DIY Zine Making

Location: Bantha Tea Bar, 5002 Penn Ave.

Date(s) & Time: September 13, 2026 @12pm-2pm

Age Group: All ages!
Skill Level: All levels! (No experience required.)

Description: Is there something that you're curious about? Something that you've wanted to explore but haven't had the time? Well, now is your chance! Join us step-by-step as we guide you in building your very own zine based on that curiosity of yours.

You don't need to know how to draw. You don't need to call yourself a writer. You just need something you're curious about.

It could be about yourself. A person or place you want to understand better. Something you've been wondering about.

Follow your curiosity with Write Pittsburgh facilitator as they walk you through writing prompts
to inspire and how to build a zine.

What is a Zine?

A zine (pronounced zeen) is an independently made publication, often created to share art, stories, ideas or community voices outside traditional publishing. It might include writing, poetry, drawings, interviews, photos, collage, diagrams, timelines or a mix. They can be serious, playful, personal or reported.

Who is this for?

Kids, teens and adults
Families, classrooms and community groups
Creatives, artists, writers, journalists, students
People in the Pittsburgh region.

To learn more, check out Public Source's Open call.

What to Bring: Curiosity, questions, ideas, notebooks, pens, photos, pictures and/or art, fun paper, fun scissors, thread, whatever you wish to be in your zine! We will have the basic supplies, paper, pens, etc. to make a simple zine. But if you want to go the extra mile, feel free to bring any of the above!

By the end of this workshop, participants will… have an understanding of what a zine is and how to make one. You have been supported toward completing a zine under the theme 'curiosity' for submission to Public Source's Open call for zine submissions with the additional opportunity for it to be displayed at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh's interactive display at MuseumLab.

About the facilitators:

Jess Simms is a freelance writer from Pittsburgh, PA, where they're a co-founder of Scribble House and the managing editor of After Happy Hour Review. They are the author of the flash fiction chapbook Cryptid Bits (Last-Picked Books, 2024) and have published stories and essays in Mythaxis, Orca, SLAB, Atlas Obscura, Rinky Dink Press, and elsewhere. Find them online at https://jesssimms.com

Sarah Samms Velazquez is a storyteller and community herbalist whose work focuses on destigmatizing the human experience by encouraging us to reach out to nature for the sense of belonging we all deserve. Sarah has published prose & poetry in Public Source, Pathos Literary Magazine, NBAP, and elsewhere. She was awarded United Plant Saver's 2026 Deep Ecology Artist Fellowship and is a reporter for Inside Appalachia.

Sarah is the owner & founder of The Medicine House, a creative healing business that creates artisanal herbal crafts and experiences. She publishes regularly about growing and crafting her own plant medicine while struggling with a disability, functional movement disorder. Here, Sarah imagines a world in resistance to human-made systems.

Sarah is also an avid hiker, a music nerd, an art dabbler, and a traveler of mother earth's wonders and society's underbelly. Find more at: www.ssvelazquez.com

Refund & Cancellation Policy: Attendees can cancel their registration 7 days or more before the event for a full refund (minus ticketing fees). If there is a need to cancel registration less than 7 days before the event, 50% of the ticket cost will be refunded (minus ticketing fees).

Write Pittsburgh reserves the right to cancel events due to unforeseen circumstances including low registration. If this happens, registrants will receive a 100% refund of the workshop cost (minus ticketing fees). Please note that Humanitix does not allow us to refund ticketing fees, so that is not something that we have any control over.

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