Messy Misfits Club
WELCOME TO THE MESSY MISFITS CLUB
This zine started as a dream shared between two people.
In December of 2021 amidst the snowy Chicago winter, Flower (she/her) and Riley (she/they) imagined a publication dedicated to the messiness of real queer lives. Topics like sex, queer intimacy and culture, religion, and grappling with identity are all things we are interested in sharing, uncensored.
It only took a month for this pair to become a trio when Emma (they/she) joined the editorial team! With their previous experience in writing and publishing, it finally brought the team to a place where they felt ready to start the first volume-- "Queer Love".
Ever since, the team has grown, three more volumes have been published, and our community continues to grow as we rely on each other's support.
The Misfits have since moved part of their operation to Madison, WI, where zines will be sold and events will be held in addition to Chicago, IL.
Important News
All the updates you're looking for in one spot!
LIVE READING OF VOLUME 4
January 27th, 2023
The time has come for DREAMSCAPE to enter the world! Our presentations of select poems, stories, and art pieces were out of this world. Several of our contributors came from states away, and we truly can't thank enough for giving such stellar speeches and bringing so much energy and light into our community. For our break time activity, we decided to do something a little different and put together three different dream based Mad Libs for groups to work on together. Afterwards, the stories were presented up at the mic, and we have never laughed harder. Maybe this is something we will return to in the future. Thank you to everyone who attended and support us in creating our fourth rendition of the Messy Misfits Club zine!
VOLUME 4 LAUNCH DATE!
January 27th, 2023
We are so incredibly excited to finally announce the date of our next launch party! We are once again hosting at The Martin in Ukrainian Village, Chicago, Illinois. We have had such amazing evenings at this location thanks to the adoration and support we constantly receive from Whitney Lamora and Emma Robertson, who consistently make sure everything runs smoothly! As usual, we will be having several readers from the fourth volume come to give a sneak peek of the content we published! If you want to take a trip through the DREAMSCAPE, make sure to get your tickets and a copy of the zine! And, as always, anyone 21+ is welcome to join us afterwards at Dorothy Downstairs for delicious cocktails and queer bonding. We will see you there!
Welcoming New Team Members!
October 6th, 2022
Messy Misfits Club has officially expanded it's team board! We are elated to finally introduce to you Helen, Eliza, and Baby. Helen has been helping us produce our graphics and covers since the very beginning, so this has been a long time coming for them!
Eliza will be a local event coordinator who helps us with community building, outreach, and event planning! She is going to help us make our events bigger and better than ever.
Baby is another graphics specialist who will be helping us, along with Helen, to create top of the line zines for your enjoyment! Their skills have elevated us so much already, we cannot wait to see what all of us working together will bring in the future.
Send them lots of love and appreciation along with us, they sure do deserve it!
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Available at Quimby's!
June 19th, 2022
If you heard a rumor flying around that our second volume of MMC is available at Quimby's on W. North Avenue, you heard correctly! We are partnering with Quimby's Bookstore to help reach an even larger audience. If you live in Chicago, make sure to get there soon and pick up a copy for you, your friends, and your family, even your coworkers or therapist! Who knows, we could become a household favorite.
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Read About Us!
Messy Misfits Club is officially published! Our first interview as a zine was for DePaulia, the newspaper for DePaul. We were able to dive into the creation of MMC and how our editors manage. Additionally, we've been referenced in Unbound's Queering the Bible. With some help from our friends and community we've been added to Chillsubs, Duotrope, and The Short List to help expand our audience. Thank you to everyone who's taken an interest in us!
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Featured Artist
Kayla McWard
Kayla (she/her/hers) has been featured by Messy Misfits Club several times. You can find her work in Volumes One & Two. Additionally, you can find her on Instagram @the.paintedleaf. Her artwork astonishes us each and every time. The distinct highlights hidden in the overall dark tones accentuates the queerness, romance, and intimacy in all three pieces --
"Quiet Night at Home"
"Nothing to Repent"
"Two Bathing Ladies"
Check Out Our Instagram
