With Amy Louise O’Callaghan, Chrissy Curtin, lele, moderated by Justine Lepage.

This conversation explores zines as a medium of storytelling through the lens of folklore retelling, dream journaling and original comics. How does this medium hold stories? Panel talk hosted by Justine Lepage and featuring panelists Amy Louise O’Callaghan, Chrissy Curtin and lele.

More about the speakers:

Amy Louise O’Callaghan
Amy Louise is an author/illustrator who likes to create magical (and unmagical) worlds filled with silly characters inspired by myths and folklore. From Cork, but now based in Dublin, her first picture book, A Cork Fairytale, was published in 2024 by The O’Brien Press.

She also makes zines, illustrations, the occasional comic and anything else that takes her fancy. Some of her other favourite projects have been the self-published Irish Mythology Tarot and Feathers, a comic retelling of The Children of Lir.

She is currently working on her next picture book, to be published in 2027 by The O’Brien Press. When she’s not drawing, she’s working for film festivals and teaching art workshops on zine and comic making.

Chrissy Curtin
Chrissy Curtin is a freelance Illustrator from Ireland, working from her little home studio in Cork. Whether silly or sombre, she loves to make bold, colourful and thoughtful illustrations. She specialises in 2D illustration and has made work for Books, Editorial, Products, Campaigns, GIFs and even TV. She also live-draws for companies and events. When she has time, she makes zines, prints and little bits to sell in her shop.

lele
“lele” is my zine artist name. I’m from Japan, based in Galway. I enjoy expressing my thoughts through writing, drawing, photography, and compile them into zines. I love making and reading zines because you can put in it anything and everything you want!

I’m experimenting life, same as that, I love exploring different ways of creatives. I’m not good at repeating the same things; I want to try something different each time. That’s why I’m drawn to zines rather than books and magazines.

I write about my daily thoughts and my favorite things, combining various media – not only photos or drawings, but also creative approaches to binding and physical form. Zines offer endless room for experimentation.