About me
Hi, I’m Laura Blanchette (she/her)! I’m an independent journalist, artist, and founder of Good Golly Zines. I started this project in January 2024 while completing the final year of my undergrad at Carleton University in Journalism and Humanities.
I’m currently based in Ottawa and grew up in Edmonton, AB (amiskwacîwâskahikan).
Although I don’t remember when I first learned about zines, I’ve loved them for years and started my first zine project in 2020. I played around with printing zines and publishing issues online (through Tumblr lol). During this first project, I edited and curated visual art, poetry, recipes, and photography into a zine called French Press.
Through Good Golly Zines, I started tabling at markets and festivals in 2024 with the Queer Zine Collective, an informal group of zine-makers who often partner with the Ottawa Trans Library. I've since attended other markets, including Pique Summer 2025, the Arlington Art Market and West End Pride.
I love zine-making and the fascinating history behind the craft. There is so much to learn and be inspired by within the zine-making community, especially as a journalist and artist. It's been an exciting challenge learning how to harness zine-making for journalism and information sharing. I'm always playing with what's possible within the medium and how I can use printed zines to share trustworthy, reliable news and help people get involved with their community.
Send me an email if you're a zine-maker, I'm always interested in swapping zines!