Yishi Liang, Editor-in-Chief
liangyis@grinnell.edu
Most Grinnell students who are looking to create a sizeable publication turn to sources such as SPARC or Press. Serena Hocharoen ’17, however, is looking to publish her first print version of Spaghetti Teens by standing in front of a color printer.
Hocharoen started the publication Spaghetti Teens about a year ago as an informal collection of works.
“It’s an online zine right now, and it started out [because] I wanted to exhibit not only my work but works of other young creative people, and even people who don’t consider themselves creative,” Hocharoen said. “This is just a platform to get people’s work out there.”
Typically, Hocharoen comes up with a monthly theme and then makes a call for related submission. Themes in the past have included the twentieth century, dreams, light, Steve Buscemi and donuts.
Hocharoen said of her process in generating themes, “I have no idea. Whatever I find myself drawing a lot lately or vague words that seem [as if] people can come up with ideas for them. Every month the theme changes … so anything that has anything loosely to do with the theme is fair game.”
The primary goal for Hocharoen is to give a space for people to share their work and the works of others.
“I want people to feel like their work is validated. Having it published and having other people see it and knowing that other people, like me, appreciate them making things and being creative—that’s important.”
The works in the zine are primarily visual, but there are also some written works and playlists.
This past summer, Hocharoen printed a few versions of Spaghetti Teens to mail out to friends. She was surprised by how much work the process entailed. However, despite the effort required, she is planning to personally print the next issue.
“I don’t want to get it printed through Press or anything,” she said. “I like the handmade aesthetic, like someone stood at a printer and printed all these sheets out and hand bound the book together.”
Hocharoen is still unsure about other details, such as how many copies she will ultimately print.
“It depends on how much I end up spending on printing, but I’d really like to be able to give them out all for free or in the mailroom or something,” she said. “I just think having a finished product is really satisfying … I hope people are creative and don’t forget that it’s good for them.”
Previous issues of Spaghetti Teens are available online at www.issuu.com/spaghettiteens.
