(Caption: Zine Fair stall workers and attendees. Photo credit: Garish (Luci) Kugathasan, 2025)
On the 20th September 2025, School of Zines hosted Parramatta Zine Fair, an event encouraging zinesters to show off their talent and content to the community. Printed media is gradually coming back, especially among students turning to zines as a form of self-expression beyond social media. The fair was not just a marketplace but a celebration of creativity, individuality, identity and community. Creators from all backgrounds shared stories that rarely receive mainstream attention, ranging from handmade comics to deeply personal memoir zines. For those who could not attend, the School of Zines continues the momentum with monthly workshops to keep the zinemaking spirit alive across Parramatta and Western Sydney.
School of Zines founder Aphrodite Delaguiado offered some insight to the fair’s inspiration.
(Caption: Aphrodite holding up one of her works named ‘META.’ Photo credit: Garish (Luci) Kugathasan, 2025)
Delaguiado loves transforming ideas into tangible art, a passion that led to her establishing Illographo Press and later the School of Zines. Delaguiado encourages individuals to creatively and authentically share their stories through physical means, rather than through phones or on social media. Inspired by the works of the Sticky Institute, Good Press and Mtns Zine Club, Delaguiado’s School of Zines was created as a passion project and a way to ‘pay it forward’, sharing the joy of independent publishing with her community in Greater Western Sydney.
