Expozine is an annual

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. However, when a distinction ...

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

and

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

fair in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. It is reported to be Canada's largest zine fair and one of the largest small press fairs in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

attracting some 270 exhibitors and 15,000 visitors each autumn. Expozine It was co-founded by Billy Mavreas and Louis Rastelli. It is organized by ARCMTL, an archive for publications, ephemera and audio-visual documents related to the history of Montreal and it's artistic, literary and counter-cultural scene. Throughout the years, the fair has showcased work from notable

writers and publishers such as Invisible Books, ''

Broken Pencil ''Broken Pencil'' was a quarterly Canadian magazine based in Toronto, Canada that profiled zine culture and independent arts and music. It was founded in 1995, and it closed in 2024. History ''Broken Pencil'' was founded in 1995 by Hal Niedzvi ...

'', '' Maisonneuve'', '' New Escapologist'',

Kate Beaton Kathryn Moira Beaton (born 8 September 1983) is a Canadian comics artist best known as the creator of the comic strip ''Hark! A Vagrant'', which ran from 2007 to 2018. Her other major works include the children's books ''The Princess and the Pon ...

, and

Drawn & Quarterly Drawn & Quarterly (D+Q) is a publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, specializing in comics. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections. The books it publishes are noted for their artistic con ...

. The exhibitors at Expozine comme from a diversity of publishing and print-based practices from both Francophone and Anglophone communities.

History

The first Expozine took place in 2002 and has continued to showcase independent publishing from around the world every subsequent year. The first editions of Expozine were held at the Sala Rossa (2002), Relais Mont-Royal (2003) and Station C (2004) and for several years following in the basement of the Saint-Enfant-Jesus church in the Mile End neighbourhood. More recent editions have been held at Église Saint-Denis (2016, 2017) and Église Saint-Arsène (2018, 2019). The 2020 edition was held as a virtual fair. In 2015, ARCMTL was listed among the finalists for the 30th annual Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal, for their organisation of Expozine.

Expozine Alternative Press Awards

The Expozine Alternative Press Awards recognize the best of the publications available at a given year's Expozine fair. It awards publications in several categories such as book, zine, and comic, in Canada's two official languages of English and French. The awards are granted at an annual gala separate to the main Expozine event.

Distroboto

Expozine has a year-round companion project called Distroboto, which consists of a citywide network of

cigarette machine A cigarette machine is a vending machine that dispenses packs of cigarettes in exchange for payment. Many modern cigarette machines require customers to swipe an identification card to prevent persons under the legal smoking age from purchasing ...

s repurposed to dispense small press publications. The Distroboto zine vending machines are placed in various locations around the city.

External links

Official WebsiteAwards Webpage
with archive of winners
Distroboto WebsiteExpozine Photos
Photographic coverage of Expozine 2013 by

Cult MTL ''Cult MTL'' is an English language arts, culture and news website and monthly print publication, based in Montreal, Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Cent ...

References

2002 establishments in Quebec Recurring events established in 2002 Annual events in Canada Book fairs in Canada Comics conventions in Canada Annual events in Montreal Zines Literary festivals in Quebec 2002 in Montreal {{Canada-festival-stub