I am officially in love with zines. I first discovered them at a craft fair in K Road in Auckland, a few years ago. Since then, I have amassed a small collection, ranging from zines about budgies, to a fashion zine called Yoke written by a Melbourne high school student. The new media resource I am working on currently includes a podcast about zines by Ya-Wen Ho who makes the Potroast zine. So, I’ve been learning more about them through this latest project.
Regular visits to www.stickyinstitute.com in Melbourne always result in a number of cheap zine thrills and they have kindly agreed to stock my own poetry chapbook ‘Sometimes I Wonder’.
Auckland and Wellington have regular zine fests, where comic book makers, poets, fringe dwellers and hobbyists meet to share their creations with the world. They are not all political, but there are definitely a range of alternative views on show.
One of the stand-out poetry zines around is Sidestream. (http://www.myspace.com/sidestreampoetry) Produced by Auckland poet, Miriam Barr, through her imprint The Back Shed Press, Sidestream is a fantastic outlet for budding poets. They also support local artists by having original art works on the cover of each issue. It is distributed for free here in NZ and overseas and I have spent many an afternoon with a steaming cuppa, guillotining the precious wee things with a small team of friends.
The culture of producing zines has a cottage industry vibe about it. It harks back to the days of hand-tooled leather belts and macrame.
There is something magical about a publication that has been hand-crafted with love by a zinestar, as opposed to spewed forth from the mouth of a global publishing juggernaut. Although, that said, Marion Keys and Rosamund Pulcher have been great companions on camping trips and lazy Sunday afternoons at the domain. They have their place.
It’s just nice to know that there are no gatekeepers when it comes to creating your own publications. You never know, your zine about cooking misadventures may just take off!
For more on zines, check out:
http://www.cherrybombcomics.co.nz/
http://zinelibrary.info/
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This month heralds the inaugural zine festival in Auckland. I have already been to two events, Potroast 7 Launch at the lovely Alphabet City surrounded by typewriters and vintage letter presses, then Hear this Zine, an exhibition of New Zealand music and zine culture. There is something to be said for the DIY aesthetic. It gives people a voice and allows for a variety of perspectives and expressions. I always pop into Sticky Institute when I’m in Melbourne. I hope we can get another zine hub going here soon! I’ve dabbled with poetry zines and made three so far. It’s a great way to showcase my work and I love playing around with different layouts. Anyone want to do a zine swap? I’m looking forward to the 24-hour zine challenge coming up. The photos here are from the potroast launch.
