Many people far more knowledgeable on this subject than I have weighed in on how to define zines and zine culture. Responses from those who are actually experts in the genre can be quite prickly at times because the term “zine” is often co-opted. It’s used to describe all manner of printing, from the slickest advertising-oriented booklets and art catalogues to, yes, even blogs that have been called “online zines.” Well, that’s just wrong, and it devalues the contributions of activists who have worked tirelessly, producing zines on their own, with their own funds, to get the word out quickly and inexpensively. In the years I’ve been in business as a printer, I have been honored to facilitate the creative work of printing zines for a few of those who write them. A zine writer is the ultimate self-publisher. And these days, when someone asks if I can “price out a zine” they’ve made, I get a little suspicious, if not distrustful. If it’s a real zine, yay, I’m happy to help, even though most zines are not printed on an offset press—even if it's super inexpensive with just black ink and the most basic paper. Traditionally, modern zines have been made on copiers, and before that, some were made on mimeograph machines.

In this blog entry, I will attempt to give the reader a sense of what makes a zine a zine, a little history, an intro to some remarkable, groundbreaking zines, and where to find both old and new zines.

The term “zine” is short for magazine. They typically have a small circulation and are comprised of black-and-white text and images. They are a counter-culture product born of necessity, amplifying voices that would not otherwise be heard in a mainstream format—or at all in many cases. Jenna Freedman, Librarian and Coordinator of the Zine Library at Barnard College, wrote what she sees as the key characteristics of zines:

·       Self-published, and the publisher doesn’t answer to anyone

·       Small, self-distributed print run

·       Motivated by a desire to express oneself rather than make money

·       Outside the mainstream

·       Low budget

For the sake of this discussion, I will add:

·       No need for any special equipment or knowledge

·       Portable

·       An expression of independent, DIY (Do It Yourself) culture

·       Fosters a community among its creators and readers [i]

Some see early fanzines/comics as part of the zine movement. In the 1930s, the science fiction fandom community began to produce publications. The Comet, published in 1930 by the Science Correspondence Club in Chicago, is often cited as the first science fiction fanzine. It was an outlet for fans to share stories, opinions, and critiques, fostering a sense of community and shared interest. In the 1940s and 1950s, the concept of fanzines expanded, becoming a staple in various fandoms, including comic books and music. These publications often contained fan fiction, letters, artwork, and editorials.[ii]

In truth, a large portion of the most important zines have been written by women due to marginality, and this particularly applies to Women of Color. In the 1960s and 1970s, counter-culture movements produced more radical, political zines, including numerous publications written by women of color. These early zines, newsletters, and pamphlets laid the groundwork for the zine movements of the 1980s and beyond. They were often tied to larger social justice and liberation movements, addressing the particular challenges faced by women of color while advocating for radical change across race, class, and gender lines. Germinal political zines and newsletters written by women of color emerged in the 1970s from the roots of radical feminist, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and queer thought and movement-building.[iii] These include publications such as:

·       Third World Women's Alliance (TWWA) Newsletter (1971–1980) focused on anti-imperialism, racial oppression, and gender justice.

·       The Black Woman (1970) featured writers like Audre Lorde and explored the intersections of race and gender.

·       Azalea: A Magazine by Third World Lesbians (1977–1983) focused on queer women of color.

·       Chrysalis: A Magazine of Women’s Culture (1977–1980).

·       The Black Panther Newspaper Women’s Pages (late 1960s–1970s) featured writing on sexism within the movement.

·       Encuentro Femenil (1973–1974), the first Chicana feminist journal in the U.S., focused on labor, educational reform, and intersectionality.

·       Women: A Journal of Liberation (1969–1977) featured women of color, including Indigenous, Black, and other marginalized communities.

·       Combahee River Collective Statement (1977), a foundational pamphlet that called for an intersectional approach to race, gender, and class.

·       Voices of Women (1970–1971) published by the Puerto Rican Socialist Party, analyzing colonization, patriarchy, and the role of women in socialist struggles.

·       Conditions: Five, The Black Women's Issue (1979), an essential publication for Black feminists, helping to define the early contours of what would later be called intersectionality.

Lesbian feminist zines were primarily a project for and by white women, generally lacking an analysis of race and class, and focusing instead on gender oppression. They emerged in the 1970s during a period in feminism often criticized for the overt exclusion of women of color and the absence of intersectionality. That said, over time, some of these publications became somewhat more inclusive. Important political zines that brought attention to lesbian culture and lives include:

·       The Ladder (1956–1972), published by the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian civil rights organization in the U.S.

·       The Furies (1972–1973), published by a lesbian feminist collective in Washington, D.C., focused on the intersection of lesbianism, feminism, and socialism.

·       Lesbian Tide (1971–1980), one of the most prominent lesbian feminist publications from Los Angeles, covering issues of lesbian visibility, rights, and activism.

·       Dyke: A Quarterly (1975–1979), an artistic and political zine centered on lesbian identity, sexuality, and culture.

·       Amazon Quarterly (1972–1975), a literary and arts zine produced by a feminist lesbian collective in California, featuring feminist writing, art, and theory.

·       Ain’t I A Woman? (1970–1974), though more broadly feminist, focused strongly on lesbian and radical feminist perspectives, with a title inspired by the famous speech by Sojourner Truth, a revolutionary, formerly enslaved Black woman.

In further posts about Zines, I hope to explore others issue areas and time frames that take us to the Zine culture of today. Meanwhile, check out some of these resources to research zines old and new:

https://zinewiki.com/wiki/The_Factsheet_Five_Zine_Reader

https://archive.org/details/zines

https://www.loc.gov/collections/zine-web-archive/about-this-collection/

https://gittings.qzap.org/dyke-manifesto/

https://www.vpl.ca/collection/zine-collection

https://zines.barnard.edu

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[i] https://zines.barnard.edu/zines-are-not-blogs

[ii] https://blogs.lib.unc.edu/rbc/2017/10/25/a-brief-history-of-zines/

[iii] The Subcultures Network, ed. Ripped, Torn and Cut: Pop, Politics and Punk Fanzines from 1976. Manchester University Press, 2018. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv18b5q46.