s)e Collective is a small Leftist formation of queer and trans* sex workers (current and former) and their trusted co-conspirators based in the Midwest, South, and Northeast. They work to build radical community for all sex workers through political education and public agitation. They also coordinated the Justice for Alisha Walker Defense Campaign. They have been making zines and organizing together for over eight years! They listen, learn from and center the lived experiences and the experiences of the broader sex working community, as they work toward workers’ rights, ending stigma, decriminalizing all survival, and building spaces for radicalization and political action. Find them online: sxhxcollective.org

Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest at 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 26 at the Richard J. Daley Branch of the Chicago Public Library, 3400 S. Halsted St. in Bridgeport. Free!

Image description: A collage featuring images of a member of South Side Zine Fest 2025 exhibitor The Support Ho(s)e Collective and zines created by the collective, with this text: “Join us for the inaugural South Side Zine Fest! Welcoming The Support Ho(s)e Collective!; July 26, 2025; Chicago Public Library; Bridgeport”