Summer ‘Zine calls for student creators

The Hamilton County Youth Center is calling student creators in Hamilton County to contribute to its first Summer ‘Zine.
A zine is a self-published magazine that offers creatives, ranging from artists to writers, a chance to showcase their talent and knowledge with others.
Youth Center Executive Director Paul Johnson said the idea for a student zine was inspired by the zine, Junk Drawer, made by his sister in Lincoln.
“I think they just put out their fourth or fifth one and it’s been a lot of fun to see her create more art,” Johnson said. “The local artists that submit things are just people you wouldn’t know who do art and I think that’s really cool. It’s interesting to see all of the different art that people create. I know a lot of students who are artists, so I like to see what they can create.
The Summer ‘Zine will be centered on this year’s summer theme, “Little Changes Create Big Impact.”
“We believe that if everyone made an effort to be kind to everyone, if everyone made that little change, the world would be a much better place for all of us to live in,” Johnson said.
Students can submit creative work such as art, comics, photography, poetry and short stories for the zine.
“Any kind of art that is able to be printed,” Johnson said.
There is no required size or word count for students to submit their work. Students from Aurora, Giltner and Hampton of any grade are welcome to participate.
“We can make pretty much anything fit a page,” he said. “It’s either going to take up the whole page or we will size it down so that we can include the whole image on the page.”
Students should email their submissions to zine@hcyouthcenter.com and include their first name and the initial of their last name.
“If they want to include a little blurb about themselves, they can,” Johnson said. “Right now, we’re testing it to see if it’s something that the kids are interested in creating and getting it out there. It’s also to get more of our name out there to show the community what all we’re doing.”
The zine will be published only once in the summer due to the time required to edit submissions.
“I would like to do an annual, just because it is a lot of work to build all of that and get it put together and the kids are doing most of the work by creating things, but getting it all put together is a lot of work,” he said. 
The deadline to submit is Friday, May 15 and Johnson reported that the Youth Center has received 10 submissions so far.
Johnson said they are projecting to have the zine edited and printed by the end of June, so student creators can enjoy their work.
“We’re planning on having them available here and then maybe in some other small businesses in town,” he said.