Zine Making
You might be asking, what is a zine? A zine (pronounced ‘zeen’) is an independently published magazine. Often hand made and created by marginalised people whose experiences are overlooked by mainstream media.
As someone who lives with illness, zines felt like a great way to connect with others and share our experiences collectively and in our own words. They’re DIY and independent, not bound by traditional publishing rules.
In 2017, I started Drawn Poorly Zine. A project focussed on ill, disabled and neurodivergent experiences. Through this, I have produced nine collaborative zines, featuring creatives from all over the world. Produced performance nights, an exhibition and facilitated workshops both in person and online.
How might we work together?: Perhaps your group want to create a zine about a specific theme. Or, maybe your organisation wants to create a manifesto zine. You might want me to create a zine that retrospectively brings together all the work made during a project.
You might want a one off workshop about making zines, or for us to work on a longer term basis together. You might want something specific about health, disability and zine making.
Whatever you have in mind, I’m happy to discuss it and can share suggestions on format too.
My areas of focus are: Handmade zines, using collage and illustration to share ideas. Mini zine making, starting collaborative zines and how to produce zine focussed projects. I can also work with folks creating digital zines and provide guidance and templates.
Projects
Some recent projects
Ward 76 - A play by Sam and Shirley Jamil, produced by Pai Productions.
Ward 76 is a show exploring experiences of young people who are regularly hospitalised. Alongside the show; I delivered a number of zine workshops to young people in Rochdale and other locations in Greater Manchester. For these, I developed a number of resources which focussed on themes of the show and creative ways to explore these.
More information about the project
Design & Disability Zine Workshops - V & A
I was commissioned by the V & A to design zine activities to be delivered for young people in response to the Design and Disability exhibition. Working with the team, I created a visual mood board that included illustration, items from the exhibition, DIY craft materials and photos from disability history.
I took themes from the exhibition - play, rest, joy and created interactive zines for young people to fill in. I also created a ‘How to make a mini zine’ hand out and collage pages that could be used in the sessions.
Art+ and Sheffield Children’s Hospital - Zine workshops
Over 2025 (and a little of 2026), I worked with Art+ on the delivery of zine sessions at Sheffield’s Children’s Hospital. We were exploring how zines could be a way for young people to reflect on their experiences and, also offer suggestions for young people in hospital for the first time.
I developed a zine template which was distributed to young people on wards along with a pack of materials. I also led group workshops in the hospital’s play rooms.
Workshops
PHOTO BY EMILY COLLINSI frequently deliver workshops for adults and young people either on a short term or one off basis. This can be shaped around your group and the themes you’d like to explore.
I have previously run workshops for:
Arthouse Middleton, Art with Heart, Barnsley Civic, Barnsley Zine Fest, Comics Youth, Contact, Glasgow Zine Fest, Heart of Glass, Homotopia, Museum of Science and Industry, NHS, Oldham Library, People’s History Museum, Short Supply and more!