Best of the Fest
During Wellington Zinefest markets, we invite stallholders to submit their zines for the Best of the Fest competition. A group of judges will review the submissions, and one zine will be awarded the title 'Best of the Fest'. The prize has changed from year to year, but always involves receiving the entire box of the zines submitted for the contest, plus commemoration on a nice but ugly trophy.
About a week after WZF 2023 the Wellington Zinefest board, plus a handful of volunteers, got together to review all of the submissions. Collectively we came up with a shortlist, decided on categories for smaller awards and ultimately selected the Best of the Fest winner. The results are below.
Overall Winner
Edie Taiata
Ram Raiding? How to Ram Raid on the Right Side of History.
2023 Best of the Fest
A radical social commentary stream of consciousness erupts off the pages of Ram Raiding? How to Ram Raid on the Right Side of History. What begins as a guide to ram raiding ethically (buildings dont have feelings, using a cop car is a win win) soon moves on to wider social commentary covering topics from classism to industrial farming.
Presented in a classic zine design of black and white cut and paste punk aesthetic that matches perfectly the creators utter distaste for the moral panic around ram raiding and many of capitalism's broader failings. Equal parts funny, savage and thought provoking. A joy to read.
Ram Raiding? is Edie's first zine, and was distributed for free on the Wellington Zinefest community table.
WZF 2023 Placements
Best Art Zine
Winner
???
Print Nō 3
Best Art Zine
Special Mention
Edern Audrain
Nine Circles - Memoir of a Journey Through Hell
Best Sassy Zine
Winner
Cosmo Bones
Don’t Stop Listening I’m Not Finished Volume V
Best Sexy Zine
Winner
Char
Wholesome Thirst Traps
Best Political Zine
Winner
Fired Up Stilettos
We Are Not Their Girls - The Union Stripper Resource
Best Photo Zine
Winner
King Clown Poetry
Disposable Cameras Have More Fun
Best Perzine
Winner
Jewelia Howard
Tinder Blues
Best Foreign Language Zine
Winner
Min Ji Baik
12 Pack
Best Menty B Zine
Runner Up
Siobhan
Pocket Stress Relief
Best Food Zine
Runner Up
Scarlett Hong
Potluck - Cookbook
Best Concept Zine
Runner Up
Rob Cruickshank
Cranky Rabbit
Best Collage Zine
Runner Up
Meat Girlies
Meat Girlies Vol. 2
Best Infozine
Winner
Andrew McCauley
Wellington Grave Explorers Guidebook Vol. 3
Best Comic Zine
Runner Up
Somn Martin
Migration
Best Comic Zine
Special Mention
Sophie Torrington
Harold the Left-Handed Hedgehog
Best Art Zine
Runner Up
Theo
Trans-Sketch-Ual - a Zine of Trans Illustrations
Best Collaborative Zine
Winner
AllyRat et al.
Milk & Honey: New Zealand Lolita zine Issue #2
Best Fanzine
Winner
Sally Bollinger and Dani Yourukova
Abstract Pokémon Gen 2
Best Prose Zine
Winner
Tahlia Conrad-Hinga
I Stand Upon Layers of Time
Best Poetry Zine
Winner
Miugai Kimani
Lost
Best Photo Zine
Runner Up
Liz Platova
Dogs Waiting Outside of the Kelburn 4 Square 2023
Best Perzine
Runner Up
Charlotte Page
Electric Meat Vol. 3
Best Menty B Zine
Winner
J. A. Brooks
For When Your Thoughts are Racing
Best Food Zine
Winner
Audrey Anderson
Braised Lamb Shanks
Best Kids Zine
Winner
Sydthur Studios
The Adventures of Slime and Spoon - #1 Good Morning
Best Concept Zine
Winner
Kooky Draws Things
Teenie Weenie Little Zinie
Best Collage Zine
Winner
Sasha Francis
Crisis
Best Infozine
Winner
Jewelia Howard
Naked Mole Fact
Best Comic Zine
Special Mention
Te Waiarangi Ratana
The Last Māori
Best Comic Zine
Winner
Vincent Konrad
Curse of the Wizard
Best of the Fest 2022
Overall Winner
Charlotte Page
Electric Meat Vol. 2
Best of the Fest 2022
Electric Meat Vol. 2 is a zine which combines old polaroid photos and stories from Charlotte’s grandparents after they arrived in Wellington from the UK in the 1970s.
Charlotte writes in the introduction that the Electric Meat series are zines which explore her identity - “how and why I became the person I am today… all the parts that make up my electric meat suit.”
While it might seem like we’re being primed for a super-personal diary, Charlotte doesn’t actually tell us much about herself. Instead, the zine keeps its focus squarely on her grandparents. Charlotte’s writing is straightforward and anecdotal, and she tells us stories about the jobs they had, their interactions with locals, places they’d visit. She gives us space to consider for ourselves how ancestry shapes who we are. How do Charlotte’s working class grandparents inform her contemporary sense of self? How do our own grandparents lives live on in all of us?
The zine is reminiscent of photospreads in any bestselling celebrity biography, but Charlotte’s grandparents aren’t famous, and Electric Meat probably won’t sell thousands of copies. Through self-publishing, Charlotte’s been able to platform *regular* peoples stories, demonstrating that they too have value and that our everyday experiences can be just as formative as the dramatic ones.
Electric Meat Vol. 2 ticks every box for us - it’s local, pretty, well written, unique and personal. Charlotte’s zines take advantage of everything zine culture makes possible. It’s accessible both in that it’s easy to read and that it’s a simple concept that anyone could explore. It’s also a reminder that zines aren’t just about showing off creative skills or production values. They’re also about sharing, expressing, or what Charlotte calls ‘externalising’.
Electric Meat Vol. 2 reminds us that zinemaking is just as much about the *production* as the product itself. Through making this zine, Charlotte’s considered her past, collected and placed memories, and reflected on them critically. It’s a process we could all probably benefit from doing sometimes.
WZF 2022 Placements
Special Mention 2022
Kathleen Winter
The World is Ending and so is Evangelion
Special Mention 2022
Vincent Konrad
Fan Mail
Special Mention 2022
Tahlia Conrad Hinga
'Dancing' Series
Best Poetry Zine
Runner Up
Sasha Francis
Blood Notes
Best Infozine
Runner Up
Charlotte Page and Rei
The Ultimate Monster Energy Review Zine
Best Perzine
Runner Up
Ashley Chase
D#KE 4L3RT 002
Legacy Award
Winner
Darcy Woods
For Many Zines
Best Art Zine
Runner Up
Liz Platova
Dogs Waiting Outside of the Kelburn Four Square #2
Best Comic Zine
Runner Up
Lisa Dao
Hauora
Best Comic Zine
Winner
Brendan Foley
Pōneke Omega Station
Special Mention 2022
Mary Guo
Welly Cafe Memories
Special Mention 2022
Rachel McAlpine
Good Morning, Earth!
Best Poetry Zine
Runner Up
Shelby Farmer
Mixtape Poetry
Best Poetry Zine
Winner
Lizzie Murray
Mix'n'Match Haiku Zine
Best Infozine
Winner
Cherie King
Cut-Throughs #1
Best Perzine
Winner
Ethan Sheaf-Morrison
Rewiti & I
Best Art Zine
Runner Up
Sam Northcott
Curse and Effect, Book One
Best Art Zine
Winner
Miles Davitt
Delightful Garden
Best Comic Zine
Runner Up
Christopher Wendt
Cat Comic