How I, Joe Biel (Microcosm Publishing), Escaped an Abusive Relationship, Thought Bigger Than My Bubble, Moved On, and Learned How to be Autistic in a Neurophobic World

In 1998 I was selling zines and records a few nights per week at our local DIY punk club, Speak in Tongues. A regular customer named Steve approached. “Did you hear about the Bowling Green Zine Conference happening in June?” he asked me. I hadn’t. To be honest it sounded a bit intimidating.

I had previously attended events like the More Than Music Festival, which were, admittedly, not much more than music, other than aesthetically. As an autistic young person, loud environments where politics were implied and I didn’t need to rely on my inept social skills were strongly preferred to ones where I would need to rely upon conversation, or where social hierarchies would inevitably be present. I got drunk every night as a crutch for my own inability to socialize in a healthy way and to bury my sorrows.

Still, the zine conference was happening a mere 130 miles away so I put it on my calendar and wondered what such an event would entail. And well, to be honest, the first few times I went, it was a bit off-putting. The event was almost entirely white, fairly academic, and full of the same didactic politics that More Than Music Festival was, albeit…