On Saturday, April 26, 2025, UF’s Graduate Comics Organization will be hosting its 21st annual comics event, “Folding and Unfolding: A GCO Symposium on Zines and Small Press Comics” in Gainesville, Florida. This event is free and open to the public and will be hosted at Gainesville’s own grassroots comics school, the Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW), which is located just south of Downtown/Depot Park at 1314 S Main Street #2 Gainesville, FL 32601.
The one-day symposium will feature conversations about the importance of grassroots and independent spaces in sharing and preserving the stories we want to tell. We are bringing together cartoonists and zinesters, booksellers and publishers, archivists and activists, and community members and scholars to talk about creating, publishing, circulating, and preserving small press comics and zines. We are pleased to welcome special guests from the West Coast and Midwest focused on publishing and preserving small press comics and zines and put them in conversation with our vibrant arts community here in Gainesville!
SCHEDULE
9:30am-10:00am: Welcome and snacks
10:00am-11:30am: Preserving and Accessing Zines
This panel introduces the work of two grassroots archives, the Queer Zine Archive Project and the Civic Media Center, that collect and share zines, pamphlets, and other independent media. We will also discuss digitization, access, and getting involved with archiving!
Panel members: Chris Wilde, Milo Miller, and Lee Hoffman. Moderated by Karen Libby.
11:30am-12:30pm: Lunch will be provided (first come, first serve)
12:30pm-1:30pm: Making Toy Book Zines w/QZAP
Learn to fold and make a 16 page Toy Book with Milo Miller and Chris Wilde from QZAP. Materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your own supplies.
2:00pm-3:30pm: Publishing Small-Press Comics and Zines
This panel puts small-press booksellers, publishers, and creators together in conversation to chat about the behind-the-scenes details involved in creating, marketing, distributing, and sustaining small-press publishing!
Panel members: Avi Ehrlich, Heather Halak, Mara McCormick, and Mickey Stokes. Moderated by Thomas De Groff.
3:30pm-4:00pm: Wrap-ups and goodbyes
SYMPOSIUM SPEAKERS
- Milo Miller and Chris Wilde, zinesters and archivists, Queer Zine Archive Project
- Avi Ehrlich, publisher and bookseller, Silver Sprocket
- Heather Halak, bookseller, Third House Books
- Lee Hoffman, archivist, Civic Media Center
- Mara McCormick Sternberg and Mickey Stokes, zinesters, Florida Pest
SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZERS
- Chief Organizer – Karen Libby, President, Graduate Comics Organization
- Co-Organizer – Anomitra Paul, Vice President, Graduate Comics Organization
- Co-Organizer – Thomas De Groff, Treasurer, Graduate Comics Organization
- Co-Organizer – Dr. Margaret Galvan, Advisor
SPONSORS
- UF English Department
- The Dortort Foundation Fund for Comic Studies
- Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW)
- Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography at Rare Book School