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What is a Zine?
Selectors: Miriam Saperstein and Gabby Bray
Zines (rhymes with beans) are a type of publication, usually made and printed using whatever supplies are at hand, at low cost.
A great definition comes from zine-maker and academic, Rafael Neis, who writes: "A zine, short for fanzine or magazine, is a small, independently published booklet, usually made on paper and reproduced with a photocopying machine or printer. Its formats, genres, and contents can vary widely. Historically, people and communities outside mainstream power structures (from punks, anarchists, to people of color, to queerfeminists) have made zines. Zines, and their reproduction and circulation, offer an alternative to commodified or hierarchical production of conventional print publication. The same is true for their ability to circumvent and bypass the constraints of the contemporary art world." Read more at the Association for Jewish Studies Website.
"Denver Zine Library" by Elly Blue is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
How to Make a Zine
What goes in a zine? Whatever you want! People have made zines for visual art, for activism, for documenting a process, for journaling, for sharing poetry or research or fun facts about a subject.
When starting a zine it can be helpful to ask, who do you want to communicate with? What do you want to share?
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ZineWikiOptions for formatting, getting started, examples of zines.
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Anemone Studio ResourcesSoftware and formatting advice for printing zines using a risograph machine.
Zine History
R. L. (2004). Fanzine Research: Some Sercon Musings. Science Fiction Studies, 31(3), 487–497.
Bell, A. (1999). Science Fiction in Latin America: Reawakenings. Science Fiction Studies, 26(3), 441–446.
Southard, B. (1982). The Language of Science-Fiction Fan Magazines. American Speech, 57(1), 19–31.
Bartel, J. (2005). From a to zine : Building a winning zine collection in your library. ALA Editions.
Triggs, T. (2006). Scissors and Glue: Punk Fanzines and the Creation of a DIY Aesthetic. Journal of Design History, 19(1), 69–83.
Radway, J. (2011). Zines, Half-Lives, and Afterlives: On the Temporalities of Social and Political Change. PMLA, 126(1), 140–150.
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Ripped, Torn and Cut: Pop, Politics and Punk Fanzines From 1976
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ISBN: 9781526120595Publication Date: 2018-07-10Ripped, torn and cut offers a collection of original essays exploring the motivations behind - and the politics within - the multitude of fanzines that emerged in the wake of British punk from 1976. -
The Riot Grrrl Collection
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Publication Date: 2013-06-25Against the backdrop of the culture wars and before the rise of the Internet or desktop publishing, the Riot Grrrl movement empowered young women to speak out against sexism and oppression. This is a collection of the original material of the movement.
Cresser, F., Gunn, L., & Balme, H. (2001). Women’s experiences of on-line e-zine publication. Media, Culture & Society, 23(4), 457–473.
Clark-Parsons, R. (2017). Feminist ephemera in a digital world: Theorizing zines as networked feminist practice. Communication, Culture & Critique, 10(4), 557-573.
Brouwer, D. C., & Licona, A. C. (2016). Trans(affective)mediation: Feeling our way from paper to digitized zines and back again. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 33(1), 70-83.
Teaching with Zines
Thomas, S. (2018). Zines for teaching: A survey of pedagogy and implications for academic librarians. Portal (Baltimore, Md.), 18(4), 737-758.
Alexander, J. (2002). Digital spins: The pedagogy and politics of student-centered e-zines. Computers and Composition, 19(4), 387-410.
Honma, T. (2016). From archives to action: Zines, participatory culture, and community engagement in Asian America. Radical Teacher (Cambridge), 105(105), 33-43.
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Review of Conference Session: "(Re)Opening the Ditto Device: DIY Publishing as Crafting Agency"This review of a conference session on incorporating zines in the classroom includes helpful references on the topic, as well as a summary of various approaches of how professors use zines.
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Analyzing A Zine: Studying Subcultural Production on the World Wide WebDoreen Piano's overview of an academic assignment for students involving zine analysis.
Zine Gallery
Summoning the Archive
A zine about zine making and collecting that is also a record of conversations related to the 'Summoning The Archive' Symposium and Print Fest, May 11-13, 2017, in NYC.
16 Axioms for Abolitionist Organizing
A digital zine from Project Nia about organizing for abolition.
In Out
One-page mini zine made for the Quarantine Public Library by artist Kees Holterman, "exploring and reflecting on life inside and outside the home."
It Is Right to Print at Home
One-page mini zine by Erik Pedersen with "simple build instructions for a reliable screen exposure unit."
Disorientation Guide to Librarianship
A compilation zine "inspired by the LIS Microaggressions project, Fobazi Ettarh’s article 'Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves', and the many disorientation guides created by higher education students around the world."
Silenced
A zine about "the brutal realities of solitary confinement" from the perspectives of people who have experienced it in Michigan.
The Quaranzine: Poetry in the Time of COVID-19
A lengthy collaborative zine from 2020 consisting of poems written by dozens of creators inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please Add & Return: A Zine About Mail Art
A zine about the history and theory of mail art as an alternative to the traditional museum or gallery experience.
Zine Collections
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Zines at the Internet ArchiveA collection of thousands of zines on a variety of subjects, available for free via the Internet Archive.
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Directory of Zine LibrariesA directory of zine libraries and libraries with significant zine collections assembled by Barnard College and organized by geographic location.
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From Staple to Spine: A Compendium of Zine-Related BooksAn A-Z listing of books related to zines, including collection and anthologies as well as academic works. Links to free copies via the Internet Archive are provided where available.
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Independent VoicesA collection of independent and underground political publications from the 20th Century curated by JSTOR.
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Queer Zine Archive ProjectFree, online, searchable database of queer zines.
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Quarantine Public LibraryRepository of one-page mini zines made by artists throughout the current Covid-19 pandemic.
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Trumbullplex Zine LibraryThe Trumbullplex, a Detroit housing collective and art space, has a library featuring hundreds of zines.
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