New Haven Zine Fair
Hosted By Connecticunt
Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op
Aug. 16, 2025
Mar Pelaez enjoyed slices of tasty cucumber grown by fellow zinester Kayla Almeida’s grandmother this summer. Seeing Pelaez's delight, Almeida’s grandmother decided to gift her a whole cucumber at her next opportunity.
That opportunity came Saturday afternoon at the New Haven Zine Fair, hosted by local zine Connecticunt at Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op in East Rock.
All the way at the back of the bike co-op’s warehouse-sized garage, past 14+ tables of vendors selling their art, Almeida cradled an impressive cuke from her grandma as she tabled for the fair’s host.
“They’re my best friends,” Almeida said of Connecticunt editors Pelaez and Zoe Jensen, who sat beside her receiving compliments on the zine.
While Pelaez would walk away that day with Almeida’s grandmother’s cucumber, most of the fair’s attendees would take home a different kind of fibrous, homegrown haul: a variety of stunningly creative DIY paper goods, including posters, prints, postcards, and, of course, zines.
Zine enthusiasts packed the hot garage, talking to the artists and leafing through the paper treasures. Fairy lights, tools, and bike paraphernalia hung up around the bike co-op added a homey vibe. Attendees took breaks outside, where Gloria's Kitchen sold super savory Colombian empanadas.
Almost as soon as I met Almeida (and her cucumber), Pelaez and Jensen became her hype team, switching off to tell me exciting tidbits about their partner-in-zine. They pointed to Connecticunt’s “Senses” issue, where Almeida dons a Canadian tuxedo and cowboy hat, posing with a retro electric guitar as the issue’s cover model.
They also told me Almeida was having her first DJ set soon, on Friday September 26th at Vandome for an event called “Discoteca Cunt.” There, Almeida will transform into DJ Mantequilla, churning out a smooth, rich sound that’s “butter to the ears.”
Pelaez and Jensen have DJ alter egos too. In the club, Pelaez is Lil Colbrí, and Jensen is DJ QT. I get the sense that in Connecticunt’s world, it’s only a matter of time before a zine-maker takes a peek behind the booth; all I can say for now is I’m adding ‘slippery slope from collage table to turntable’ to my Needs to Be Studied List.
“This would be a good postcard to send to someone you hate,” said Billy Valvo of a print at Yadavi Patel’s table. The image was a painting of two boxers, one knocking the spit out of another. Theoretically, you could send it as a threatening vision of what would ensue the next time you saw an enemy.
Or you could gift one of Patel's introspective, hand-bound books to someone you love. Their pages held delicate sketches and raw, measured musings like: "Summer is almost over and I have never felt further from myself."
When I asked if Almeida was part of the team behind Connecticunt, she wasn’t sure what to answer. Pelaez and Jensen also took a moment to think. They settled on: not editor, but yes. She was a core, well-loved part of the whole operation.
Over at JAHJAH Press’ table, I faced another good-natured lack of label.
Asjha Malcolm and Elijah Jaquez-Starks were selling punchy, iridescent posters and a series of informational zines on ‘current wars, genocides, and humanitarian atrocities occurring across the globe.’ It became clear through conversation that Malcolm was the brilliant mind behind the collection.
When I asked whether Jaquez-Starks was part of the design team as well, the two looked at each other for a beat before concluding, giggling, that he was “the intern.” Something told me they’d just come up with the position that day.
Malcolm’s posters were a selection from a year-long project in which she made a different poster every week. The magnitude of the endeavor took a month to fully dawn on her; by week four, she said, she was feeling the grind.
Malcolm turned to her own posters for motivation, adding “messaging that I needed to keep going.” One of the posters, in funky font, reminded the viewer to not be at odds with themself. I selected it for my zine fair stash, and Jaquez-Starks performed top-tier intern duties wrapping the poster in newspaper and a piece of tape.
As I unwrapped the poster later that night, I felt I was in good company. I imagined everyone I met at the zine fair also opening their trades and purchases, and Pelaez happily crunching on her new cucumber.
