Handwritten and illustrated
zine by
Neo-Futurist Ayun Halliday about the joys and trials of
bohemian motherhood.
A talented writer and stage performer, Halliday found that the demands of pregnancy and childrearing allowed her little in the way of a creative outlet except through this zine, which detailed the bodegas and sushi bars of her neighborhood, life in a 340 square foot East Village apartment (in a building where Stiv Bators once lived), and the antics of her first child, India Reed Kotis (or "Inky"). Each mini-sized (4.5" X 5.5") bundle is crammed full of reviews, stories, and illustrations (which reveal influences ranging from Richard Scarry to Alison Bechdel), and each issue also features a token piece from Halliday's husband.
Fans of the zine have followed its evolution as the family added a second child, Milo, and moved to a slightly larger apartment in Brooklyn. As Generation X ages, Halliday's contribution to the world of zinedom is the perfect complementary Yin to the Yang of Aaron Cometbus' nostalgia for the glory days of punk that bursts out of Cometbus.
The East Village Inky trivia:
- Halliday is married to Greg Kotis, not only another Neo-Futurist but the Tony Award-winning playwright behind Broadway's Urinetown, the Musical!.
- Inky was born July 3, 1997. She is the first thoroughbred Neo-futurist. The story of her birth was dramatized in Halliday's puppet play, NeoNatalSweetPotato, featuring a cast of root vegetables and household objects.
- Inky has three thumbs.
- Q: How is it possible to start a zine when you're a first time thirtysomething mother dealing with a newborn? A: insomnia.
UPDATE, two decades later (2022). The zine is still available (though the kids are grown and moved out of the house). As of this writing, a 4 issue subscription is US $12 for domestic readers. Send to:
The East Village Inky
Ayun Halliday
1270 5th Avenue, Cubicle 7D
New York, New York 10029
or
order online. (This link also has a list of independent bookstores that stock
The East Village Inky).