This was a surprisingly long weekend, even though it was only two days. I had multiple stops over the two-day span, which is why.
The first stop was Copacetic Comics Company, on Dobson Street in Pittsburgh. I was worried that I would have to pay for parking (because city life), but I found a space around the corner.
A while back I had called Copacetic to ask some questions about author appearances and consignments, and somehow I forgot that Bill (the man on the phone) said the store was on the 3rd floor of the building. So I was a bit surprised to see Kaibur Coffee on the ground floor. I had to approach the building to be sure I found the right space.
Turns out – yep, I found it. So I went up the narrow blue staircase, past posters of indie bands, local theater productions, and guest lectures, and found THIS:
Feminist Zine Fest Pittsburgh happened at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination this year on June 17th.
Yes, it’s been a few weeks between the fest and this blog post talking about it. To be fair, I was working on KickStarter fulfillment, catching up on deadlines, and getting a new gig or two.
It’s been a while since I’ve done Review Day Tuesdays, my YouTube video series where I review new comics, books, and other works. I had put it on hiatus back in the tail end of June this year, because my schedule was getting too bananas to update it weekly.
Now I’m getting to a point where I can revive the series, but there will be one big change.
After I get done with a few more videos for the Poetry for Troubled Times series, I’ll be bringing back Review Day Tuesdays, to update every other week.
Why?
Not only have I been reading new comics lately, but I’ve also taken up the job of being head librarian at my local Universalist Unitarian Church. The library at the church has a lot of books dealing with LGBT issues, sociology, gender, and world religions, and that’s not even touching on the biography section or the multiple shelves of poetry.
One book in particular is one I want to discuss – the book pictured at the top of this post.
I’m looking forward to this one especially because of some reasons pointed out in this Hannah Wilton video about feminism and masculinity. The biggest reason is that while feminism has made great strides for women’s rights and roles, the roles of men haven’t been discussed much, and for feminism to be effective for everyone, that MUST be discussed.
Also! There’s one book I found in the library collection, called “Against the Tide.” It’s a book about men in the feminist movement. That book has a chapter talking about how the Equal Rights Act can benefit men as well as women, and I will actually read that chapter for YouTube at some point in the next few months, because it has portions in it that few people discuss even today.
I can’t wait to share these books with you, and the new comics I’ve come across, including Tank Girl’s newest run, “GOLD,” and “Once Our Land,” an 1830s post-apocalyptic comic that takes place in Germany.
Books, and the discussions of their ideas, are more important now than ever, and I hope you’ll join me when the series gets fully revived. I’ll announce a more specific date on my email newsletter.
Continue reading “Punks, Comics, and Feminist Zine Fest Pittsburgh”
