Passion for zines?

[Dani Tee]

Howdy,

I am a poor student journalist writing an article on zine culture and wondered if anyone felt like sharing their thoughts with me?

I wondered how/why people got in to writing or reading zines? Why DIY culture is more appealing than the mainstream? What zines mean to them?

If it helps I will go first! I got into zines as I like the idea of reading someone's thoughts without them being subject to someone else's editorial censorship. I was at Brighton Zinefest this year and met some great people, read some great zines.

I like to read zines as they feel organic and unmanufactured, plus a million times more creative than newspapers and mainstream magazines. There is not a word count and no authority to answer to.

Who's next? Anyone?

[Denise]

well, ive always like writing, and in high school i joined the school's creative writes' guild. they (well, we) publish quarterly zines that we distribute to the entire student body, but at the time we get a lot of censorship (no political or sexual undertones are allowed or even if they just think that you are being sugestive--even if that wasnt what you were trying to freaken say!); back then we couldn't make any underground publications either even if it were just as small newsletter type zine publication because it's punishable with expulsion (if i remember correctly)...

and ever since then, i felt the need to write something completely free from censorship. And i dont know I guess I've just always been a deviant so mainstream things never really appealed to me. I talked about it with my cousin how if I'm ever goign to be a widely-read writer, I want it to be an underground or indie kinda thing because I'd rather be read by a number of smart, original and highly creative and non-conforming people than by a thousands of teens who will go with whatever everyone else is reading.

wow that was long. hah

[Dr. Danny Swank]

I wrote this for a compilation piece I heard about on this site called "How I Got Into Zines." It was (is?) a fantastic concept masterminded by Nicole Introvert and I'm looking forward to seeing the result, whether or not my goofiness is included. In any case, here's my bit. Recycled writing, ahoy!!

“Vanity of vanities; all is vanity…and there is no thing new under the sun.”

It all started with the punk rock flyers. As a teenager living in the San Francisco Bay Area, some of my most cherished memories are inextricably linked to the pure joy of wandering the streets of Frisco, Berkeley, Oakland and even some of the outlying suburbs, reading the thick husks of weather-ravaged photocopies adorning every telephone pole in sight. The best ones featured random clip art that made the pedestrian curious enough to stop for a second and take a gander at what was actually being advertised. It was a useful lesson as I began to create scores of flyers for my own bands, cries for attention to drag a few more folks to local shows, out of curiosity if for no other reason.

As an avid reader always seeking out the absurd and obscure, I became enamored with the bizarre self-published manifestos that took the immediacy of the punk rock flyer one step further, using the same do-it-yourself technology to spread uncommon views to anyone lucky enough to grab a copy. And as any chronic reader will tell you, once you’ve caught the bug, you can’t help but begin writing as well. The inner dialogues that accompany the reading of books and other publications have to come out somewhere, and rather than wasting time sending odd screeds to newspaper commentary sections or internet chat groups, it seemed natural to put together slim volumes of random nonsense and other heartfelt thoughts.

Thirteen years later I'm still at it, gaining momentum with each passing day.

[Dani Tee]

This is great, thanks so much for taking the time to type type type back to me. It's great when people are able to articulate their loves!

When I get the article finished I will post a link to it in case you are interested :)