ZINES!
I’m really excited about writing zines!
My most recent zine is called A FUTURE.
I started writing it because I was worried about whether or not trans teenagers will continue to have access to gender affirming medical care. The story takes place in a near future where a network of trans community organizers have established a network to relocate young people to places where they can have safe access to their gender identity. Mira, a teenage girl from Pierre, SD, gets a ride from Nat, a veteran organizer.
To print the zine, I made some rubber stamp prints inspired by my sister Hope. Each copy is hand-bound with embroidery thread and has a one-of-a-kind cover.
You can order one here, or pick them up from these booksellers.
Thoughts on A Future
“In this well-contained road story, steady sources of kindness offset the discomfort of a young person journeying far beyond their hostile point of origin. The narrative gracefully portrays the awkwardness in their displacement and thrill felt in rapidly establishing new reference points for them to build off from as their world expands. Deliberate subversion of power structures and the careful guidance evident in the relocation network recalls the scrappy web of resources overlaying an assortment of radical libraries, infoshops, cooperative houses, DIY venues, Food Not Bombs chapters and other countercultural stops which dotted the US several decades ago, prior to the wonderless charting and overall refinement of social connections by our more widespread incorporation of the internet. The avenues here are not synonymous, and that lack of explicit association with any activist tradition reads as a strength, in that the excitement felt by the teenage Mira easily carries onto the reader through a gentle reminder that our lives may also be redefined as we face the unknown, with meaningful connections and weight to the manner in which we approach them.” – ABRAXAS, Portland ME
“This story gives a bright YES to the question of trans thriving under the bleak shadow of these times. Against the state-by-state criminalization of trans existence that leaves wide swaths of the country uninhabitable for trans youth, A Future offers the open arms and deep-rooted personal histories of trans community like a home-made feast shared with friends, and shows how, by acting where we stand and imagining a livable version of the present, we can not only ensure survival, but open up entire worlds.” – Jacob Fricke, Hello Hello Books, Rockland ME
My first zine (other than one I wrote in grad school) was A ZINE ABOUT QUICHE AND CAR SEAT HEADREST. It’s all about a glow up I had one winter, which I really noticed the effects of when I fell in love with Teens of Denial, a Car Seat Headrest album. It’s also about a really great barista job that I had. If you’d like one, you can find them at these stores, or send me an email.
OTHER WRITING
I write a newsletter called The Deal with Camille, which you can subscribe to here. The Deal features interviews with musicians, artists, and other people; stories where I follow my curiosity and see where it takes me; personal essays; and things I think about One Piece (anime). Some Highlights:
WANDERING OAK ARE THE FANTASY METAL BAND OF YOUR DREAMS – an artists profile.
Ladies of the Present – a snapshot from my Joni Mitchell phase.
PUBLICATIONS: I’ve covered People’s Inclusive Welding and profiled Maine grunge band adlt grrrl for Mainer News.
RADIO + PODCASTS
THE ANGLERFISH is an experimental audio zine that features stories produced by Jules Bradley, Carly Peruccio, Anna Van Dine, and Phoebe Little. I’m incredibly grateful to these creative people for their willingness to participate in such an imperfect project.
In August of 2021, I produced this story about Queerly ME (formerly known as Queers of Greater Portland) for Maine Public Radio News.
While I was at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, I made this story about Portland, ME’s changing downtown, and the local Ween cover band.
Also at Salt, I produced this project about the Mid-Coast Solid Waste Transfer Station (the dump!). It’s called Trash Nerds.
FILMS
My thesis film for my undergraduate degree, YVONNE’S KITCHEN, is a documentary short film that I made with Yvonne and Kevin Hylton. Yvonne lives with Parkinson’s disease, and wanted my help telling some of her story. The film mostly explores aspects of her lifestyle that help her take care of her body – and also features their sweet romance.
The other film I made during my senior year of college was THE BOLD COAST. It’s about two girls who are best friends, and when one of them decides to become a mermaid, the other struggles to build a new life without her friend as a part of her day to day. We made this film in three days, and everyone who participated put their best foot forward to help make the movie way more than it could have been without them.
After college, I was a regional producer on the film Voices from the Barrens, directed by Nancy Ghertner. The film is about the Wabanaki people and the way modern argo-business interacts with their blueberry harvest. I helped with regional distribution, which Nancy and I organized mostly during 2020 and 2021, and a little bit of principal photography.
While still in college, I wrote this little romantic-comedy called Scott Free, which is kinda cringey now but I’m proud of the Camille who wrote it. I created this documentary about menstrual periods! I was the producer on Jenna Roscoe‘s capstone project, I See Everything, I See Nothing At All, and Eliza Goode’s capstone project, Good Gold Fish.
a.c. howard 