With a little bit of delay, here’s what I read during International Zine Month (IZM)…
A lot of the zines I read in July got to me via trades. (Huge thanks to those zinesters! ❤ ) For example Pippy’s zines and mini-zines about Poirot (Spilling the Tea), charity shops (Charity Shopping), council houses (Council), the lockdown (Our Covid Lockdown Diary), nicknames for cats (Names I call my cat), and travelling to Berlin (Another Berlin Zine). There’s lots of variety and creativity in Pippy’s visual style but most of all I found them very interesting and relatable to read. This collection of quirky, personal, and passionate topics represents the core of what zines are for me.
Shei of God Save the Queer and I also traded mini-zines and zines. Theirs are about self-care (Just do it and Words for my younger self), and imposter syndrome when writing zines (I have something to say), queer poems (Dancing on the Spectrum), and queer witchcraft (Book of Rainbows – this issue has a focus on tarot). Shei’s colourful hand-made zines always put a smile on my face. The writing is so honest and caring, their zines are the best gift for yourself and others!
I did an IRL trade with La Greenwitch at a witch market which was the best! La Greenwitch makes and sells amazing witchy stickers, lino stamps, digital bullet journal artwork, and … zines! Like Enfers which is a dark mysterious publication, all black & white and hand-bound, with poetic reflections written in French. It feels like a magickal booklet that contains obscure stories and secrets. Also be sure to check La Greenwitch’s witchy artjournal videos which I find very inspiring for zine-making as well.
Laura-Marie keeps spoiling me with her wonderful zines. She recently sent me a mini-zine called Protection which is all about strategies and activities that can help to feel protected when feeling vulnerable in this world or in certain situations. These include self-care, activist, and magickal things you can easily do on your own. I love the ideas that are mentioned and it made me think about things that could help for me. This is a lovely and precious zine I recommend getting along with Laura-Marie’s other zines.
In July I read 3 zines that came all the way from Japan: 2 issues of Five O’Clock in Tokyo and 1 of Coffee & People which are what I would call “literary perzines”: personal experiences written in story form. They talk about childhood memories, family and seasons, mind mapping, some zine stuff, and more. The writing style is sometimes reminiscent of a letter from a friend. Really nice to read!
I also bought the e-zines series (in pdf which I then printed myself) Tarot for Life by YouTuber and author Kelly-Ann Maddox. Illustrated with her collage artwork, she discusses various subjects relating to tarot such as: planning your holiday with tarot, tarot journal ideas, choosing a deck, burn-out, and delving deeper into certain cards. I found the ideas and information she shares very helpful for a tarot baby like me and I can imagine they’d be inspiring for more experienced readers as well.
#3 of the feminist musiczine Mäd Mäm includes interviews with War On Women, BSI, and Best Praxis, as well as with an activist who works on safer music scenes (the interviews are all in English for this issue). Mäd Mäm could be seen as a cross-over between zine and magazine, being glossy and professionally printed in colour, but the vibe is certainly that of DIY culture. Learn about the other (older) issues in previous blogposts.
Lastly, there’s the hilarious comic zine So You Bought a Book You Didn’t Like (free download you can print yourself!) which talks about what to do when you’re disappointed with a book you’ve just read. Any book lover should check it out and be amused!
What have you been reading lately?
Echo Zines 
I immediately stare at the tarot+ collage cover. I didn’t know KA Maddox made zines ! I’m so curious.
Yes, they are e-zines in pdf but I printed them. I hope she will make more! She also wrote an e-book that can be found in her shop too.