The Emerging Writers’ Festival work, learn and play largely on the land of the Kulin nation, and pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

EWF celebrates the history and creativity of the world’s oldest living culture.

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Q&A with Samantha Boyd

Samantha is a cartoonist, illustrator and writer. She grew up in the beautiful Blue Mountains of NSW, and now resides in Melbourne. At the end of 2018, after a ten year career in graphic design, she decided to start properly pursuing her rediscovered passion for art. She expresses her experiences and journey of self discovery with candid storytelling and humorous observations, in the format of zines, comics, webcomics and other printed items.

When and why did you start making zines?

I started making zines at the end of 2018, so I am very new to it. I made my first one because I felt that it was the perfect medium to hold my illustrated story of my experience with Trichotillomania. There was no pressure to make it a certain length, and I didn’t feel too pressured to make everything absolutely perfect. I think there’s a charm in imperfections with zines.

What is your favourite thing about zines?

My favourite thing about zines is the flexibility of the format. You can make a zine about anything, you can incorporate a plethora of other mediums such as photography, hand writing or comics, and you can use a wide range of materials and binding/folding methods for the zine itself.

Do you have a favourite zine (aside from your own!)? What is it and why do you like it?

I think my favourite zine is Afloat by Melbourne based Thơm Nguyen. It’s a comic style zine about a difficult time in her life, told through symbolism of swimming laps. I love the illustration style, the fun blue, orange and black colour palette, and the simple but powerful and personal narrative.

You can view Samantha’s zine Growth here