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TO CITE THIS GUIDE
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WHAT ARE ZINES?
Butler Library is excited to host several more zine events this semester:
Zine Scene (two-day event with free zine workshops & zine exhibit) - Apr. 24-25
Details to come soon!
Spread the Word: A Zine for Every Poster (zine workshop) - Apr. 17, 4:30-6pm, Butler 314
This hands-on workshop will teach you how to transform a traditional academic poster presentation into a zine. Zines are DIY magazines that can be made by anyone for a low cost. We will discuss research-based zines we have made, demonstrate folding techniques, and support participants to draft their own zines.
Previous events were Zine Club in both February and March, 2025.
Sign up here if you want to stay informed about zine events on campus!
ZINE LINGO
Zine (zeen): independent, self published work often created by a single person.
Zinester: An individual who creates zines.
Perzine: Short for personal zine. A zine that discusses personal thoughts, experiences, and everyday events.
Zine Distro (DIS-tro): Short for zine distribution. Distros are places that distribute zines. Many individuals run distros out of their homes, mailing zines out to those who order them. Some independent book stores carry zines as well.
ZINE HISTORY
Below are some moments from zine and printing history:
- 1040s: Invention of moveable type by Bi Sheng
- 1450: Johannes Gutenberg developed the Gutenberg press
- 1500s - 1700s: Commonplace books
- 1700s: Pamphleteering (e.g., Poor Richard's Almanack, 1732; Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, 1776)
- 1796: Lithography invented by Alois Senefelder
- 1800s: Scrapbooking - see also
- 1830s: American Anti-Slavery Society's wood-printed abolitionist pamphlets
- 1843: Rotary letterpress developed
- 1875: Rotary offset lithographic printing press developed; mimeograph invented by Thomas Edison.
- 1920s: Harlem Renaissance - little magazine movement (The Messenger)
- 1930s: Science fiction fanzines (precursor to fan fic)
- 1938: Xerography (photocopying) developed by Chester S. Carlson
- 1959: Xerographic office photocopying introduced
- 1960s: Black Panther Party handouts/flyers and newspapers
- 1970s: Boston Women's Health Collective's "Women and Their Bodies" course (and other second wave feminist pamphlets)
- 1970s: Punk movement (musical and poltiical)
- 1980s: Queercore/homocore movement (offshoot of punk) - see also
- 1990s: Riot Grrrl movement
- 2003: Queer Zine Archive Project founded
- 2007: DoDIY founded (festivals and fairs)
- 2009: first Zine Librarian unConference held
- 2010: POC Zine Project founded
- 2013: Brown Recluse Zine Distro founded
- 2015: Ace Zine Archive founded
ZINE PRESENTATION FOR AN ACADEMIC AUDIENCE
If you would like to hear the presentation, click on the video below.
