Established by Alex Wrekk of Stolen Sharpie Revolotion – International Zine Month runs each July and celebrates all things zine. Find an interview about this years zine month on DIYConspiracy. Various events are happening all round the world with festivals, events and workshops.
A list of daily prompts is available as a print or PDF download -> https://portlandbuttonworks.com/2022-International-Zine-month-poster
What is a zine?
https://baltic.art/whats-on/artist-opportunities/international-zine-month
A zine is a self-published, non-commercial, printed publication, made of original or appropriated texts and images that is typically produced in small batches and usually reproduced via a photocopy machine. Zines can be the product of a single person or produced collectively by a group of people working together.
Self-publishing has been around as long as the printing press with people producing first tracts, then pamphlets and then zines on topics which concerned and interested them. Today they are used for everything from promoting public concerns to expressive personal portfolios. The digital age has made production and reproduction of media easier, not to mention distribution via online files and email lists – but most zinsters still enjoy the physical object and collecting zines is a fun and informative occupation.
The 21st celebrates Zine Library Day – enjoy looking through the variety of zines at the Edinburgh Zine Library found within the Art and Design department of Central Library, George IV Bridge. See What’s On July – we will be meeting in the library on the 13th and 27th from 17:30. Previous meetings have included the ‘one hour zine‘ challenge – it’s not impossible to make a zine from scratch in a very short time scale.
Some interesting links –
- https://zines.barnard.edu/
- https://www.quarantinepubliclibrary.com/
- https://www.sherwoodforestzinelibrary.org/home
- https://archive.org/details/zines
- https://thepublicstudio.ca/resources/do-it-yourself-series
Whether you cut, paste, copy and post paper or use a digital app and distribute a PDF via email, creating a zine to quickly capture what is on your mind and what you want others to know about is a great way to share what is important to you. To borrow Alex Wrekk’s phrase – start a “stolen sharpie revolution” of your own.