Ayun Halliday is the Chief Primatologist of the long running East Village Inky zine, and the author of six books, including No Touch Monkey! And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late and The Zinester's Guide to NYC.

Having overcome a shy Indiana childhood, Ayun now embraces the Coney Island Mermaid Parade as one of her High Holy Days. Her love of spectacle and dressing up can be traced to her Northwestern theater degree, a decade-long stint with the NeoFuturists, and a semi-disastrous day job in a Chicago costume warehouse.

In nearly a decade of Mermaid Parade participation, her crews have racked up an impressive seven awards, including a marlin-topped Best Little Neptune trophy, but that's not why she does it. That's just something to shoehorn into the ol' bio so you'll take this class! The real reward is the chance to sidestep the everyday, hang out with friends, freaks and/or fellow New Yorkers, drinking in an ocean's worth of creative ingenuity.

Ayun's mermaid costumes are a tribute to the theatrical properties of papier mache, cheap umbrellas, toy swords, granny carts, ripped dishtowels, the lingerie department at Conway, a well stocked rag bag, and a willingness to ham it up.

Like many land-dwelling mermaids, Ayun lives in Brooklyn, in a very small apartment that she shares with her husband, the playwright Greg Kotis, and their two extremely well-documented children.

Dare to be Heinie!

Ayun Halliday

Author of the Zinester's Guide to NYC

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