MALKMUS FOR BOZOS
28-Page Handmade Zine; BW; 2026; Portland, OR
I used to write a lot. I was never good at it but I was always getting better. Now I'm writing again, sorta.
My passion for writing led me to a three-year-run working as a Managing Editor for a weekly arts newspaper. This was 2005-2009, or so. That specific job grew my skill set greatly, and I fell in love with parts of the work besides the writing.
Fast-forward to 2015 and I'm working as a Graphic Designer at the Strand Book Store in Manhattan. I'm surrounded by writers and books, and I meet this girl who considered herself to be the Zine Queen of New York. Weird co-worker with a weird haircut.
Through her I fell in love with making zines, and made many over a three-year period in New York. Then stopped. This was 2015-2018.
Fast-forward again, this time to about a month ago. Late summer 2026, Portland, Oregon. I spend all my non-work-hous alone at my apartment, mostly sleeping. Also watching movies and painting and thinking. I've been slowly going off of a max dose of a heavy brain med, and it has me playing it safe - staying away from people while my brain stabilizes or whatever.
I was going through my yearly Stephen Malkmus obsession and suddenly had an idea to start a zine. Lots of lists and rankings. Fun stuff. Doodles, weird design, fonts. And it just took off. I ended up spending every non-work, non-sleep moment working on the zine and ended up with this here: Malkmus for Bozos.
It's a 32-page BW zine that I made all by my lonely self. I made hard copies by hand that I think look and read great. You can scan through all the pages above.
Portland, OR; October 18, 2026
