Treats To Drown The Sorrows - grief zine 2024

Photo of the Community Grief Zine collection box at Phx Zine Fest. Photo credit: Jose Romero

The Community Grief Zine, released on December 7.

Photo of the Community Grief Zine collection box at Phx Zine Fest. Photo credit: Jose Romero

Sarahfina Fore

Our Zine Friend, Sarahfina Fore, passed away in April 2024. Today would have been their 36th birthday so we celebrate them by sharing about a Community Grief Zine we collected submissions for during the Phx Zine Fest and we released the zine on Wasted Ink's 9th birthday party in early December 2024. The Community Grief Zine is to honor them and was produced by Devin Kate Pope, Theo Quest, Zoe Sugg, and Charissa Lucille and contains numerous anonymous submissions of drawing and art that were collected from our community at the Phx Zine Fest. 

Sarahfina was a zine maker, a trans elder, and a leader at Wasted Ink. They began volunteering in 2017 and remained a volunteer up until their passing. They were also a volunteer at other wonderful local orgs like Girls Rock! Phx, Trunk Space, and they interned for Related Records as well. They were always heavily involved with the DIY art and music scene in Phoenix and they were also a wonderful Montessori teacher. They impacted hundreds of youth and families during their time teaching and we were lucky enough to meet some of those families to hear their stories and memories of Sarahfina. 

Sarahfina is greatly missed and we wanted to share more about the Community Grief Zine we made to honor them. 

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Sarahfina's tree outside of Wasted Ink where people lay flowers during events. There's a small stone collection started there too.

Hear from the zine collaborators: 

Zoe: ​Even though I didn't get a chance to know Sarahfina well, it was clear how much they meant to our community. Their kindness and support touched so many lives and their absence leaves a profound void. They are deeply missed and I'm happy I could support this memorial for them. 

Theo: many things about zines are synonymous with community for me. the submission box and the zine format hopefully empowered people to face a challenging feeling with honesty, without pressure. grief is different for everyone but we are the same in the sense that no one escapes this life without feeling it. i am still learning how to seek connection when things are hard instead of locking it away in a box. working on this zine unlocked the box a little and i hope it does that for others too.

Devin: ​Approaching zine fest, I felt first denial that PZF could happen without Sarahfina there, and then a strong desire to have some space at fest dedicated to them. Theo and Zoe and I talked through a lot of ideas (at first we were thinking of it as an art project that could hang at WIZD after PZF). But at some point we focused on wanting the project to embody Sarahfina’s generosity and connection, and a zine was the perfect format because it could be collaborative and shared far and wide.
We came to the submission box because it was both public and private. It was an invitation to everyone, whether they were grieving Sarahfina or someone else. (There was also the option of scanning the QR code and submitting later so people didn’t feel rushed.) Asking people to share about their grief is delicate, and we wanted to honor that while also getting a lot of participation. The submissions, most of them anonymous, truly overwhelmed me with their depth of generosity. 
​Grief can be a force that makes life smaller and publishing this zine was a way to be expansive in our mourning. To invite friends and strangers in and create space for everyone’s feelings, advice, and encouragement. I like to think of it as a conversation that was happening during PZF and that continues whenever someone reads the zine.

Charissa: While printing the zine, I remembered Sarahfina sitting and folding zines with me. I remembered the importance of coming together, especially around things that could potentially harden us, like grieving the loss of a loved one. Sarahfina was a huge part of our creative friend group and always made everyone feel welcomed and seen. When we honor them, we continue their legacy of care and pass it along to others with our actions and words. Sarahfina forever changed us and this zine is a glimpse of their impact! ​

Leaving you with love directly from Sarahfina. <3