Zines

"This paper gives an account of a series of three Zoom zine-making workshops run between March and July 2020 that were themed the political, the personal and the practical. A micro-reading of the zines is offered as data that mirror the aims of the workshops, to queer time by slowing down and creating a pause. The process of zine-making as feminist praxis is examined, and the zines themselves are discussed as data that reflect specific moments in time during the early phases of the pandemic. By inviting everyday feminist academic workers, from PhD candidates to professors to participate in a collective act of zine-making, this paper argues that a type of feminist work exists between academia and activism that subverts institutional definitions of productivity, collaboration and output."

"Zines are increasingly becoming seen as legitimate subjects of collection development in libraries and archives. In this article, the author expands on a poster he co-created for the 2014 ALA Annual Conference that discussed the genesis and development of a zine collection at Cushing Memorial Library, Texas A&M University. This process involved the creation of a workable collection policy that slotted into existing library collection strategies, the initial and ongoing acquisition of zines, and the development of a promotional event that publicized the zine collection and brought to Texas A&M's campus several zinesters and examples of their alternative voices."

Zines have made a resurgence in the United States. What functions do these humble, self-published booklets perform in the current media landscape, where digital reigns supreme? This article explores the political salience of zines for feminists, whose social media tactics have pushed feminism into popular culture and yet who continue to make zines. While much has been written about feminist zines, little research has considered their relevance in the digital age, nor have researchers grappled with the complex relationship between digital and print activist media. Drawing on interviews with zinesters, I argue that feminist zines and online feminism are not materially polarized outlets, but practices with distinct yet symbiotic advantages working in tandem within a repertoire of feminist media tactics.

"Zines have long been a way for marginalized communities to record their stories and organize. Zine libraries are making sure those histories aren't forgotten." Featuring Barnard's Jenna Freedman, zine librarian extraordinaire.

"In today’s technological world, and especially to the digital natives who participate, print holds more weight than a tweet or text, both of which you can fire off without thinking or typing at all (and delete just as easily). To make a zine, you have to at least organize your thought-vomit, consider its appearance and presentation, then decide that a few trees are worth dying for this information to be set free. And yet, there are still no editors, no naysayers, no one to tell you to change this image or adjust the wording on that."

"Underground publications have long connected queer communities with writing and provocative imagery. How do more recent titles fit within this continuum of independent, sometimes covert, publishing?"

"One of the challenges that many gender studies instructors face is making complex topics--such as gender identities, political theory, and media criticism--current, interesting, and relevant to students' lives. In order to help students connect feminist theory to their own experiences, the author suggest incorporating "zines" into gender studies courses as both reading and writing assignments. Zines are "non-commercial, non-professional, small-circulation magazines which their creators produce, publish, and distribute by themselves." They are available in many public and university libraries and independent bookstores, as well as from online zine distributors and other websites specializing in handmade goods. Zine-making employs three principles of feminist pedagogy: participatory learning, validation of personal experience, and the development of critical thinking skills. In this article, the author discusses how zines are effective teaching resources that help students connect theory and everyday life. A list of zine resources for teachers is included."