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/her) 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!
Volume 5 Submissions CLOSED!
September 8th, 2023
It's hard to find the words to thank you all enough for the amount of submissions we got for this volume. Our team is so excited to review all the art, poetry, short (non)fiction, and essays that have been sent to us. We know this won't be easy, it never is, because the submissions we read are so deeply personal and written with such passion, we truly wish we could publish them all. You will be hearing from us within the next two weeks, so keep an eye on your emails!
Available at Bookstores!
July 25th, 2023
Yes, yes, the rumors are true! Messy Misfits Club has expanded to multiple storefronts! Currently we are selling at five different wholesalers including locations in Chicago, IL and Madison, WI and Seattle, WA!
If you're in Chicago, all of our volumes can be found at Pixie and the Boy on N Milwaukee Avenue, while our second volume is available at Quimby's on W. North Avenue. If you're in Madison, check out A Room of One's Own on Atwood Avenue and Red Clover Tattoo Collective on Willy Street for all our volumes! Lastly, if you're in Seattle, head over to Elliott Bay Book Company on 10th Avenue for any of our four volumes!
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 someday!
Queer Reading Event!
June 28th, 2023 7 PM CT
Hello Misfits! We know it's been a while but we had an exciting panel on Queer Relationships, Family, and Self-Discovery. The guests of the evening were Joseph Lezza and Richard Mirabella, both of whom had highly anticipated books come out in the last year. Emma Cholip, editor of Messy Misfits, moderated the panel. It was an amazing evening of complex discussions on family dynamics and how to love your queerness in the face of adversity and pain. Pick up these books at your local bookstore or from their respective websites!
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!
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!
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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Nina Nazir
Featured Artist
Nina (she/her/hers) recently joined the Messy Misfits Club in our fourth volume. We loved her bright contrasting colors that really bounce off the page. Additionally, you can find her on Instagram @nina.s.nazir. Her artwork brings so much life to our fourth volume and we want you to expereince both of them as well--
"Meander"
"Ultra Violet"
Check Out Our Instagram
