As we move closer to Con Season kicking into high gear, it's time for the zine and mini-comic minded followers of Panel Patter to mark their calendars to attend the Portland Zine Symposium, held in
This will be the 15th edition of the Symposium, and it's going be held July 18th and 19th, with a theme of "Tools of the Trade." The official image for the Symposium will be released soon. Once again, it will be held at the Ambridge Events Center, which is located just on the other side of the river from downtown, on the Eastern shore, and only a few blocks from the Convention Center, making it extremely easy to access from all areas of the city via mass transit or bike.
The Portland Zine Symposium features a Safer Spaces policy, and is committed to being friendly to all people, providing a welcoming environment. It also has a ton of great zinesters and mini-comics folks, just waiting to trade with you or purchase their work, if you prefer. Tablers come from all over, not just the Portland area, including Washington, California, and even further away, like the Midwest.
Speaking of tabling, registration is open now, and spaces are filling fast. As of this writing, registration is about half full, and it's only been open for a few hours. So if you want to go, you should get your application in now. Applications at this point are first come, first served, but there is a review to ensure that everyone meets the safer spaces policies--and is actually tabling with zine/mini-comics. Individual creators and distros are welcomed!
I find that smaller (relatively speaking, given that this is one of the bigger zine fests in the US) fests are where I find things more to my taste in terms of independent comics and zines. That's why my show list for this year is Linework NW, this show, and Short Run as the anchors, with others as time allows.
So if you are a fan (or just interested in finding out more about) zines and the mini-comics that have a zine feel to them, make sure you plan to come to the Portland Zine Symposium in July!
