Join us Friday, May 17, from 7-10 pm, for an exhibit of sci-fi themed art responding to the question: what will our education system look like in the future? Curated by Robin and Jenna, this show is a response to changes in the Philadelphia school system. Submissions are being accepted until May 4. For more information, visit the call for submissions here or email brickandmortararts@gmail.com. Keep an eye out for more information as the artist line-up develops!

Please join us to celebrate two years of being open! On Saturday, March 16, from 6-9pm, we will be hosting an evening of readings by writers and makers. Come and see the latest art hanging in our space, including visual poetry prints by Carlos Soto Román, tour the studios, and pull a print of your own.

We open our doors to you at 6 and the readings begin at 6:30.

Featured readers include:

Amanda D’Amico, book artist
Brian Teare, poet & printer
Carlos Soto Román, poet
Kerri, of the zine Deafula
Lee Klein, fiction writer & editor

Pull your own screenprint in our new studio with printer and artist Jenn Pascoe.

Amanda D’Amico is a book artist working under the imprint Tiny Revolutionary Press. She is also a printer, managing the Borowsky Center for Publication Arts and the Digital Imaging Labs at the University of the Arts. Amanda’s enthusiasm for artists’ books has led her to publish several articles in JAB: The Journal of Artists’ Books, to co-organize The Hybrid Book: Intersection + Intermedia, an international book arts conference in Philadelphia in June 2009, and to serve on the Board of the Philadelphia Center for the Book since 2010. Her artists’ books have been collected and exhibited nationally.

A former NEA Fellow, Brian Teare is the recipient of poetry fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Headlands Center for the Arts, and the American Antiquarian Society. He is the author of four full-length books—The Room Where I Was Born, Sight Map, the Lambda-Award-winning Pleasure, andCompanion Grasses—as well as seven chapbooks, most recently Paradise Was Typeset, Helplessness, [ black sun crown ], and SORE EROS. An Assistant Professor at Temple University, he lives in Philadelphia, where he makes books by hand for his micropress, Albion Books.

Carlos Soto Román is a Chilean pharmacist (químico farmacéutico), and poet. He holds a Master of Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania. He has published in Chile La Marcha de los Quiltros (1999), Haikú Minero (2007), and Cambio y Fuera (2009); and in the States Philadelphia’s Notebooks (Otoliths, 2011). He is also a translator and the curator of the cooperative anthology of US poetry Elective Affinities. He lives in Philadelphia, PA.

Kerri hails from Philadelphia and writes a perzine that examines her experience as a deaf person. It’s a sassy, informative, and comical exploration of deaf identity, disability politics, everyday annoyances, and the blessing of silence. Kerri loves all forms of the written word and works in higher education helping people to be better writers. She also volunteers at her local zine library. (That would be The Soapbox.)

Lee Klein‘s writing has appeared in Agni, The Barcelona Review, Barrelhouse, The Best American Non-Required Reading 2007, The Black Warrior Review, Canteen, Full Stop, Ghost Town, Hobart, The Normal School, The Philadelphia Review of Books, Swink, and many other sites, journals, and anthologies. Since 1999, he’s edited the lit site Eyeshot.net (which first published Tao Lin, Blake Butler, and Maud Newton, as well as contributions by Zadie Smith, Daniel Alarcon, Ryan Boudinot, and hundreds of others from around the world), and, in 2006, he earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Otherwise, he lives in the Cheesesteak Gardens neighborhood of South Philadelphia with one wife, one tiny newborn daughter, two cats, and lots of books.

See some of Jenn Pascoe‘s work at http://jennpascoe.tumblr.com/.

Please join us to celebrate!

We open our doors to you at 6 and the readings begin at 6:30.

Featured readers include:
Amanda D’Amico, book artist
Brian Teare, poet & printer
Carlos Soto Román, poet
Kerri, of the zine Deafula
Lee Klein, fiction writer & editor

Pull your own screenprint in our new studio with printer and artist Jenn Pascoe.

Amanda D’Amico is a book artist working under the imprint Tiny Revolutionary Press. She is also a printer, managing the Borowsky Center for Publication Arts and the Digital Imaging Labs at the University of the Arts. Amanda’s enthusiasm for artists’ books has led her to publish several articles in JAB: The Journal of Artists’ Books, to co-organize The Hybrid Book: Intersection + Intermedia, an international book arts conference in Philadelphia in June 2009, and to serve on the Board of the Philadelphia Center for the Book since 2010. Her artists’ books have been collected and exhibited nationally.

A former NEA Fellow, Brian Teare is the recipient of poetry fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Headlands Center for the Arts, and the American Antiquarian Society. He is the author of four full-length books—The Room Where I Was Born, Sight Map, the Lambda-Award-winning Pleasure, andCompanion Grasses—as well as seven chapbooks, most recently Paradise Was Typeset, Helplessness, [ black sun crown ], and SORE EROS. An Assistant Professor at Temple University, he lives in Philadelphia, where he makes books by hand for his micropress, Albion Books.

Carlos Soto Román is a Chilean pharmacist (químico farmacéutico), and poet. He holds a Master of Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania. He has published in Chile La Marcha de los Quiltros (1999), Haikú Minero (2007), and Cambio y Fuera (2009); and in the States Philadelphia’s Notebooks (Otoliths, 2011). He is also a translator and the curator of the cooperative anthology of US poetry Elective Affinities. He lives in Philadelphia, PA.

Kerri hails from Philadelphia and writes a perzine that examines her experience as a deaf person. It’s a sassy, informative, and comical exploration of deaf identity, disability politics, everyday annoyances, and the blessing of silence. Kerri loves all forms of the written word and works in higher education helping people to be better writers. She also volunteers at her local zine library.

Lee Klein‘s writing has appeared in Agni, The Barcelona Review, Barrelhouse, The Best American Non-Required Reading 2007, The Black Warrior Review, Canteen, Full Stop, Ghost Town, Hobart, The Normal School, The Philadelphia Review of Books, Swink, and many other sites, journals, and anthologies. Since 1999, he’s edited the lit site Eyeshot.net (which first published Tao Lin, Blake Butler, and Maud Newton, as well as contributions by Zadie Smith, Daniel Alarcon, Ryan Boudinot, and hundreds of others from around the world), and, in 2006, he earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Otherwise, he lives in the Cheesesteak Gardens neighborhood of South Philadelphia with one wife, one tiny newborn daughter, two cats, and lots of books.

See some of Jenn Pascoe‘s work at http://jennpascoe.tumblr.com/.

Please join us to celebrate!

Thank you for being a Friend zine tour is making their way out to the Chicago Zine Fest. Come send them off Philly style with hoots and hollers and kisses blown from the audience.

Featuring: Taryn Hipp is an old tattooed college lady who has been making zines for more than half her life. Currently she writes the perzine Ladyteeth, a collection of stories about her experiences being depressed, getting divorced, getting sober, & falling the fuck in love. Every day is a beautiful gift & a terrifying adventure that continues to make her stronger & continues to be documented & xeroxed for all to read.

Tributaries is a perzine by JC about growing up with rheumatoid arthritis. It focuses on how having a physical disability, and the surgeries and daily pains that accompany it, affects job choices, romantic relationships, and tricycle purchases. She is from the Chicago area, but lives in Maryland where she works as a book jockey.

Kerri hails from Philadelphia and writes a perzine that examines her experience as a deaf person. It’s a sassy, informative, and comical exploration of deaf identity, disability politics, everyday annoyances, and the blessing of silence. Kerri loves all forms of the written word and works in higher education helping people to be better writers. She also volunteers at her local zine library.

Sarah is a nice girl who loves zines, Philadelphia, and her partner more than anything else in the world. Her zine, Tazewell’s Favorite Eccentric, deals with surviving sexual abuse, poverty, and addiction, as well as more uplifting stuff like falling in love and making balloon animals for a living. She’s a staffer for Wooden Shoe Books in Philly, an organizer for Philly Zine Fest, and is the trained monkey who runs Once Upon A Distro. 

Valen-zine Reading, Thursday, February 14, 6pm

Taryn Hipp – Sub Rosa and Lady Teeth Zines
Mike Fenn – Mustardless Barbarians
Bibliophile – Beer Jawn Zine
Sarah Rose – Tazewell’s Favorite Eccentric Zine

What better Valentine’s Day Date is there than a free reading at your favorite bookstore to hear some wildly talented folks read about the things, people, and places they love most?

Thank You for Being a Friend, Tuesday, March 5, 7pm

Taryn Hipp is an old tattooed college lady who has been making zines for more than half her life. Currently she writes the perzine Sub Rosa, a collection of stories about her experiences being depressed, getting divorced, getting sober, & falling the fuck in love. Every day is a beautiful gift & a terrifying adventure that continues to make her stronger & continues to be documented & xeroxed for all to read.

Tributaries is a perzine by JC about growing up with rheumatoid arthritis. It focuses on how having a physical disability, and the surgeries and daily pains that accompany it, affects job choices, romantic relationships, and tricycle purchases. She is from the Chicago area, but lives in Maryland where she works as a book jockey.

Kerri hails from Philadelphia and writes a perzine that examines her experience as a deaf person. It’s a sassy, informative, and comical exploration of deaf identity, disability politics, everyday annoyances, and the blessing of silence. Kerri loves all forms of the written word and works in higher education helping people to be better writers. She also volunteers at her local zine library.

Sarah is a nice girl who loves zines, Philadelphia, and her partner more than anything else in the world. Her zine, Tazewell’s Favorite Eccentric, deals with surviving sexual abuse, poverty, and addiction, as well as more uplifting stuff like falling in love and making balloon animals for a living. She’s a staffer for Wooden Shoe Books in Philly, an organizer for Philly Zine Fest, and is the trained monkey who runs Once Upon A Distro.

Open Hours
Feb 7 & Feb 17

Come to The Soapbox First Thursdays, 6-9pm, and Third Sundays, 3-6pm. Browse our library holdings or join our Studio and print your own creations on our Signmaker press. Also check our blog’s Featured Zine section to get a preview of some items in our collection, as selected by library volunteers.

Letterpress Workshop
Feb 17, 3-6pm

On Sunday, Feb 17, at 3pm, we will be hosting a basic letterpress workshop. Learn to set type, discuss basic image making techniques, and print on our Signmaker press. Print cards or a small piece of art. Space is limited & we request a $15 materials donation to participate (or $10 for members). All supplies provided. Please contact phillysoapbox@gmail.com to reserve a spot!

Members’ Update
Are you a new member who is wondering how to get started working in the studio? Sign up for our letterpress workshop this month! We are also in the process of planning workshops and orientations for the screenprinting studio, which we’ll be announcing soon. Currently, studio time is scheduled during Open Hours by emailing us. Feel free to get in touch with questions.

Most of the time zine authors are writing about themselves for at least a small group of readers. We will focus on the writing and the reasons for sharing, doing some re-writing and editing. For this workshop, please bring: a piece of writing (or an idea for a piece of writing) that you’d be comfortable sharing with a room full of strangers, a snack and a drink if you’re so inclined (it’s quite a long workshop, so there will be a brief intermission in the middle for stretching, snacking, bathroom breaks, etc.) and a burning desire to talk about writing with other like minded folks.

Space is limited. Please reserve your spot by emailing phillysoapbox@gmail.com.

About Sarah Rose:

Sarah Rose has written several zine titles over the years, but her ongoing personal zine is called Tazewell’s Favorite Eccentric. She runs a distro and co-hosts a podcast about zines called Postage Paid Podcast. She’s a columnist for PhillyGayCalendar.com and has taught workshops for Community Cultural Exchange and Philly Zine Fest. She has written for The F Bomb zine, Fat-tastic, and will have a piece in the upcoming issue of Hoax. Sarah is an occasional staffer at Wooden Shoe Books and an organizer for Philly Zine Fest and Philly Feminist Zine Fest. She loves her partner, Philadelphia, and zines more than anything in the entire world (including pickles and dinosaurs, so you know it’s serious business).

You can also find more evidence of Sarah’s awesomeness at the following links:

http://punkjoanofarc.wordpress.com - Sarah’s blog
http://phillygaycalendar.com/pages/col.php?id=702 - her most recent column
onceuponadistro.com - Distro
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/postage-paid-zine-podcast - podcast

Come by The Soapbox this Thursday, 6-9pm, and Sunday, December 16, 3-6pm. Browse our library holdings or join our Studio and print your own creations on our Signmaker press. Also keep your eyes on our blog for the new Featured Zine section to get a preview of some items in our collection, as selected by library volunteers.

Learn to Letterpress!
Dec 16, 3-6pm

On Sunday, Dec 16, at 3pm, we will bring back our Letterpress Workshop. Learn to set wood type from our collection, create simply imagery printing from cut paper collages, and print on our Signmaker press. Make holiday cards or a small print. Space is limited & we request a $15 donation/materials fee to participate. ($10 for members.) All supplies provided. Please contact phillysoapbox@gmail.com to reserve a spot!