Image is a person sitting on a couch, watching tv. On the tv is a stick figure with the quote, “That’s what friends do, they stand by each other when there’s trouble. – Gabrielle.” Beside the tv is the name of the project, Zine: A Warrior Princess. The quote is from the show Xena: Warrior Princess, spoken by the character Gabrielle.

IMPORTANT NOTE! The deadline for submissions has been extended until there are enough to create the zine – hopefully end of July, 2020. The submissions that have come in so far are absolutely gorgeous. Be part of this project! Submissions so far include writing about Final Fantasy, Groot, and the musical episode of Buffy, Once More With Feeling. So good!

I’m ready to start working on my next zine project!

This one has the potential to be a little lighter, a little more playful. 

This zine is about how pop culture is getting us through this time.

What is this zine about?

It’s about the lessons we’ve learned from our favourite tv shows, movies, comics, and books. It’s about how pop culture can invite us into an alternate world, and how these worlds have been safe and comforting spaces for us for many years.

It’s about the archetypes in the Princess Bride allowing us to see ourselves in a playful and generous light.

It’s about Buffy surviving a new apocalypse every season, and what hope that might offer for us as we face this particular apocalypse.

It’s about Steven Universe and She-Ra and Aang and Korra and Kipo and The Magicians and Elle Woods and Kamala Khan and Miles Morales and America Chavez and Kimberly Kane and Starbuck and Furiosa and Marge Gunderson and Elastica and Zoe Washburne and Veronica Mars and Minerva McGonagall and River Song and The Doctor and Jane Eyre and Phryne Fisher and Jo March and Alexander Hamilton (and Eliiiiiiiiiiiiiza) and Fem Shep and so many others, and it’s about how these characters, and the worlds they inhabit, the worlds they invite us into, make it more possible for us to get through the pandemic.

It’s also about pop culture personalities and how we navigate our relationships with celebrity (of whatever magnitude) in ways that make it more possible to get through the pandemic.

Prompts to get you started

What shows/books/comics/characters/etc are getting you through?

How?

Are you re-engaging with old favourites or discovering new ones?

What are the gifts of these pop culture offerings? What skills have they taught you? What values have they nurtured in you? What hopes have they sparked? What comfort have they offered?

Where did you discover them? Does appreciation of these characters or worlds or creators connect you to a community?

Do you share these shows, books, characters with others?

What have they made possible in your life?

What have they made possible in your pandemic life?

I think this will be a fun project and I’m really excited about it!

When and how to submit

I’ll be accepting submissions until the end of June, and hoping to share the zine by the end of July.

Send submissions by email.

Art, poetry, fiction, and essays welcome!