"This Is Terrible, This Is Wonderful": Postpartum Zine Workshop

Postpartum Zine Workshop with Rani Ban

This Sunday, July 19, Local Economy in Oakland is hosting a quiet, hands on afternoon for mothers and caretakers who want a little room to make, write, and be around people who get it.

From 2 to 4 pm, writer and artist Rani Ban will guide the group through making a small poetry zine. Think folding paper, stitching pages, writing a few honest lines, and decorating it in a way that feels personal. The finished piece is something you can take home, a small record of your inner life in this season of care, change, and very little sleep.

Rani is the author of This Is Terrible, This Is Wonderful, and her work sits in that very real space where parenting can feel messy, funny, tender, and hard in the same hour. She is based in the Hudson Valley, where she runs The Little Art Shop and lives with her partner, toddler, and a pack of rescue animals.

Local Economy feels like the right Oakland setting for this kind of gathering. Small scale. Community minded. The kind of place where a shared table can turn into a good conversation without anyone having to force it.

All craft supplies will be provided, so you can show up as you are. If you have extra paper, thread, pens, stickers, or scraps you want to share, bring them along.

This one is for parents and caretakers who could use two hours away from the usual loop, with something simple to do with their hands and a room full of people making their own way through it too.

When: Sunday, July 19, 2026, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Where: Local Economy, Oakland, California
More info: Event page

This is Terrible, This is Wonderful author Rani Ban invites mothers and caretakers to take part in a collective act of creation: folding, stitching, writing, and decorating a low-fi poetry zine together. While fostering a community of parents, each attendee will leave with a small, hand-stitched and hand-written artifact of their own inner life. Rani will provide all necessary craft supplies, but anyone is welcome to bring more to share!
Rani Ban is a writer and artist based in the Hudson Valley, where she owns an art supply store called The Little Art Shop. She shares an old farmhouse with her partner, toddler, and a circus of rescue animals.