Amy Datsko, who was a graduate student at this university from 2006 to 2008, launched a series of zines in 2010. Her fifth zine called Donut Go There releases today.
It’s almost impossible not to inspire desire when on a mission to find the area’s best fried, fatty delight of sugar-doused dough or the perfect hearty chocolate-glazed cake confection.
“Whenever I talk to somebody about this project, it’s almost like the word ‘doughnuts’ has this Pavlovian effect because by the end of the conversation — it’s happened more than once — the person’s like, ‘Man, I gotta get a doughnut now,'” Amy Datsko said. “After this, you’re really gonna want one.”
Datsko — who was in this university’s library science graduate program from 2006 to 2008 — will release her fifth zine titled Donut Go There, which concerns all things doughnut. There is a release party for the zine — which is a homemade, self-published mini-magazine — tonight at the Velvet Lounge in Washington, featuring a doughnut buffet and live music.
“It’s crazy because I think everybody actually likes doughnuts,” Datsko said.
Today, Datsko works as a librarian at a non-profit in Washington and lives in Takoma Park. She started publishing zines in 2010, and her first was Gifted — a tiny zine dedicated to the art of gift-giving.
Zines seem like the medium that would suit Datsko. Echoing the aesthetics of the typical zine, she is quirky, kind, generous (all her zines are free) and physically small.
Before publishing her ink and paper creations, Datsko ran an online blog, and when that venture became too troublesome to maintain, the do-it-yourself world of zines seemed like a logical next step.
“The thing with the blog that would always happen — I would write something then have a moment of self-consciousness after posting it: ‘God, that was so dumb,’ and I would delete it and then eventually I just deleted a whole blog,” Datsko said. “The thing with the zine started because I wanted to have some kind of project, but then I just wanted to make it, not be able to delete it, send it to my friends and then that’s it. Just forget about it, do another one.”
The zines that followed were Gifted, Library Life and America’s Funniest Zine (about America’s Funniest Home Videos). Her most recent zine is Neighbors, which she collaborated with her friend Jerry Herbilla on.
“I just think of something,” Datsko said, “and I obsess about it for a few months and then I make the zine.”
Datsko describes Donut Go There with an unofficial subtitle: “The First Dozen Doughnuts Of My Thirties.” She turned 30 in September, and the zine is a document of “the doughnut experience.”
The publication includes descriptions of 12 doughnuts and a write-up about its shop of origin if applicable (some of the catalogued doughnuts were made by friends).
Emily Hilliard is one of two friends who make up the Washington-based baking company Tarts by Tarts, which will partially cater the doughnut buffet at tonight’s release party.
“I’m really excited to see [the zine] because I think Amy has a poignant and hilarious perspective on things, which makes her writing really good,” Hilliard said. “And who doesn’t want doughnuts?”
Also included in the zine are doughnut recipes from Tarts by Tarts and an interview with a blogger who posts about his daily doughnut habits (“Keithaccino’s Daily Donut”).
“It does a good job of gathering stories and drawing from a number of different people. And there’s her narrative, which guides through it,” said Roman Kuebler, Datsko’s boyfriend and a singer-guitarist in the pop-rock group JAABS, which will perform at the Velvet Lounge tonight.
Working on the zine, Datsko said she learned several things, including the difficulty of food writing and the importance of moderation.
“The lesson I guess I learned — you can’t really eat a doughnut every day — or at least I can’t,” she said. “It’s probably not good for your health to eat a doughnut every day.”
On a day dubbed “Doughnut Saturday,” Datsko ate doughnuts at four different shops. The last doughnut of the day was in an Ocean City gas station that boasted about having the town’s best doughnuts. When it came time to down her fourth fried item of the day, Datsko said she just couldn’t eat any more. She only took a single bite.
The clear winner in Datsko’s culinary mission is Carlson’s Donuts, which sells the pastry at two locations in Glen Burnie and at a Thai restaurant in Annapolis.
“The best tasting doughnut was at Carlson’s,” said Kuebler, who traveled with Datsko on half of the doughnut trips. “But they all had their own personality — it was cool to try them all.”
Datsko urges her readers to search for those unique characteristics found outside a chain store.
“Like I said, the lesson I learned is that if you’re gonna get a doughnut, buy it from somebody who makes it and who really cares about doughnuts,” Datsko said. “You can tell at Carlson’s — they really care about their products. … Dunkin’ Donuts has how many kinds? It’s crazy.”
rhiggins@umdbk.com
