I just read one of the best perzines I have read in a long time

[Krissy PonyBoy Press]

It's Sub Rosa 1 by Taryn Hipp. Taryn has done zines for a long time and I think I read her old one Girl Swirl, but I hadn't read her newer one. Sub Rosa 1 is still pretty old. She is currently working on Sub Rosa 6.

Anyway, here is why this zine was so good. You know how when you and a friend are talking about real life stuff and it gets very deep and you or they end up spewing out a whole bunch of fears and confessions and truths. And it is all good - cathartic- and you feel enlightened and much more close to them. This zine is like coming into the middle of that conversation.

Some perzines don't really show me the writer. I know facts and stories and what they want to present to me. But, I don't feel like I really know the person. I don't feel like I have heard their voice. Taryn's voice is pretty clear.

I guess that's just good writing. Too many times I feel like perzines are used to define the person. Like it is a list of things and stories that they want people to associate with them. The perzines that I like are "good" or well written when the person is trying to define their true self or a part of themselves, not for an audience, but for some more personal reason.

Check out Taryn's zines.