Madison Print & Resist Zinefest 2023 at Central Library

Resisting with printmaking, Madison Print & Resist Zinefest is back for its 20th year. Regional artists, writers, and printmakers will gather to celebrate the importance of creative and political expression in an array of print media. The event is hosted these days by Communication, the Madison Public Library’s Bubbler program, the creative agency UnderBelly, and ArtWorking, a local non-profit that works with artists with disabilities. It’s the latest iteration of a pointedly radical print expo that’s evolved through various names, venues, and organizing teams over the years.

Among the more than 60 exhibiting presses and artists this year are body books, which creates gender-inclusive and trauma-informed zines in Madison; Late Night Copies, a Minneapolis-based micro-press that centers queer voices; and Rooster Cow Media, a micro-label and small press based in Chicago.

The individual artists present include Rachel DL, who writes about disability and chronic illness;, Dullahan Daydream, who draws funky little creatures; and Ty Springer, who creates queer comics.

There will be a Zinefest Afterparty at the Bur Oak on April 22  at 7 p.m. with music from Nate Meng & The Stolen Sea and alt-queercore musician Doug Rowe of Woke Up Crying. Admission to the show is on a $5 to $15 sliding scale.

Madison Print & Resist is also still asking community members to look out for each other’s safety: “Even if not mandated at the time, there will be strong encouragement for social distancing and masking,” the event’s website notes.

—Hannah Keziah Agustin

Print & Resist poster art by Jaundy Brunswick.