The Risograph Zine Retreat at Dzanc House is a four-day zine-making event during which participants will explore their inner muse and draw out stories from themselves.
“I’ll be working with people to go within, be their own muse, drawing out whatever story and or characters pertain to themselves, and creating a zine,” said Amanda May Moore, creative director and residency coordinator at Dzanc House.
The Risograph Zine Retreat will take place at 402 S. Huron St. in Ypsilanti from April 1-4, 2026. Participants can choose to commute to Dzanc House each of the four days or stay overnight. Dzanc House offers sliding scale prices of $175-$250 for commuter participants or $350-$425 for overnight participants.
Participants can be anyone interested in making zines. Dzanc House welcomes illustrators, poets and other artists. Collage materials will also be provided for those who are more interested in writing for their zine than illustrating.
The theme of the event is Being Your Own Muse.
“This theme does draw from my own personal work as an artist, so I often create zines and art based around my life and making a little story,” Moore said.
The Zine Retreat is broken up into four days, each with its own purpose. Day one will be for choosing a story, day two will be for learning the risograph, day three will be for creating and day four will be for printing and assembling the zines.
“The first day, we’re gonna be looking at our voice, drawing from your own personal narrative, your own stories, your own life. Day two, we’re gonna be doing a little bit more experimenting and play,” Moore said. “We’re going to have a workshop that expresses that the risograph is a form of experimentation and we can play with it and not be devastated if it doesn't translate and print the way we desire. When we're in this creative state of play and experimentation, we’re allowed to take more risks, and I want people to feel comfortable with taking the risk to create what they want to create.”
The risograph is a printing machine invented by Noboru Hayama in Japan in the 1980s. The risograph burns a screen or a stencil on rice paper, and it uses centrifugal force to press out ink. This method of printing is more environmentally friendly, Moore said.
Moore will have two one-on-one meetings with each of the event participants. The event will focus on the importance of the creative process and less on the finished product. Dzanc House will foster a community-centered environment for artists and creators.
“I think for me as an artist, I really love the process. The process is very nourishing; it fills me with a lot of joy. Yes, the final product is amazing, and you get to share that, but I think sometimes we might invest too much in just having that final product. Really, it's the journey of creating, and making, and having that process is really enjoyable too, and it's always really valuable to learn things as you’re in that journey or that process," Moore said.
