Small press’s big reach

Montreal’s biggest DIY booster Louis Rastelli marks a decade of Expozine

“When we started this in 2002, people were like: ‘What? You’re crazy! Everything is going to the Internet! In a year or two, there won’t be any more paper!’” laughs Louis Rastelli about the year he co-founded Expozine, which 10 years later has grown into the largest small press fair in North America, allowing writers and artists to sell their zines, books and comics directly to the public.

In an era of Kindles and iPads, Rastelli says that there’s been a zine resurgence, with registration for this year’s edition filling up in a flash and a giant waiting list of people still hoping to snag a table. “I think a big reason actually is technology,” he says. “It’s really gotten cheap to print and you can find decent free software for publishing and photo editing just about anywhere on the web. If somebody is just starting off and they’ve decided to become a professional writer or artist, the best way to do it is to do it yourself.”

Rastelli adds that, if anything, Expozine celebrating its 10th anniversary is also a testament to the fact that people still enjoy reading something that is not a screen.

“People spend so much time online reading Facebook or Twitter, it’s so disposable,” he says. “I think people still enjoy reading something that’s made by hand, that’s nice-looking with fancy drawings and there’s a lot more of that than there used to be at Expozine: more silk screening and more weird formats.”

While Rastelli estimates that about 150 of this year’s 270 exhibitors are new to Expozine, he says a lot of old-timers who were at the first one are also returning this year, such as cartoonist Julie Doucet, Monastiraki’s Billy Mavreas, illustrator Richard Suicide and comic book artist Valium. “It’s almost a bit of a reunion, we should have an old folks section with wheelchair accessibility,” he jokes.

To kick things off, Drawn and Quarterly (211 Bernard W.) is hosting a round-table discussion with the fair’s co-founders including Rastelli, Mavreas, Andy Brown (Conundrum Press) and Pascal-Angelo Fioramore (les éditions Rodrigol) on Friday, Nov. 25 from 7–10 p.m. The talk will be moderated by Kevin Yuen Kit Lo, who will be launching the latest edition of the magazine Four Minutes To Midnight, which is dedicated to Expozine and features interviews with the founders and a selection of works from past participants.

While the actual fair takes place from noon–6 p.m. on Nov. 26-27 at Église Saint-Enfant Jésus (5035 St-Dominique), there will also be a 10th anniversary party on Saturday night at Casa Del Popo­lo (4873 St-Laurent) at 8 p.m., with DJs and a few surprises, including slideshows. Rastelli booked the two rooms to ensure a decade’s worth of debauchery, but don’t worry, he reassures that, “We’ve already told all the people who have offered to do poetry readings that night to go away. It’s an anniversary party—we don’t want to inflict any poetry on anybody.”

And while some may continue to grumble about the possible demise of print, Rastelli sees many more years in Expozine’s future, with the eventual possibility of dividing into two events, one dedi­cated to zines and the other to visual arts. “Given the demand, there’s no way we can stop doing this!”

For more information on Expozine and a full list of this year’s exhibitors, visit expozine.ca. ■

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