DIY feminist zines since 2001
Hello and welcome to International Zine Month (IZM) 2022! Are you just as happy and excited as me that July has finally arrived to give us an excuse to do even more zine stuff? š
In today’s blogpost I want to set out my plans for this month. Not only do I want to participate as much as possible in IZM but I’m also taking part in the #witchyjournalchallenge. I think those two go together quite nicely. š
Continue reading “IZM 2022 – July is International Zine Month starts today!”
Happy Summer Solstice if you live in the Northern hemisphere! And joyful Winter Solstice if you are in the Southern hemisphere! I’m going to focus this blog post on Summer Solstice because that’s what’s happening where I live but please feel free to share your ideas for what you are celebrating in your part of the world in the comments.
Summer Solstice is when Springtime turns into Summer as well as the longest day of the year. In 2022 that’s June 21st so tomorrow. The Pagan holiday that’s celebrated around that time is called Litha. For this occasion I decided to take a look at what Summer means to me, transform my altar, and share some creative and self-care ideas for this season:
Continue reading “Summer Solstice (Litha) – music, zines, and witchy ideas”
International Zine Month (July) has ended about a week ago. Here is a little summary of things I did. I already posted about the first half of the month here. I didn’t do all the things I set out to do but that’s fine.
STUFF I DID DURING (THE SECOND HALF OF) IZM:
First of all I read a lot of super interesting and amazing zines!
Then onto the zines that were created during IZM:
I printed copies of the zines Confined #1 and 2 (lockdown diary comic zine in two parts):
I continued drawing the IZM diary comic that I will print and publish as Scissors & Chainsaws #2 soon!
Continue reading “IZM 2020 round-up – from making zines to shelfies!”
Hello! Here are all the zines I’ve read during International Zine Month 2020! These include newsletters, perzines, travelzines, musiczines… Inside you can find stories about underrated 90s bands, boxing in antifascist and feminist groups, gentrification, living in the Bay area, autonomous spaces, self-care, Covid-19, teaching in Chicago Public Schools, working and travelling in Italy, and much more. There are so many gems here and I highly recommend checking them out!
Where you can find some of these zines:
If you’re curious about the zines that aren’t listed here, let me know and maybe I can get you in touch with the zinester.
IZM aka International Zine Month starts today! Alex Wrekk who invented International Zine Month has designed another brilliant poster with daily activities you can do in July (scroll down to see it) as well as this logo… ->
What are your plans? Will you participate in all the IZM activities? Make your own zine(s)? Read lots of zines? Blog about zines? Buy and swap zines that have been on your wishlist? Write to zinester penpals?
Find out more information on Alex Wrekk’s Stolen Sharpie Revolution website.
Download the poster here: IZM2020Poster
Prompt of the day: “What is a zine?”
For me a zine is not just a self-made and self-published booklet but it is also situated within DIY culture. This means it is non-profit, non-commercial, non-professional, low-budget, and non-competitive. Topics and styles can vary but it’s important that zines remain accessible, both to readers (everyone can afford to buy or trade them) and to writers (everyone can make them). Zines don’t exist as little paper islands but are connected and blossom within a mutually supportive zine community.
My plans for IZM 2020:
LIST OF ALL THE IZM2020 ACTIVITIES:
Continue reading “International Zine Month (IZM) 2020 starts today!”
International Zine Month ended yesterday. Even though I didn’t follow the activities this year, it was still a busy month. Things I did:
I readĀ zinesPhew!
What did you do for zine month?
Three years ago we organised the first 24 hour zine event in Belgium. It took place in Ghent, with 5 zine enthousiasts, some of which had never met before. Since then we have organised 5 other of such zine-making gatherings, alternating between Ghent and Brussels.
The idea of these events is that anyone can participate and make their own zine in 24 hours (or work on a zine during the event – it doesn’t have to be finished, nor do participants have to be there for the entire 24 hours). The results are always wonderful, and so different and creative!
At each next 24 hour zine event more and more people showed up. The local / DIY / queer-feminist zine scene is still small but it exists! This time, on July 7-8th, we were about 12-15 zinesters who participated and some more curious people hanging around. The event took place in the activist cultural cafƩ Le Space, probably my favourite place in Brussels.
I had a great time again, hanging out with such inspiring and enthusiastic people and working on my zine called “From Spice Girls to Riot Grrrls”. We didn’t get to print our zines during the 24 hours, so I haven’t seen (all) the final results yet, but I’m sure they will be true treasures again! I already read two of the zines that were made and was amazed again! Can’t wait for the next 24hz edition!
(PS. If anyone is up for regular zine-making or other creative writing/crafting/drawing sessions, in Ghent or Brussels, for example at Le Space, let me know!)
I receivedĀ lots ofĀ nice zine mail these last few months and then there was Zine Happening and Alternatieve Boekenbeurs happening in my town. So lots more fresh reading materials. IĀ also spent more time on reading books but I’ll review those books elsewhere, like here and here. Click here for previous reviews of zines I read in 2017. So I guess this is also the international zine month’s edition of my reviews. š
Continue reading “Zines I read in 2017 (part II: April – June)”
It’s July! International Zine Month!
So what’s on the programme for this year? My plans so far: I’m helping organise 24 Hour Zine workshop at Le Space on July 7-8th, attending Weirdo Zine Fest (not tableing but will have some zines to trade and on the communal table) on July 15th, writing zine reviews, re-organising my zine collection, making zines, making a zine flyer, designing postcards, visiting at least one zine library, making zine buttons/badges,…
You can also get inspired by the list of activities you can find here.
Have a fun zine month!
Are you curious about zines*? Have you always wanted to self-publish your own radical alternative media on a topic which you are passionate about? Join the 24-hour-zine challenge and make your own zine or mini-zine in just 24 hours (sleep included :-))! A small friendly workshop in the safe space of LeSpace, everyone welcome, also just for an hour or two if you can’t make the whole event!
*Zines = self-made, non-commercial booklets or magazines, often on radical and political topics, which you can write/draw/make however you want and copy to give or swap with friends.
Questions – send an email to: 24hrzinesbelgium@gmail.com
The next 24 hour zine event will take place at Le Space in Brussels. Everyone welcome, from experienced zinesters to newbies! For people who’ve never made zines before, we explain the zine basics and teach you how you can make your own zine!
This event is free!
If possible, bring some basic materials such as: a pencil, a black pen, an eraser, scissors, a glue stick, and paper. Additional materials such as stickers, old magazines to cut up, wrapping paper, stamps, photos, and yarn can be fun to use too. If you prefer to work digitally, you can bring your laptop and use open office, Scribus, or InDesign to make your zine.
Echo Zines 