Zine Reviews: December '13

Your Pretty Face Is Going Straight to Hell #19

Written by Tukru, Kent – www.vampiresushi.co.uk

The 19^th issue of Tukru’s long-running perzine focuses on her new venture, an all-female punk band called Sean Bean Death Scene (best band name ever?)!  It’s a passionate and buoyant zine, focusing on how excited Tukru really is “to be finally really doing this rock n roll thing”; we read detailed and enthusiastic accounts of the formation of the band, rehearsals, and the first few gigs, as well as future plans for the band.  The interior is laid out in Tukru’s signature cute cut and paste designs, with lots of music related imagery and gig posters.  The cover is full cover, featuring a little photo of the band together.  Such a good zine!

Pissy Paws #1
Written by Neil, Yorkshire – honestrabbitAThotmail.com

This is the first perzine written by Neil, author of long-running horror fanzine Necronomicon.  It’s a densely-packed text heavy zine that focuses on details of his life and formative past experiences, and you leave feeling like you know the author pretty well.  Some of the topics Neil discusses include his lifelong love for zines, his favourite and least favourite pets from over the years, his scars, noisy neighbours, playing cruel games, voluntary work and having to deal with horrible bosses (you wouldn’t think you’d find horrible people in the charity sector!), playing cruel games, and his love of “pissing and shitting yourself stories”.  Neil writes in such a lively and entertaining way, it’s a great read and I hope there’s a second issue soon!

Mythologising Me: Seven is for Kitty Heaven
Ingrid, Oxford – mythologisingme.tumblr.com

The 7^th issue of Ingrid’s perzine is all about how 2013 was the hardest year of her life; her difficult experiences, the things she accomplished, and her hopes for the future.  The zine largely centres around her moving away from home to study a masters, and the difficulties of finding a relevant job after graduation.  While Ingrid writes about many things she struggled with (money, overwhelm, loss), we also read about the positive things that she experienced, including visiting Norway, running 5k for charity, and volunteering at a music festival.  The zine is subtitled “seven is for kitty heaven” in memory of Ingrid’s beloved cat Munchie, who sadly passed away a week before she finished the zine. L  This is definitely my favourite issue of Mythologising Me, so if you’re new to the zine series this is a good place to start.

Unblissfully #1
Lisa, Petersfield – http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/unblissfully

This is the latest zine by Lisa, the lady behind ‘Japanese Whispers’ and discontinued zine series ‘Sometimes I’m Dreaming’.  Inside, we read about her past love for roller derby, her love of autumn, tarot card readings, and interpersonal growth.  Lisa’s zines have a gentle thoughtful feel, with soft clean layouts featuring floral themes, butterflies, stamped lettering and her gorgeous handwriting (seriously, Lisa’s handwriting might be the most beautiful handwriting ever). 

New To Feminism? Try These...
Kat, Swansea - @polygluttony

A free little minizine packed full of feminist book recommendations for beginners, although the suggestions are also good for seasoned feminists (I’ve only read 2 of the books listed!).  Contact the creator Kat via Twitter to request a copy.

How To Make Zines and Why
Tiitu – available at http://princesapiratadistro.wordpress.com

The title pretty much says it all with this one – it’s a detailed guide on how to put together zines of different sizes, with tips on photocopying, assembly, and colours, and a few reasons as to why you should make your own zine.  It’s only 50p and it’s in copyleft (i.e. you can copy and distribute it yourself, as long as you sell it at a reasonable price) so buy one, copy a few, and spread the word!

Zine Reviews: November '13

The Jellygoose Chronicles, issue #1 (Lisa Stockley, Swanage)

I'm so thankful I happened upon this new perzine at Autumn Zine Fest in Kingston recently. You know when you discover a new zine and you want to tell all the world how ace it is, and end up buying extra copies as presents for friends because it's just that ace? Well, that's how Jellygoose is. It's the creation of artist Lisa Stockley, and her sense of exuberance and fun comes through via lots of whimsical thoughts and drawings. She also includes some serious topics, delivered with humour and personal thoughts. So everything from depression to vegan diet to female sizing in clothes to gendered clothing gets mixed in with more playful stuff (funny cartoons about her life, mentions of Pete Doherty, random thoughts from dogs, Lush products, an ace article about cider vinegar, and so much more) . I just love the way she crams so much in, and you have to go back and read a second or third time around as there are still little bits you might've missed. You can tell she had a lot of fun making it. I don't often go for illustrated zines, but Lisa is one of the zines-makers who is changing my mind. Her art and style is full of so much detail, quite a sense of glee, and is really amazing. I cannot wait for issue two. I love this zine!

http://lisadrawsthings.blogspot.co.uk/

Herbs for Mental Well-Being

I picked this zine up at Bradford Baked Zines pop-up zine shop, in the summer. It's a neat mini zine, hand-drawn, and hand-written about natural antidotes. Even though I have a bunch of zines on the topic of herbs, this zine still shed more light and proved invaluable. I found it particularly interesting to read and learn about adaptogens, which are herbs that 'increase the body's resistence to anxiety, stress, fatigue, and trauma'. There is also a recipe for medicinal tea. The idea of food as medicine and any zines about it are great.

icarusprovidence@gmail.com

Ice Cream For Quo, issue #17 (Stephen Fall, London)

I was so glad when this zine came through my letterbox, as I always am. There aren't many general music zines readily, regularly available in print in the UK that I know of, so I welcome my fix of ICFQ. There are lots of the usual staples this issue, such as Concerts I Have Been To, where people trawl their gig tickets and memories of gigs over the years with many an interesting tale. I love that this can mean discussing Jessie J, Cud, and Dexys on the same page! Room for Ted Chippington too! The regular feature Everything I Know about Pop Music Comes from Radio 4 includes the usual mingle of amusingly related capers. There are articles on LegoLand, unexpected good reads, items on theatre and cinema, and zany overheard bits of conversation across London. It's a nice mix that could only exist outside of the confines of corporate media, and it's all good fun. There is also a wonderful interview with Sarah Nixey, which you don't readily get elsewhere. Back issues are available on the Ice Cream For Quo website - there is so much good stuff involved in each issue, I couldn't recommend this long-running zine more.

http://icecreamforquo.webs.com/

This is a guest post by Fliss, founder of SW London and Surrey Zine Collective - thanks so much!  These reviews have been posted a fortnight late due to life stuff getting in the way; forgive me!

Zine Reviews: October '13

Joining the Dots: A Queer Fat Positive Perzine about PCOS
Edited by Holly Casio, England – supercasio @ hotmail.com
My favourite kind of compzine is one that delves into a specific topic, drawing upon facts and myths as well as the writers’ personal experiences.  Joining the Dots is such a zine; dealing with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, a common ailment that affects 10% of people with ovaries.  We read all about Holly’s symptoms and her years of struggle to get a diagnosis, where she airs her frustrations and offers advice to fellow sufferers.  All contributors look at PCOS from a queer fat perspective, writing at length about the infuriating tendency in the NHS to recommend weight loss or pregnancy as a means of treatment, prescribing weight-loss drugs instead of treating the PCOS, or worse, to insist that if sufferers aren’t looking to start a family then there is no problem!  I found these sections made me so angry; I can only imagine how frustrating this must’ve been for the writers!  Most content is written by Holly, with some stories from other PCOS sufferers on their experiences with the syndrome.  As well as myth-busting, there is also plenty of good advice here for people who think they may have PCOS, including symptoms and signs to look out for, questions to ask your doctor, medication advice, and some lifestyle changes that may help.  Joining the Dots is such an informative and useful zine, and it’s one of my favourite zines I’ve read since the summer.  Highly recommended!

Team Girl Comic! #5

Edited by Gill Hatcher, Scotland – www.teamgirlcomic.com
I picked up this zine in a zine grab bag, and I’m so delighted that it fell into my hands!  Team Girl Comic is an “all-female comix anthology” featuring a number of short comics by different female artists.  The comics vary stylistically from the highly professional looking to raw/rough hand drawn strips, and each has its own distinctive style and mood.  Some of the topics covered in this zine include heartbreak, job loss, racism, romance and alienation.  If you’re a comic fan and haven’t checked out this zine yet, you need to do so asap!

Oh Venus! #1

Edited by Kerry, Gemma and Mica, UK – oh_venus @ live.com
A new feminist compzine, Oh Venus #1 focuses on a loose theme of female sexuality and sexual awakening.  The contributors express this theme through many different mediums inside these pages, including illustration, mixed media, poetry, and articles on menstruation and ‘inner demons’.  This feminist compzine reminds me a lot of Girls Get Busy, with its scruffy DIY feel and diverse content – fans of that zine series should adore this one too.

Athemaura #6

Written by Fliss, London – http://etsy.com/people/starswirlAnother great issue of Athemaura!  This is sort of a zine about zines; inside, Fliss writes about organising her first zine event at the Stuart Hall library, her history of writing zines, setting up her zine collective ‘SW Zines’, community in the zine scene, and going through the process of cataloguing all the zines in her personal collection.  There are also a few off-topic articles on libraries and charity shops, which fit in nicely with the overarching DIY theme.  Anyone interested in the wider zine scene should find these Athemaura #6 a fascinating glimpse into everything that’s great about zines and the people involved with them!

Shrimp #1

Written by Laura, Midlands – shrimpzine @ gmail.com
Although very short, this “feminist punk craft” zine is a nice peek into the creator Laura’s brain, with writings on punk and academia, why she is a feminist, things she secretly likes, and doodles of her favourite things.  There’s also an interesting guide on making string art, which is something I had never heard of before but seems like such a neat idea!  Grab hold of a copy at Marching Stars distro, or by contacting Laura directly.

Zine News Round-Up: 13.10.13

image hand-drawn by the amazing Andrea Joseph - thanks!

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1.            New Releases

2.            Upcoming Events

3.            Submission Calls

4.            Distro News

5.            A.O.B.

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1.New Releases

The first issue of Sonorus: Feminist Perspectives on Harry Potter is available to buy now!  Details can be found at http://sonoruszine.wordpress.com.

Mental health perzine Milk and Apples #3 was released this week – check it out at the author’s etsy store:

http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/165561651/milk-and-apples-3-a-zine-about-mental?ref=shop_home_active 

A new perzine titled ‘Unblissfully #1’ is now available to buy and trade!  Get your copy here.

Your Pretty Face is Going Straight to Hell #19 is out now!  Buy your copy at Vampire Sushi distro.

‘How to Make Zines and Why’, a practical guide to making zines, was released last weekend at BCZF, and is now available to buy at Princesa Pirata distro.

Art zine ‘Trees!’ has been released this month, and is available as a digital or print version for free.  The zine can be downloaded here, and read online here.

2.Upcoming Events

Autumn Zine Fest: 20 October at The Fighting Cocks, Kingston, London. https://www.facebook.com/londonzinefest?fref=ts

Undersea Zines DIY & Cultures Fair: 27 October at Deptford Church Street, London, 11am – 5pm.  There are still tables available – loads of details can be found at http://poemsunderwater.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/undersea-zines-call-for-submissions/

Print Matters: A Fanzine and Self-Publishing Workshop: 25 October at Studio 74, London, 10am.  https://www.facebook.com/events/416975098421100/

BOON MAGAZINE & U-BEND PRESENTS BOON MAGAZINE ISSUE #3 ZINE FAIR: 15 November in Brighton.  The organisers are currently looking for people to submit their zines for sale at the event - for more info email steve @ boon-magazine.co.uk

London Queer Zine Fest: 01 December at Space Station 65, London. https://www.facebook.com/events/160624710775600/?ref=ts&fref=ts

SW Zines Presents A Christmas Zine Social: 07 December at Housmans Radical Book Shop, Kings Cross, 7pm.  http://swzinecollective.weebly.com/events.html

3.Submission Calls

Poor Lass, a zine about working-class women, is looking for submissions for its third issue!  The theme is ‘family’. Details here: https://www.facebook.com/PoorLassZine

‘Stories from Space Camp’ is an alternative sci fi and fantasy quarterly looking for submissions for their first issue.  Submissions from people who feel alienated from mainstream sci fi & fantasy media are particularly welcome. Check out the Facebook page for more info: https://www.facebook.com/StoriesFromSpaceCamp.

Litzine ‘Hand Job’ is looking for written work to publish in its second issue.   For more details, or to get hold of issue 1 of free, email handjobzine @ gmail.com.

A new zine dealing with death & loss is looking for submissions. We'd like to put a workbook-type zine together, with strategies for & articles on grieving and dealing with death. Get in touch at ipsumATriseupDOTnet.

DUPE is calling for submissions for its third publication: “THE DARK ISSUE" due for release in Winter 2013.We are looking for original and creative material in the form of photography, illustration, collage, writing, poetry, reviews, interviews etc. The work must respond to the theme but it can be interpreted as literally or abstractly as you like.  More details at http://wearedupe.tumblr.com/post/55868960304/call-for-submissions-issue-3-the-dark-issue

4. Distro News

There’s a new distro in town!  Sister Ectoplasma Distro is based in London and specialises in “queer, feminist, perzine, arty” zines.  Check out their catalogue at http://www.sisterectoplasma.co.uk/.

Vampire Sushi zine distro has had a complete website redesign!  Check it out and order some cool zines: www.vampiresushi.co.uk 

Princesa Pirata is now selling their lovely 2014 calendars, plus new zines, on the distro website: http://princesapiratadistro.wordpress.com

5.A.O.B.

 Did we miss anything?  Let us know – spillthezinesuk @ gmail.com .

Zine Reviews: September '13

Oddments #4 and #5
Written by Marceline Smith, Scotland – www.pushpinzines.co.uk

‘Oddments’ is a cute perzine written by Marceline, ownder of UK travel and kawaii distro Pushpin Publishing.  Each issue is themed around a certain thing that Marceline loves - #4 is all about books, and #5 food.  In #4, we read about her favourite old book shops, online distros and book shops she loves, her best secondhand book finds, and independent publications to love.  The centre of the zine features a pull-out mini magazine titled “A Day in the Life: What I Got Up to on Friday 20 April”, which includes details and doodles about what Marceline wore, ate, and did (I love hearing about the details of people’s day-to-day lives!).  In #5, we read about Marceline’s favourite and least-favourite “weird sweets” (including Orangina Haribo, which sound amazing!), favourite things to eat and drink in Japan, favourite food websites, and recent foody reading.  The layouts are clean and plain, entirely black type on white background, with some cute kawaii-style drawings and good use of fonts throughout.  This zine series is always a lovely cheery read!

The Best Friend I Never Met: Notes from an 8-year correspondence
Written by Emma, Exeter – softskeletons.etsy.com

This zine consists of short extracts from 8 years’ worth of emails, letters, phone calls and stories from Emma’s unnamed long-distance best friend.   The content is contemplative and prosaic, touching upon themes of loneliness, friendship, love, distance, heartache, hurt and memories.  Emma’s best friend writes in a beautiful way; I feel this zine will be kept close to hand whenever I want to drift off somewhere for inspiration.  You can find more of Emma’s work at her etsy shop Soft Skeletons.

Animated Review #1
UK – www.animatedreview.com

This 24-page art zine was created to complement www.animatedreview.com, a blog of “inspirational animation” where they feature artwork by selected animators, illustrators and artists.  The zine includes work by their favourite artists featured online, and in their inaugural issue, the editors asked the artists to reinterpret, in their own style, their favourite cartoon character.  The format is very structured, to the point of looking rather professional – each double-page spread features an illustration on one side, and an artist bio on the other.  This format appeals to my systematic mind, and it’s a good way of contextualising the artwork, but it’s not very ‘ziney’ so may not appeal to everyone.  Some of the cartoon characters featured include SuperTed, Sharky and George, He-Man and Jessica Rabbit.  The cover looks like an old school workbook, which I liked, plus this zine was sent to me in a cello bag - I love little touches like that.  Read/see more here: http://bit.ly/137uCnQ

Gravity: Learning to Balance Through Recovery
Written by Vicky Ann Smith, London - http://www.etsy.com/shop/shapeofourhearts

This thoughtful mental health perzine deals with one woman’s recovery from an eating disorder, self-harm and sexual assault.  Vicky writes about her journey through life living with these issues, her feelings of guilt and low self-worth, recovery, therapy, and her coping mechanisms.  The zine ends with words of encouragement to anyone who is struggling – “we all have our own pace and never be ashamed to cry” and a list of resources.  With the handwritten passages and worksheets from her therapy, this zine feels incredibly intimate.  Vicky also uses a lot of cutesy stickers and images throughout the text which also conveys a sense of vulnerability.  I loved reading this zine – it’s an important topic to talk about, and Vicky writes about her recovery with honesty and wisdom.  ‘Gravity’ can be purchased for £2, and 50% of all sales are donated to ‘Running Without ED’, a charity group raising funds for eating disorder treatments. 

Necronomicon #26
Edited by Neil, Yorkshire

I adore this zine!  Lifelong horror fan Neil writes all about recent horror films and programmes he’s watched; this includes well-known titles such as Walking Dead, Silent Hill and Hannibal Rising, to low-budget British horror.  The zine is mostly made up of Neil’s own reviews, but includes some guest reviews from friends too.  Bonus points from me for the article on his love of Monster High (which, if you haven’t heard of it, is a tween TV show and toy range; the characters are sort of like Bratz, but they’re the daughters of famous monsters, with names such as “Draculaura” and “Frankie Stein”)!  Neil’s enthusiasm for the subject jumps off the page with every paragraph, and it’s totally infectious – his reviews are such fun to read, as he writes about what made him laugh, what frightened him, and what was going on in his life when he watched the film.  It’s also really good value for money at £1.  Fan of horror? You need this zine in your life!

Phaff & Potter #5 and #6
Edited by Rod and Tristrum, Bedfordshire – phaffandpotter.wordpress.com

Phaff and Potter is a bi-monthly irreverent music fanzine, which features single, album and live reviews, but lots of other silly content including bad jokes, fake local music news, local legends, and light-hearted ribbing of pub culture.  Issue 4 features an interview with Jerry Only, founding member of the Misfits, and a funny story titled “The legend of Barry Scott”; issue 5 is the “pub special”, and features a list of their favourite pubs, favourite local ales, and a description of their ideal pub.  I love the scruffy mix-and-match layouts, and the unusual variety of the content – unlike some music fanzines, P&P feels very lovingly made and doesn’t ever take itself seriously!

Zine News Round-Up: 15/09/13

Tote bag by http://www.hellomemo.com/

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1.            New Releases

2.            Upcoming Events

3.            Submission Calls

4.            Distro News

5.            A.O.B.

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1. New Releases

• ‘Zines in Space’, a comic zine about aliens finding a photocopier, is out now! Buy your copy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/sammyborras.
• Issue 1 of Animated Times zine is out now, and features a number of artists’ reinterpretations of their favourite childhood cartoon characters.  Take a look at http://www.animatedreview.bigcartel.com/
• Girls Get Busy #19 is out now! You can read it for free online at http://issuu.com/ggbzine/docs/ggb_19_pdf.

2. Upcoming Events

• Bristol Comic and Zine Fair: 05 October at The Station, Bristol, 12pm. http://bristolcomicandzinefair.wordpress.com/
• Nottingham Zine Fair: 12 October at Spanky Van Dykes, Nottingham. https://www.facebook.com/events/393606757425696/?fref=ts
• Autumn Zine Fest: 20 October at The Fighting Cocks, Kingston, London. https://www.facebook.com/londonzinefest?fref=ts
• Print Matters: A Fanzine and Self-Publishing Workshop: 25 October at Studio 74, London, 10am.  https://www.facebook.com/events/416975098421100/
• London Queer Zine Fest: 01 December, details TBC! https://www.facebook.com/events/160624710775600/?ref=ts&fref=ts
• SW Zines Presents A Christmas Zine Social: 07 December at Housmans Radical Book Shop, Kings Cross, 7pm.  Deets: http://swzinecollective.weebly.com/events.html

3. Submission Calls

• Poor Lass, a zine about working-class women, is looking for submissions for its third issue!  The theme is ‘family’. Details here: https://www.facebook.com/PoorLassZine
• ‘Stories from Space Camp’ is an alternative sci fi and fantasy quarterly looking for submissions for their first issue.  Submissions from people who feel alienated from mainstream sci fi & fantasy media are particularly welcome. Check out the Facebook page for more info: https://www.facebook.com/StoriesFromSpaceCamp.
• Litzine ‘Hand Job’ is looking for written work to publish in its second issue.   For more details, or to get hold of issue 1 of free, email handjobzine @ gmail.com.
• A new zine dealing with death & loss is looking for submissions. We'd like to put a workbook-type zine together, with strategies for & articles on grieving and dealing with death. Get in touch at ipsumATriseupDOTnet.
• DUPE is calling for submissions for its third publication: “THE DARK ISSUE" due for release in Winter 2013.We are looking for original and creative material in the form of photography, illustration, collage, writing, poetry, reviews, interviews etc. The work must respond to the theme but it can be interpreted as literally or abstractly as you like.  More details at http://wearedupe.tumblr.com/post/55868960304/call-for-submissions-issue-3-the-dark-issue

4. Distro News

• New zines up at feminist/queer distro www.vampiresushi.co.uk!
• New zines and other bits at http://marchingstars.co.uk/!

5.A.O.B.

• Save Our Royal Mail is a new campaign that has popped up, campaigning against the proposed plans to sell off the Royal Mail.  Check out their website for lots of detailed information on why the Royal Mail should stay as it is, and how to get involved with the campaign: http://saveourroyalmail.org/

Zine Reviews: August '13

Death Is When The Monsters Get You #1

Edited by Kat Williams, Swansea – stephenkingfanzineATgmail.com
I love this zine so much, and not just because it was created by one of my close friends!  DIWTMGY is a Stephen King fanzine, and features a selection of opinion pieces discussing aspects of King’s work, including mental illness, female archetypes, grief, mythology, and the success of the movie adaptations of King’s novels.  I love the layouts – Kat uses photocopied sections from relevant King books as backgrounds, and uses a mixture of different typewritten fonts and handwritten sections.  If you’re a King fan, I can’t recommend this zine enough!  Kat is also looking for people to contribute to issue 2, so if you have something to say, get in touch at the email address above.

Make It Work #1 and #2

Edited by Kirsty Fife, London -http://www.etsy.com/shop/kirstywinters
Make It Work is a compzine dedicated to DIY fashion and style for plus-sized women (“fatshion”), with a focus on body-positivity, self-care, and resisting the mainstream.  Both issues are very densely-packed, which at £1.50 a pop makes this zine great value for money!  #1 includes advice articles on topics including how to shop on the high street, buying and repurposing second-hand clothes, crafting tutorials, advice on DIY event organising, as well as introspective pieces by the authors on life as a fat woman, and the struggles and prejudice faced on a daily basis.  #2 has more great craft tutorials and resources, along with more political articles on radical vanity, the subjectivity and hierarchies of taste, gender play, fat-shaming, and mental health.  I adore this zine series so much, and wish it could be mass-distributed, as everyone deserves to be told that they don’t need to fit into the limited body aesthetics that mainstream media offers us.  Favourite quote, from the introductory page of #1: “Making it work is about more than just clothes – it’s about finding ways to live and love a body that you are brought up to hate. It’s about choosing to survive and fight, to be visible”.

Feeling Alone #2
Human Bean Zines, Surrey – www.etsy.com/shop/humanbeanzines
Feeling Alone #1 was published in July 2012, and detailed the author’s struggle with Borderline Personality Disorder and their stay at a psychiatric hospital.  Feeling Alone #2 takes place exactly a year later, and we read about the author’s progress with their mental health over the 12 months following their hospitalisation.  Some topics covered include counselling, coping with Atos and DWP assessments, mentalisation-based treatment, the benefits of occupational therapy, and taking on more activities in their life, including volunteer work and roller derby.  With mostly hand-written with some sweet hand drawings, it feels incredibly intimate, and the author documents their journey with honesty and clarity.

Ghost Fuck #2
Edited by Lizzy, Bournemouth – http://ghostfuckzine.tumblr.com
This is one of my favourite EVER zines in terms of layout style!  The style is arty and chaotic - lots of typewritten words and phrases cut and pasted all over the place, bits pasted in upside down, lopsided columns of text, striking black crosses and triangles used throughout.  It’s difficult to describe, but it looks amazing, one of my fave zines to look at!  Having said that, there are 2 things that bother me – 1, the zine is just titled “Ghost Fuck”, without an issue number (I had to search through the website archive to find out which issue was which), and 2, there’s no intro or outro outlining what the zine is and what it’s about, which I always think is a useful addition to a zine.  The content is mostly DIY feminism, with pieces on girl-hate, pornography, queer club nights, the Bechdel Test, and riot grrrl.

untitled and Negative Land
Elodie, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne - applejackAThotmail.fr
Elodie's untitled zine is mostly an artzine, but feels very personal – it reminds me a lot of an art journal, with mixed media layouts, handwritten notes, disjointed poetic prose, hand drawings, cut and paste typewritten lines of text, and photographs.  All bound together within a white tracing paper cover, it feels very delicate and intimate, a lovely thing to get lost in for a few minutes.  Negative Land is a photozine created by Elodie in collaboration with 3 other friends, and features colour photographs of different scenes from England and Paris, including beaches, parks, cozy living spaces, woodland, and city streets.  Both are free, so if you want a copy, drop Elodie a line at the email address above.

Review: Alternative Press Fair 2013

This is a guest post by the lovely Fliss, creator of SW Zines - thank you!

SW Zines felt so privileged to be part of the Alternative Press Fair this year! I have been attending over the years, and had previously applied for a stall, so it was wonderful to be afforded such a chance this year.

No Dark Places was lovingly organised and set in The Albert community centre in Queens Park, north west London, which was a new area to head to for a zine event. 

These photos make it seem like it was a rainy day, but I remember sunniness. I was delighted to see vegetables growing on the site. Grow vegetables everywhere, in every possible style and space for all, I say!

No Dark Places also incorporated a day of live music. I had no idea till we got to The Albert that a band I really love, Capitol K, were playing. They are electronica ace. We knew we'd be too exhausted from early rise, hauling heavy goods, and a day of talking and selling, etc, to stick around for the live music, sadly (comment about it, if you saw Capitol K, please do). Maybe if we didn't work so much so hard all week and if we lived much more local. We did catch a couple of sets, though, more on that later...

SW Zines' stall, after set up. Wish you could also see the pretty woodland themed decoration (pretty paper and real pine cones) underneath the zines - my photos are never my best on these days, so caught up in nerves and fretting and such!

I had brought along a bunch of woodland creature themed stuff, in aid of the badgers and against the badger cull. Had dates worked out differently (the stall application was put in months ago - but I would never cancel this anyway), I would have been at the protest in central London this day, but I did a small bit by making a special mini zine and putting word out. Here are some of the books and posters I had brought along to decorate the wall behind us:

I decided to re-appropriate the sketch of a badger by Yan of the band British Sea Power for a t-shirt for the day, too - with added badges bought at the zine fair! (book and pint!).

Library themed zines I had printed up especially, on request, for Holly of Cool Schmool zines.

On arrival at Alternative Press Fair:

We were sat in between two inspiring female artists. Here is Alex Brady's stall, her speciality is lino-cut prints. I bought a mini zine of her work (as pictured in the middle).

Also next to us was http://www.etsy.com/shop/worriedeyes with her wonderful paintings, sketches, biro drawings, postcards, stickers. I'm afraid I chatted to her so much I forgot to photograph her stall! I bough a beautiful postcard, and we did an exchange of our work too.

Now things get blurry, especially as so much time has passed (apologies again, this blog took such a long time to get written, so much has happened and taken over and I just am not able to blog as instantly as I once might've). So, here are lots of photos of various stalls from the day. If I don't name/identify you, please be forgiving and don't take it personally, and hopefully you'll appreciate what a whirlwind these events can be - before, during, and after! Next time I will make more notes, try to be better organised - please just email me with any web links to add, or if you'd like a mention, etc! I did go out from behind our own stall to talk to people, look at their work with care/interest, buy loads and load of stuff, though! I always make a point of doing this - if you're not interested in what else is out there, part of the point and so much community is lost.

Photo overload, I hope you don't mind! So many pretty things around at this year's Alternative Press Fair!

There were events going on throughout the day. I think Jimi Gherkin ran this one. The only bummer about running a zine stall is missing out on the events 'cos you can't leave your table too long!

There was a letter-press machine (woah!):

Plates for creating postcards:

There was a notebook doing the rounds, to be compiled into an on-the-day zine - theme was things you want to learn:

Swimming pool rock! (yeah!)

Award for prettiest zine stall/wares this day goes to Princesa Pirata distro from Bristol!

Princesa Pirate became my new spot of heaven. This distro's remit of: feminism, mental health, sexuality/relationships, anarchism/radical politics, and the most beautiful array of crafts such as the above immensely colourful postcards and patches, is all just so perfect and mood-boosting and life-affirming. Instantly spent double figures here. The distro owner had travelled from Bristol to be here, and I loved the old suitcase simply opened out to display things, pulled along on a bike trailer then by train. A distro so inspiring, makes me want to be back in Bristol again! It's such an ace place for art/artists/alternative thinking.

There was also a table of free zines on this day, and there was a spot of zine swapping, and selling to distros, all very positive.

The organisers were champion in their work, and I look forward to any further things they organise/create/do! - Here's to Rose Nordin and Amneet Johal, and everyone involved in the hard work of putting it on, plus the zine makers and zine readers who made this event too. Here's to next year's!

www.alternativepress.org.uk

Zine News Round-Up: 18/08/13

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International Zine Month: JUST FOR FUN WEEK (week 5)

Well, we're at the end of International Zine Month, and it's been a blast. Thank you all for playing along, I hope you've enjoyed too! Here is the final week's round-up:

JUST FOR FUN WEEK

28 - Cook with a recipe from a zine or cook zine!
Ok, confession time - I had every intention of doing this, but didn't get round to it in the end, mostly due to post-work tiredness.  FAIL.

29- Post a photo online of you with your zine or your zine collection.
Here's me with my new zine!

30 - Read some zines! Lay in bed and read zines all day if you can!
Agh, another big fat fail.  I should have cleared the afternoon and just stayed in bed reading zines, but instead I made plans and spent my afternoon/evening doing boring adult chores and such. Sigh.

31 - Log into WeMakeZines and write about your experience or write about it on your own blog.
Done and done!

Extra credit - Read a zine every day

Review of IZM 2013

It was lots of fun, especially tweeting every day about the challenges, and sharing other people's experiences online.  However, with retrospect pledging to do all 31 was very ambitious, and only could've been accomplished if I'd actually spent some time planning ahead what I was going to do, and making time for the challenges on the days needed (e.g. day 30).  Perhaps next year I'll just pick a few to do.

Reading a zine a day was such a rewarding challenge!  I don't make as much time for reading zines as I should, as I often get bogged down by doing "more important things" like work stuff and writing for this blog. IZM definitely reminded me why I love reading zines, and from now on I'm going to make an effort to read them more often.  Here are all the zines I read during the month:

I'm going to write a short review of each one over the weekend, so keep your eyes open for that! - changed my mind about this, am too busy and run down right now, sowwy :(

If you missed it, you can read my review of each week here:

 - Week 1: I Love Zines Week

 - Week 2: Postal Appreciation Week

 - Week 3: Zine Distribution Week

 - Week 4: Zine Library and Education Week