NJ Zine Panel | Mourning Papers by Bury Me in New Jersey Collective

A conversation with the authors, editors and creators of Mourning Papers, a zine born from the creative collective, Bury Me in New Jersey. Asbury Book Cooperative is excited to welcome Kamelia Desoucey, Kerri Sullivan, Sara Wullermin, and Katel Ledu for a NJ Zine Panel conversation. They will be introducing their newest volume of MOURNING PAPERS, a zine developed from the creative collective Bury Me In New Jersey. ABC strives to support and uplift small local productions like this one and we are eager to discuss the creative process, development, produciton, and distrobution of small press and its cultural impact on the community. Learn about the authors/creators: Kamelia DeSoucey is a writer, sometimes journalist, and professional photographer whose work centers around moments of beauty and discomfiture in the course of ordinary day to day life. She’s had several solo gallery shows and is known for her Humans of Asbury Park photo project. Her writing has been published in local newspapers as well as the NJ Fan Club anthology, and Mourning Papers. She is currently working on a poetry collection that focuses on generational trauma and identity. Kerri Sullivan is a writer, librarian, and the creator of Jersey Collective and the New Jersey Bookstore Crawl. She is the editor of New Jersey Fan Club: Artists & Writers Celebrate the Garden State, which was published in 2022 by Rutgers University Press). Originally from Monmouth County, she now lives in Essex County. Sara Wuillermin is a founding member of Bury Me in New Jersey, a group of writers, artists, and musicians creating work and community projects centered on four pillars: grief, joy, resistance, and New Jersey. You can find BMNJ on Instagram at @bury_me_in_nj, or check out their podcast and blog at www.burymeinnj.com. Katel LeDû is the mother of operations at Bury Me In New Jersey, where she helps creatives and storytellers share their work with clarity, care, and purpose through independent publishing. You can find her at @ledudoux and katelledu.com. Learn about MOURNING PAPERS: Mourning Papers is a literary magazine that publishes original writing, art, and photography with special emphasis on acknowledging the wide range of grief that has shaped our lives, challenging narratives we’ve been given, celebrating the places that feel like home, and finding joy despite all the pain that comes with living. While New Jersey is at the heart of many of the stories shared in Mourning Papers, its themes reach well beyond state lines. Learn about Bury Me In New Jersey: Bury Me In New Jersey is a creative collective focused on Grief, Joy, Resistance, and New Jersey. Our work is rooted in a belief that a better world is possible through the power of storytelling, creativity, and community. Our own experiences with and observations about grief, social injustice, community, and the systems that shape our lives guide what we make and how we show up. Through our nonfiction and creative publications, we create space for personal stories, creative work, and deeper examinations into topics that help us better understand how we move through the world, question the systems around us, and explore what resistance and collective action can look like. We bring that same spirit to our art and merch, giving us an excuse to have some fun, collaborate with talented people, and indulge in creative projects that celebrate the things we’re passionate about (spoiler: a lot of them are about Jersey). And because so much of what matters to us comes back to connection, we also bring people together in person through workshops, local events, and partnerships with community-based third spaces. BMNJ is officially stewarded by Sara Wuillermin, Katel LeDû, and Bradley Nussbaum, but the project has always been bigger than the three of us. The writers, artists, organizers, small businesses, collaborators, and community members who create with us and contribute to our work are an essential part of BMNJ’s impact and success.