Your Pretty Face
is Going Straight To Hell #17
Tukru, Kent – www.vampiresushi.co.uk
Created in 24 hours for 24 Hour Zine Thing, issue #17 of
Tukru’s feminist perzine feels even more personal and quirky than others. Tukru’s writing is often very
stream-of-consciousness, breezing from one topic to another, and in this issue
particularly so. It feels like a peek
into Tukru’s diary, complete with scribbled-out words, glued-in pictures, and
drawings. We read about the process of
creating the 24-hour zine – trying to plan what she was going to write about, her
plans in between zine-making, being stuck on what to write to fill spare pages,
and procrastination. There’s also a long
piece on being a writer, her half-finished novel, and recent writing
projects. She closes the zine with a
very short piece of fiction. Another
awesome issue of Your Pretty Face…, highly recommended for perzine lovers and/or
anyone thinking of writing their own 24-hour zine!
Shape and Situate
#4: Posters of Inspirational European Women
Edited by Melanie Maddison, Leeds – http://remember-who-u-are.blogspot.com
As I’ve mentioned before, Shape and Situate is one of my
favourite UK publications, and I’m always excited when a new issue is released. Each issue profiles a number of female European
artists, activists, thinkers and political figures; #4 features, among many
others, political activists Pussy Riot, athlete Kathleen Thomas (the first
person to swim across the Bristol channel), painter Sadie Lee, and writer/historical
figure Anne Frank. With a striking cover
and filled with handmade artwork, it’s a visual treat. Shape and Situate is exactly the kind of zine
I wish was for sale on shelves in newsagents, instead of the vacuous glossies
on offer!
Tragic Boffin #4
and #5
Donna, Edinburgh – tragicboffin @ gmail.com
A consistently engaging perzine, Tragic Boffin remains one
of my favourite regular British perzines!
#4 is a 24-hour zine, and apart from the odd scribbled-out word you’d
never tell it was written and assembled in only 24 hours, as the content is
just as thoughtful and well-assembled as in previous issues. The zine opens with a piece about Donna’s
changing relationship with make-up, and its relation to her mental health and
feminist politics, ultimately coming to the conclusion that no one needs make
up, but should be free to choose it. We
also read a number of 1-2 page articles on various topics including working to
deadlines, OCD, avoiding creative burn-out, and fear of flying. #5 is much more dense than #4, with longer
articles interspersed with single pages of artwork. Inside, we read about Donna’s least-favourite
past jobs, feeling like she’s getting old, the joy of finding lost treasures in
car boot sales, the pros and cons of using a Kindle, and thoughts about
dieting. Cute, neat layouts with lots of
kawaii throughout, Donna’s zines are such lovely things to read.
Young Explorer #3
Edited by Liz and Steve, England -
www.youngexplorerzine.blogspot.co.uk
Young Explorer is a compzine with an overarching theme for
each issue. #3 is themed ‘food’, and
features an awesome colour cover with different types of cheeses
illustrated! Om. Some of the articles that made the (pork)
chop include a piece on regional foods, complete with an annotated food map of
Britain, ultimate ice-creams, and a comic about using oranges for self-defence. Quite a short read, but varied, interesting,
and witty. I found myself reaching the
end of the zine and longing for more!
Mythologising Me #3
Ingrid, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne - mythologisingme @ gmail.com
Ingrid, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne - mythologisingme @ gmail.com
This is one of my favourite
issues of Mythologising Me, especially in terms of the visuals – with
a beautiful teal front cover and messy typewritten/cut and
paste layouts, I love the way this zine looks! This issue
explores Ingrid’s feelings of disconnectedness and insecurities - longer pieces
exploring her future and her identity are interspersed with short handwritten
sentences including “when am I going to do that magnificent thing I always
planned I would achieve (whatever it was going to be)?”. Arguably one of Ingrid’s most personal zines,
I found a lot to relate to in here.
