Girl Gangs, Zines and Powerslides: A History of Badass Women Skateboarders with Natalie Porter

Skateboarding can have a profound impact on one's life, and not necessarily of the variety that involves Olympic fame or board sponsors. Natalie Porter’s book Girl Gangs, Zines and Powerslides: A History of Badass Women Skateboarders explores the influence of skateboarding on their writing.

Natalie will present a show-and-tell of skateboarding zines and explore why librarians place such high value on primary documents—especially when they highlight communities like female and non-binary skaters who have been overlooked or excluded by the mainstream skateboarding industry. She’ll also draw connections between these zines and publications like the Carnegie Newsletter, which share a similar grassroots commitment to inclusivity and community representation.

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Natalie Porter (she/her) lives with gratitude on the traditional territory of the Tla’amin First Nation. She is the author of Girl Gangs, Zines and Powerslides: A History of Badass Women Skateboarders (ECW Press). Natalie is a subject expert for the Smithsonian Museum and a columnist for Closer Skateboarding magazine. She was interviewed for the May 2025 issue of Thrasher and Winter 2023 issue of Bust for founding an online archive on the history of women and non-binary skateboarders. Natalie is also a librarian, currently working for the British Columbia Library Association. She worked for the Vancouver Public Library from 2006-2018, including four years as the Branch Head of the Carnegie Branch.

In partnership with Capilano University.

*This event takes place in the Carnegie Learning Centre.

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*Drop-in event, no registration required.

You may also like the following events from Vancouver Public Library:

• Next Monday, 8th September, 06:00 pm, Marvel-ous Movie Mondays: Guardians of the Galaxy in Vancouver
• Next Tuesday, 9th September, 06:30 pm, Urban Matters: Poetry in the City in Vancouver
• Next Saturday, 13th September, 01:00 pm, The Canine Library in Vancouver

Also check out other Arts events in Vancouver, Literary Art events in Vancouver.