is the new location of our event paperjamfest will remain temporarily and is already archived on the new address - Viva small press 2017 - new name - surprises

Please follow @paperjazz for updates on the new era of small press at the silent barn. For the record, Paper Jam will continue in the exact same way it always has under this new name.

We do this in recognition of free-to-table/free-to-attend (or donation-based) fairs that have been running as long or longer than us like Pete’s Mini Zine Fest, NYC Feminist Zine Fest, Zinefeast, Locust Moon, Etc. We will also continue to never repeat exhibitors, which was inspired somewhat by the Toronto Comic Arts Festival’s policies. Our fest has always been a collective of influences, we want everyone in the zine/small press/comics/chapbook/editions community to feel welcome and appreciated. With this rebrand we want to emphasize safer spaces , inclusivity, accountability, and transparency. We encourage folks to reach out to us on tumblr or paperjazzfest@gmail.com

Happy New Year everyone! Are you ready to ring in the new era of zines and small press at The Silent Barn? We’re excited announce that the spirit of Paper Jam Small Press Festival will be carried on under the rebrand Paper Jazz. We respect Robin Enrico’s decision to leave the barn due to a personal disagreement, but longtime Paper Jam organizers O.K. Fox and GW Duncanson, as well as the greater Silent Barn collective, have always supported Paper Jam and wish to continue that work. We are still here and dedicated to maintaining a zine space for the greater DIY community. The infrastructure of the Silent Barn and legacy of Paper Jam will enable Paper Jazz to thrive.

Since I have been asked about this enough times, I feel I have to say something publicly.

Paper Jam as it has existed is no more.

I no longer work with the Silent Barn in any capacity. Having reached an ideological impasse with the collective, I cannot in good conscience participate in that project any longer.

As I am no longer a member of the collective i feel it would be unfair to ask to use the space in the same way I have before. Without the free usage of that space, I would need to move to a new space. At which point Paper Jam would have to become a very different festival than it has been. This would most likely involve charging exhibitors for table space. As having free tables for exhibitors was one of the founding tenants of Paper Jam, I am not interested in pursuing any new version of the festival that involves a tabling fee.

Even if I could continue Paper Jam in a new space with the same level of access and accommodation that Silent Barn had so graciously granted me, there are none that I currently am tied into. And with my current reality of teaching full-time and having a very meager personal support structure, I am not even sure I have it within me to start again from scratch again on this venture. Still, If you have ties to a venue that you feel would be a good host for Paper Jam, please reach out to me at paperjamfest@gmail.com. I still believe Paper Jam can be an important and vital small press festival and an asset to any venue that would like to host it.

That said. If there is never another Paper Jam, I am proud of what my co-curators and I have accomplished. In many ways there might not need to be another edition of Paper Jam. In the three years since I put on the first the festival, there has been an explosion in the number of micro conventions happening in New York City. I see small press events happening almost every week now. Three years ago this was far from the norm. I could not ask for a better outcome. I would happily hand this torch in a new form to someone else to carry forward.

Thank you to all of the people who helped make Paper Jam the success it has been. There are very few things in my life that I am prouder of having made happen.

- Robin Enrico (PJCC)

3:30 pm • 20 November 2016 • 14 notes