Artwork featured in graphic by Blake Bottoms

“When I read the poems and stories you sent me, when I saw your art, I felt a kind of community I have long been seeking. Each of these moments of joy or pain or beauty reminds me of my own. The details are different, but the feelings, residing in the body, experienced in the mind, are both intimately personal and deeply universal. All of this is joyful to me!

I understand now that community means a lot of things. We don’t always get along. We don’t always agree. Sometimes, we break things. And then we come together in spaces like this. We celebrate our differences. We heal. We ask forgiveness. (could you ever forgive me, my beautiful community, for the times I have pushed you away?)”

~ Marian Bayker, Guest Editor of MALA LECHE #8

Bad Milk Press is proud to present Transitional Joy, the eight issue of MALA LECHE, a radical art and writing zine featuring the work of women, non-binary, trans* and gender-expansive artists and writers from Central Virginia. MALA LECHE #8 features the work of 20 artists and writers from the Central Virginia area.

The issue includes work of:

Marian Bayker (@gay_maid_marian)
Blake Bottoms (@imawhalebitch)
Sarah Burke (Twitter: @Sarah Burke)
Dana Espinosa (@ishtarsreturn)
DEUSDETRITUS (@deusdetritus)
Margarita Martínez Figueroa (@closeupcancer)
Lara Call Gastinger (@laragastinger)

Sophie Gibson (@sophie_gibson_studio)
Jasmine
Joan (@feral.lion)
Kathleen King (@kathleeenking)
Sarah Lawson (@commonplacearts)
Audrey Parks (@as_always_audrey)
Gaby Perkes

Hadley Perona (@vestal.virg1n)
Hayley Tartaglino
Grey Von Cannon (@greyvoncannon)
Jess Walters (@jesswaltersart)
Abigail Wilson (@abilissful)

and one anonymous contributor.

You can read the issue online below or find a copy in print at the physical locations while copies last, starting March 14th.

Learn more about MALA LECHE HERE and stay tuned for our next call for submissions (MALA LECHE #9) in late March 2024.

READ THE ISSUE ONLINE:

I WANT A PHYSICAL COPY. WHERE DO I GET ONE?

MALA LECHE is made for print; physical copies are limited edition and will be distributed quarterly while copies last. Starting March 14th, 2024, you can snag a print copy of our MALA LECHE #8 at the following locations:

  • The Beautiful Idea (411 E Main St, Charlottesville, VA 22902)

  • The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative (306 E Main St, Charlottesville, VA 22902) — by the front door!

  • Grit Coffee on the Corner (19 Elliewood Ave, Charlottesville, VA 22903) — on the indoor newsstand!

  • New Dominion Bookshop (404 E Main St, Charlottesville, VA 22902)

  • Studio IX / JBird Coffee Supply (969 2nd St SE, Charlottesville, VA 22902) — on the t-shirt counter and in the gallery!

  • Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar (414 E Main St, Charlottesville, VA 22902) — in the twisty tree!

  • UVA LGBTQ Center (3rd Floor Newcomb Hall - 180 McCormick Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22903) — on the freebie table!

  • Visible Records / F12 Infoshop (1740 Broadway St, Charlottesville, VA 22902) — on the F12 bookcase!

  • WTJU (2244 Ivy Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903) — by the front door!

Later in March 2024, expect print copies to be available at these locations. We’ll update the list above as more locations are added!

  • Baine’s Books & Coffee (485 Valley St, Scottsville, VA 24590)

  • Crucible Coffee (300 Church St Suite 201, Staunton, VA 24401)

  • Mudhouse Coffee in Crozet (5793 The Square, Crozet, VA 22932)

  • PVCC Main Lobby (501 College Dr, Charlottesville, VA 22902)

  • Rockfish Valley Community Center / Trager Brothers Coffee 2.0 (190 Rockfish School Ln, Afton, VA 22920)

  • Rapunzel’s Coffee & Books (924 Front St, Lovingston, VA 22949)

  • Staunton LGBTQ Center (3 W Beverley St Fifth Floor, Staunton, VA 24401)

  • UVA Multicultural Student Center (2nd Floor Newcomb Hall - 180 McCormick Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22903)