Reimagine & Remix: A Fan Fiction Zine Workshop

A zine is a DIY (do-it-yourself) mini-magazine. It’s a self-published, non-commercial print work that you typically create in small quantities, just for your own enjoyment. Zines often revolve around a specific, self-chosen theme (ranging from a glimpse into your personal inner world full of feelings and thoughts to your favorite movie, for example).

Zines are a very free art form without fixed rules: anything goes, and everything is possible. You can express yourself in any way you like. This could be through illustrations, text, poetry, photography, collage, etc. Zines originally served as an outlet for marginalized groups. They are a means to share the perspectives and experiences of specific communities. Think of the punk movement, feminism, and the LGBTQ+ community.

In this workshop, you will get hands-on experience. You’ll learn a bit about zine culture, graphic novels, and fan fiction. Workshop facilitators Anna Dijk and Helia Kiaie will bring along some graphic novels, other comics, their own drawings, and self-made zines to give you an idea of the diverse drawing and writing styles that exist. Under their guidance, you’ll start creating your own zine. Have you seen a film/documentary/animation at QFFU that you want to put your own spin on in the form of a zine? Let your imagination be inspired by examples from others and the materials you’ll work with. Anything goes, and there are no rules in zine-making. By the end of the workshop, you will have your own self-made zine to take home. You can even choose to have it printed afterward to distribute a small edition to your friends and family!

Important: You don’t need to be good at drawing or writing. Abstract forms, cutting, and pasting are also allowed. There are no rules; it’s all about experimenting and having fun. With this workshop, we hope to inspire you to get started.

To give some focus, the workshop will revolve around the theme of fan fiction/superheroes. The following questions are intended to inspire your own zine:

➔ Take a QFFU film/documentary/animation/short or another film/series/book that you like: which character would you want to be? Take a moment from the story and put your own spin on it.
➔ When you think of stereotypical heroic deeds, you might imagine protecting the residents of a city from criminals, but it could also be something small and everyday. What do you personally see as a heroic act, or what superpower would you want to have?
➔ Imagine: you were a superhero/fan fiction character, how would you live by day & by night (alter ego)? Think of characters like Kristen Stewart in Love Lies Bleeding (cleaning toilets by day and…) or classic fan fiction characters like Superman or Sailor Moon.
➔ Create a superhero-villain queer romance. Why do they need each other? – Think of the relationship between Eve and Villanelle in Killing Eve or between Batman and The Joker.