Drifter Zine is an independent publication based in the San Fernando Valley dedicated to showcasing up-and-coming artists, writers, and journalists. The publication is a quarterly theme-based print and online zine that highlights a social justice issue or communities through a multitude of works including visual art (i.e. paintings, illustrations, photography, collages, and graphic design) and writing (i.e. poetry, short stories, features, interviews, and essays).
Drifter Zine started in April 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic in hopes to create a community space for artists that was vastly needed during this solitary time and has continued to grow since then. The publication is a two-person operation run from home by Editor-in-Chief Madi Parsley and Assistant Editor Iván Salinas who are both artists and writers themselves who recently graduated from Cal State Northridge. They were inspired to start Drifter after not seeing a publication that represented who they are and what they stood for, so they encouraged anyone that doesn’t see a publication that fits their standards to start their own and join the indie zine scene! Stay up to date with what’s happening with Drifter Zine by following our Instagram @drifter_zine, check out our website and free digital issues on drifterzine.com, and contact us by email at zine.drifter@gmail.com!
Madi Parsley
Editor-in-Chief
Madi Parsley is a San Fernando Valley-based journalist and artist. She received her BA in Journalism and English Literature at Cal State Northridge. Her reporting focuses on sociopolitical issues affecting the communities of Los Angeles. Her love for feature writing, poetry, and visual art has inspired her to create her own print and online platform Drifter Zine, which is dedicated to showcasing the creative and journalistic work of San Fernando Valley locals. In her free time, she creates digital collages and illustrations under the name @thiscatcollages on Instagram. She can be found walking around with Lola, her trusty Minolta SRT 102 that she sort of knows how to use.
Iván Salinas
Co-Editor
Iván Salinas is a poet based in the San Fernando Valley experimenting with words, images, and sound. His literary work has been published in a variety of journals and magazines including Curious Publishing, Dryland, Drifter Zine, Backlash Lit, and more. He earned a B.A. in English, Creative Writing at California State University, Northridge where he's advocated for quality of education that addresses racism and social justice. Iván happens to be undocumented; born in Ciudad de México, he immigrated to Los Angeles when he was ten years old to reunite with his family. Since then he's lived in a state of Nepantla: in-between lands, languages, y culturas. In his free time he enjoys DJing and interviewing artists and musicians from Latin America.
Rocket
Social Media Intern
Rocket Salinas-Parsley is a social media expert due to his flappy personality and golden exterior! While he’s supposed to run our Instagram, he’s usually just taking naps, barking at bicyclists, or eating. Honestly, we should fire him but he’s our child so nepotism wins this round. Rocket refuses to be paid in human currency because he deems it meaningless, he will, however, be paid in food. Rocket likes meat, cheese, and huskies.