Toronto Indie Arts Market: Small-Press and Literary Festival

by Laura Rojas
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Toronto Indie Arts Market - Gladstone HotelOn Saturday the 14th, the Toronto Indie Arts Market hosted a small-press and literary festival at The Gladstone Hotel. I participated as a vendor with my Ryerson art collective/zine team, The Continuist. The event featured 70 vendors all together, ranging from small-scale publishers and zine makers to graphic novel artists, screen-printers, local magazines, and DIY enthusiasts. It was, without a doubt, the ideal place to find a present for the art-lover on your shopping list. It was also the most feel-good shopping experience I’d had in a while. Knowing that every purchase goes towards helping local artists and their projects is really a great feeling. There are so many talented and passionate people in this city. I can never get enough of it.

In case you missed the ravaging (and also first of the season!) snow storm outside last weekend, it was massive. Thankfully, that didn’t keep people away. In fact, The Gladstone served hot food and drinks and people cozied up to the warmth of the Toronto lit-scene. Halfway through the day, I took a break from my table, picked up my wallet, and made my rounds throughout The Gladstone to check out the other vendors. Here’s a list of the few that stuck out to me the most:

Static Zine: They describe themselves as a “collective DIY mag(azine) run out of Toronto.” Each issue has a different theme, and each page contains a contributor interpreting that theme in their own way. The zine is then printed and distributed for free grabs around the city. You can pick up a copy at places like Capital Espresso, Sonic Boom (Kensington location), June Records, and Cafe Novo. They also have an online store called Static Cloud which is packed with goodies!

Toronto Indie Arts Market - Fresh Print Magazine

Broken Pencil: This magazine focuses on zine culture and the independent arts. They’ve been around since 1995 and  their popularity continues to grow. Each issue, published 4 times a year, includes reviews, interviews, original fiction, and quirky articles concerning every aspect of the independent arts. Their online store is the perfect place to buy merch, loads of literature, individual issues, or sign up for a year-long subscription.

Super Baby Jesus: This was the vendor table situated straight across from mine, which meant I kept staring at the pretty screen-printed comics all day. Each comic features “Super Baby Jesus”- a chubby little bundle of magical powers who goes around  answering people’s wishes. The table displayed each volume of the comics published in a thin booklet, but also a hardcover version with an entire collection of the comics, prints for hanging up on your wall, and smaller books as well. Everything contained at least something which was screen-printed by the artist – whether it was just the cover or the entire inside content. I have a soft spot for both handmade books and screen printing, which meant I bought something right away.

Meat Locker Editions: This up-and-coming publisher/arts organization describes themselves as being “dedicated to providing opportunities for underrepresented voices in the literary arts: writers aged 18-35, with particular focus on women in the same age bracket.” Both their love for the written word and the unfortunately harsh climate of the publishing world in the modern age, inspired them to create an alternative sort of publishing house. They aim to create a sense of community by participating in panels, hosting workshops, and teaming up with other independent artists and organizations. They also wish to “revive the book” by coming up with unconventional ways of publishing and distribution. It sounds like such an incredible initiative that I’ll definitely be keeping tabs on.

You can check out the extensive list of vendors who attended the event on the TIAM website, too.

Picture of the Toronto Indie Arts Market

This event was such a strong reassurance that the world of print is still alive and local artists are thriving. The indie lit scene in Toronto is incredible, and being a part of it is beyond thrilling. Being around such friendly, passionate people and chatting about the importance of events like this one is exactly what keeps me coming back. I strongly recommend you check out some of the vendors and bookmark your favourites so you can make it out to more events like this one!

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