“From the Archives of ZAPP” on Display Now at Central Library

An exhibition showcasing highlights for the ZAPP (Zine Archive and Publishing Project) zine collections is now on view in the Level 8 Gallery at Central Library. “From the Archives of ZAPP” runs through August 31, 2019 and showcases a small fraction of the cultural treasures found in the ZAPP zine collection, focusing on locally made zines and self-published comics, riot grrrl zines, zines representing voices from traditionally marginalized communities, and zines featuring unique and creative design elements.

ZAPP was a volunteer-run organization dedicated to preserving and promoting self-publishing in Seattle and beyond. Originally part of Richard Hugo House (who donated the collection to SPL), ZAPP collected and maintained a library of over 30,000 zines, minicomics and other self-published and small press titles.

We are hosting a few events in conjunction with the exhibit: two guided tours of the exhibit and ZAPP zine collection, a zine making workshop, and a screening of the zine documentary “$100 & A T-Shirt.”

Much of the material featured in the exhibit was originally curated in partnership with North Seattle College’s Gallery Coordinator Amanda Knowles and Professor Kelda Martensen and displayed at North Seattle College Art Gallery.

The complete ZAPP zine collection is housed on Level 7 of Central Library across from the elevators. The zine collection is open to the public every Wednesday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Librarians at the Seattle Public Library created this list of resources to help you learn about zines, zine culture, and how to make your own zine with these resources.

~posted by Richard V.

#BookBingoNW2019: Comics

Comics is a magical and mysterious medium that can fill one or all of your Book Bingo card squares this summer! It’s up to you!

Take a look at this recent staff booklist of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Comics and Graphic Novels and maybe try out In Between, a collection of poetry comics by local creator Mita Mahato (and don’t forget to stop by the Ballard Branch where Mita will lead a graphic memoir workshop, Thursday, June 6^th @ 6pm).

For the hungry folks out there, maybe some Food-themed Comics & Manga is what you need in your life? Delicious in Dungeon (currently at 6 volumes of manga) is a dungeon-crawling adventure full of food, friends, and monsters (aka the food).

OverDrive Comics and ‘The Best We Could Do’

The Seattle Public Library has physical comics for children, teens, and adults available for checkout in all of our 27 locations, as well as through our mobile services. We also have comics available through our Hoopla Digital service. But did you know, amongst all of the mysteries, memoirs, and literary fiction e-books, that we also have approximately 1,700 “comic and graphic works” in our OverDrive collection?! This collection includes popular kids comics like the Narwhal and Jelly series, relatable webcomics such as “Sarah’s Scribbles,” award winners like Kindred… and even the 2019 Seattle Reads selection The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui!

Narwhal’s Otter Friend: Narwhal and Jelly Series, Book 4 by Ben Clanton
This is the fourth book of the Narwhal and Jelly aquatic graphic novel adventure series for early readers! While Narwhal enthusiastically accepts newcomer Otter into the friend-pod, Jelly reacts somewhat jelly-ously… (Clanton, a local author, won the Washington State Book Award for the first book in this series.)

August Literary Holidays

August may have few nationally acknowledged holidays, but if you appreciate literature I’ve got a few things you can celebrate.

Kicking off the month we have National Book Lover’s Day taking place on August 9th. On this day celebrate by enjoying the smell of books, visit the library, drop literary references into casual speech, or just enjoy a favorite book.  Here are a couple book-themed books to help with the day:

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi is the author’s memoir from her time in Iran when she started an underground book club with seven girls reading western books outlawed by the government.

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine depicts an alternative history where the Great Library of Alexandria still exists and it is illegal to own books.

Wordless Comics

In the influential graphic novel Understanding Comics, creator Scott McCloud defines comics as:

“Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in a deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.”

Notice that this definition does not include any specific mention of comics requiring words in order to be considered comics. Words, sure, fit under the generously vague “other images” category, but, at their most unadorned, comics simply need images put together in a particular order to be comics.

These “wordless comics” still require reading, just of a different sort. Images, on a spectrum of realistic to abstract, are associated with each other and meaning is made, just as with interpreting letters and words. Wordless comics use “silence” to their advantage by necessitating a closer reading of the colors, backgrounds, moods, layouts, line-work, and body language of the characters.