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So, there’s been no activity on this site since 2006! Wow!

First off, my apologies on that. Lots of changes in life, changes of address, and one of our favorite venues, Madison Zine Fest seems to have changed a bit too.

I myself have moved too! Currently I’m in Northfield, MN, just 30 miles south of the Twin Cities. I’ve been wrenching with graduate school (with lots of pain I’ve decided to finish I believe), portfolios, travel, mentoring students who are doing environmental and social justice work, etc. Life’s been busy, stressful, hecktic, joyous, etc.

So…what’s on the horizon you may ask? Is Autumnbridge just going to flounder and go under? Have you already?

First off, Autumnbridge doesn’t have any money right now! Flat broke! At our creative peak! Money was withdrawn in cash due to a horrible incident at the bank, and business will be taken elsewhere. Cash was used to purchase various bits of literature from CrimeThinc, which will be conspicuously and inconspicuously distributed in various places for FREE.

I have ideas, and I’ve had them for a while. I’m hoping to radically change Autumnbridge into something different, and I may need others to do it. Correction.. I WILL need others to do it.

Some ideas I have are:

• The formation of a zine collective
• A truly worker-owned media “guild” (I’m not fond of the word ‘company’)
• Maybe an info shop somewhere..physically..virtually..who knows
• Maybe a distro of some sort
• Anything else that’s dreamed up

I’ve met some cool folks in the Duluth, MN area, and if anyone else up there is interested in helping out, I’d love to hear from you! As well..anyone else who is willing to WORK to build something collectively and cooperatively.

Democracy is tough, and lots of times we’ve gotten requests for us to publish zines or other media through submissions, but very little other involvement, and well, that’s just not as fun.

This year will bring changes and goodness! I promise!!

-Scott
(the guy who runs this site and Autumnbridge Media)

A man in a rabbit suit. A girl in a blue monster costume. Great panel and roundtable discussions. Innovative readings. A creation by a six-year-old, called “Mean Zine Submarine”. These were just some of the sights to see at this year’s Madison Zine Fest.

Randy Stern and I had a great time re-connecting with this community of wildly creative and fearless zinesters! Best of all, we’re beginning to make some great friends.

For a great review of Madison Zine Fest, Randy Stern has posted his review on his blog, which is exceptional.

There are photos on flickr as well!

Special thanks go out to our friend, Jason, who was a great host. More thanks to Michael Lee of Pride Alive, for supplying us with hundreds of copies of Outsight, their free zine publication. We gave out our last Outsight about an hour before the end of the fest.

And also, the biggest thanks to people who support independent and Do-It-Yourself artists, writers, and media creators.

Autumnbridge Media is pleased to announce its fourth publication - Only Words, by Jason McSheehy. Jason is a 31-year-old graphic designer, artist, and poet, living in Redlands, California. As for his art, he specializes in portraiture and photo manipulation.

Only Words is not only a very artistic self-portrait collage, but a heartfelt and compelling collection of poems written by Jason. Just as the photos and graphics capture deep and passionate introspection, poems like Unspoken and Dear Mr. Past-Still-Clinging-to-Me, paint pictures of deep love, forgiveness, and self-reconciliation.

Only Words is available now for $5 in the Autumnbridge Media Online Store. For more information about Jason McSheehy, and to view more of his work, visit his website at www.brightasyellow.com.

Autumnbridge Media is proud to announce the release of Double Shots, a chapbook/zine of writings by its founder, Scott Schumacher. Scott’s writings take the reader on a journey through moments spent during one of his favorite addictions pasttimes: drinking coffee and frequenting coffee shops. Interspursed between writings are photos of his most significant “coffee haunts”.

Readers will get a “Triple Shot” of poems he has categorized as “Mother Fool’s Smut” - writings inspired by people-watching at Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse in Madison, WI. Other more serious writings talk about coffee shops long closed, as well as reflections made when mistakenly purchasing “corporate coffee.”

Copies of Double Shots will go on sale October 21, both here on the Autumnbridge Media online store, and at Madison Zine Fest, in Madison, WI.

Autumnbridge Media will be hitting the road once again, participating in the annual Madison Zine Fest. This year’s Madison Zine Fest will take place on Saturday, October 21.

We’ll be featuring more zines and chapbooks at our table, including After Party by Randy Stern, Outsight (a free zine from Minnesota AIDS Project and Pride Alive), and a new upcoming chapbook of writings by Scott Schumacher (details will be coming soon!). Randy Stern and Scott Schumacher will be reading from their zines as well! Scott will read between 2:30 and 3pm, and Randy at 4pm. We also plan to sit in on the Queer Zine Roundtable panel, hosted by Christopher Wilde of the Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP).

If you find yourself in Madison, WI over the weekend of October 21, please stop by and say hello! Madison Zine Fest is a part of the annual Wisconsin Book Festival, held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Audio exerpts of Randy Stern’s interview on KFAI’s Fresh Fruit radio program (the longest running GLBT radio program in the nation) are now available for listening. Randy was interviewed, along with Twin Cities lesbian writer, Lori L. Lake.

Part 1 (10.1 MB)
Randy talks about his book, The Boy from Reseda, Gen-X Bears, and reads “New Kid in Town” and “A Scene from Wilde Roast Cafe”

Part 2 (15.9 MB)
Lori Lake, Randy, and Norman (the host) talk about the craft of writing.

On Thursday, August 31, KFAI’s GLBT radio program, “Fresh Fruit”, will feature local poet/writer Randy Stern, along with local Lesbian writer, Lori L. Lake. Randy will be reading selections from his book of poetry, The Boy From Reseda, and will talk about other related topics.

Fresh Fruit radio is heard each Thursday at 7:00PM on KFAI radio FM 90.3 Minneapolis, and 106.7 FM in St Paul. If you live outside of the Twin Cities area, you can log into www.KFAI.org and go into show archives. You can listen live and FREE via Real Player.

Randy Stern has done it again, and has released a new publication at Autumnbridge Media. After going to Madison Zine Fest, we wanted to give After Party a rougher Zine-like character. The material definately deserved it! In this 24-page zine you will be blessed by the photography of Jason McSheehy and the illustration talent of Rob Harmon.

After Party is a collection of poems written by Stern ranging from brand new works to older unpublished material. Published by Apple Valley, Minn.-based Autumbridge Media, this is Stern’s second collection of work ever printed for public consumption. The latest compilation explores the depths of male homoeroticism from a sex positive perspective. On one hand, Stern features scenes that would be considered “deviant behavior,” yet he also laments the loss of sexual freedom in the face of the challenge by the religious right and the looming presence of HIV/AIDS in gay male society.

We are pleased to release this limited edition zine for $4.00 plus shipping, or $3.00 for electronic download. However, due to the adult nature of this work, you must be 18 or older to order, and you cannot combine this product with other items for ordering. Please visit our online store to get your copy today!

Randy Stern has had an incredible year. After releasing The Boy from Reseda, his work has taken him many places. He has done readings in Madison at Motherfools Coffeehouse, in Minneapolis at The Black Dog Cafe, Dunn Brothers Coffee, and the Twin Cities Pride Festival. The successes of his first chapbook of poems also took him to Madison Zine Fest, where he also hosted an open mic reading night at Motherfools to close the festival last October. This has definately been “The Year of Reseda” for Randy Stern.

However, with all writers, you must make way for new works.

In March, Randy will be releasing a limited edition Zine-like publication of works entitled “The After Party”. This publication, he will actually take off the gloves (you thought they were already off? Guess again!), and travel down the roads of exploring gay male sexuality in its rawest forms. This collection will get down-and-dirty, with explicit content, and some inviting and complementing art and photography. This is everything and more that we didn’t publish in The Boy From Reseda.

In honor of this new project, Autumnbridge Media has reduced the price of The Boy From Reseda in both it’s print and electronic versions. We’d like to sell our inventory to make way for the his new project. All copies of The Boy From Reseda are now $5 plus shipping for print versions, and $3 per downloaded electronic copy. Get your copy now, as they may go fast!

Many many thanks to everyone who make this a great year for Randy, and for supporting grassroots and local writers and publishers!

Randy, Michael, and I want to thank everyone who made our Madison Zine Fest just a wonderful experience. There are so many excellent creative people in this world who are leading the DIY (do-it-yourself) revolution, and we were so privileged to meet some of them.

Some great ideas and opportunities arose from this event. One of Randy’s unpublished poems will appear in a monthly zine published by the Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP). There is talk of Randy being interviewed on a University of California-Davis radio station. Randy has been invited back to Madison for their annual Pride Festival.

While at Madison Zine Fest, we were able to sell, trade, or in some cases donate THIRTEEN copies of The Boy From Reseda. At a private reading and dinner, Randy was named “Poet Laureat” of “The Kennel”, a nickname for the home of our friends, Cory and Richard.

Sunday’s Open Mic event at Motherfools was a wonderful success as well, with many interesting readers.

All three of us are still coming down off the “high” of this wonderful experience.

We have photos in a group pool on Flickr!!

Some special thank you shout outs:

To Alycia Sellie: THANK YOU for all of your time in putting together Zine Fest! It was a pleasure working with you on the planning of the Open Mic, and I hope we stay in touch!

To Cory and Richard: The pizza was great, as well as the company! The intimate evening of reading was a great activity!

To Jon and Stephanie of Motherfools Coffeehouse: You are assets to the Madison community. I will always come back to Madison, so long as Motherfools is in business! Thanks for letting us host the open mic there!

To Michael: You always fill in with support in a pinch! I was feeling a bit guilty for having you be our “gopher” for food. Thank you for being such a support to Randy, and to me!

To Randy Stern: The Open Mic was a success because you made it so! This was your best work, that of inspiring and organizing others with a common vision. It’s no wonder, as this was the same energy and enthusiasm you put in to Gen-X Bears ten years ago. Your work is impeccable, and I’m so glad to support it and be a part of this journey!