INTERVIEW with TALEEN KALI
ABQ Zine Fest is proud to present a weekend with Taleen Kali, Editor-in-Chief of Dum Dum Magazine! Taleen graciously answered our questions. Thank, Taleen!
Hey Taleen! Please tell us a little about the zines you’ll be tabling at ABQZF!
I'll be tabling a number of zines: the latest issue of DUM DUM Zine which is a postcard book of poetry, micro-fiction and letters that are 100 words or less. In addition I'll have MIND SONGS and BODY SONGS, which are the 2 spiritual and wellness zines I wrote in collaboration with illustrations by Yumi Sakugawa.
How long have you been writing zines, and how did you get started? How long have you been making zines?
I wrote my first zine in 2004 in my college dorm room called "Basement Pulse" and have been making perzines about my Armenian heritage, zines about my musical projects, and I started the litzine DUM DUM Zine in 2011. Nowadays I mostly make poetry zines.
What's a zine? How do you describe zines to those new to them? Define "zine," in your way.
A zine is a platform for whatever you want to express, however you want to express it!
Do you think zines important to literary culture? If so, why?
Of course! They allow writers to innovate in ways literary culture and dinosaur publishing has constricted us. We no longer need institutional permission to create as writers.
Do you have a zine crush? If so, are you willing to reveal the object of your zine affection?
I'm hoping to meet my next zine crush at ABQ Zine Fest ;)
What do you enjoy most about making zines? What do you fine to be the most frustrating thing about the process?
Sharing and trading them. Connecting with other zinesters and discovering their work. That means the most to me. Frustration-wise, I think it gets tough to have some ideas be so expensive since printmedia is becoming more and more scarce.
How have zines helped you grow as an artist/writer/musician/thinker/maker?
The freedom of the zine format freed me up to have limitless, out of the box ideas.
What kind of zine do you want to write/create that you haven't explored yet? (Topic, format, style, etc.)
I want to make a live zine during an event! I have no idea what that is! Maybe we can make one together next weekend...
DON’T MISS the ZINE READING with Taleen Kali, Ebony Isis Booth, Kateri Lopez, Liza Bley & Marya Errin Jones, THIS FRIDAY at 8PM sharp. Come KICK-OFF ABQ Zine Fest with us (and then head over to Corpus Arts nightcap, 10PM)
