Help us build (the best) Riso Midwest Catalog!

Submit now to be included in this new publication. Deadline 5/31.

Risofy ye olde yellow pages!

Our goal is to produce a printed catalog in 2025 to help spread the word about all the cool things going on in the Midwestern microcosm of Risography. This printed catalog format is lean, not powered by AI, and a snapshot of a vital — yet constantly shifting — community.

We want to help folks find Riso-resources in their geographical area that could get their work published, help makers start a Riso press on their own, to troubleshoot, to figure out where to buy and sell zines, and to make artist friends. And likely more.

We’re collecting listings of current and active Risograph-focused print shops, community spaces, publishers, events, zine libraries and shops across the USA's Midwest. The more submissions we receive, the more useful the catalog will be.

Comb your brain! Send us info on Riso:

• Publishers & presses

• Print shops & community spaces

• Artists working in Riso

• Zine and art book fairs, & events

• Zine libraries

• Places to buy and sell zines

• Other Riso stuff that you think pals should know about

This is a companion catalog to RISO West Coast published by ANEMONE. Shout out to Amelia & Adam for their knowledge and generosity.

Riso Midwest Catalog is currently organized by BearBear and a crew of rockstar Midwestern volunteers. If you’re based on the East Coast or elsewhere on Earth and want to start a companion catalog for your area, please reach out.

Deadline to submit is May 31st, 2025.

FAQ

Can’t I go onto the internet for this info?

While Stencil.Wiki is an excellent and relevant resource, this catalog series helps folks sieve through listings more specific to a time and place: This edition will focus on the 12 states that make up the “Midwest”. It’s a curated tool that can be passed hand-to-hand at a zine fest. It recenters the human touch. A printed directory is an independent-media alternative to typing into the void of a search engine or scrolling through something like a Wirecutter article. The catalog also helps perpetuate the value of printed matter <3 not to mention helps sustain our livelihood.

What’s the point if other people submit the same things?

There may be overlap, yes, but you alone may know of a Risograph printer in someone’s basement or the rumblings of a zine fest that is revamping in 2025. Don’t assume that someone else is doing this important work in your same city. We need your help!

This sounds great. How will I know when this gets published?

Stay subscribed to Bear Snacks but also follow some fellow Riso collaborators and volunteers on this publication. In no particular order:

Empress Editions (OH) / Late Night Copies (MN) / Communication Madison (WI) / Cereal Box Studio (OH) / Melon Press (MO) / Taxonomy Press (MI) / Chatterbox Press (MI) / Issue Press (MI) / Alex Kostiw (IL) / Perfectly Acceptable (IL) / ANEMONE (WA) / Robert Baxter (WA)

Final Scene

Above: New stickers to plaster over old stickers. Now in the shop.

Dinner parties and shrimp salad,

Ben & Diana