Tag: izm2018

IZM day 31 – HallowZine

July 31st, the final day of International Zine Month is HallowZine, a day for remembrance and reflection:

“Remember zines and zinesters that are no longer with us.”

I get very nostalgic lately, probably since I made my From Spice Girls to Riot Grrrls zine, and started to think about the 90s and especially the 2000s, which seemed like such a boring unidentifiable decade at the time. I’m looking back at what the DIY, activist, and feminist scenes were like then before facebook, Ladyfests all over the planet, squatting not illegal yet in Belgium and the Netherlands, antiglobalist anti-war marches, and teenage me discovering zines… It really wasn’t that boring after all.

Even though there is a kind of zine revival going on right now, the 2000s that have produced some of the most amazing zines. Anyone remember Synthesis, Clit Rocket, Toilet Paper, Bunnies On Strike, Riot Grrrl Europe, Il Pleut des Gouines, Eye-Scream, OvaryAction, Fight Together, Angry Girrls, Bloody Mary, Girl Soldier, Girl Conspiracy, grrrl:REBEL… the list goes on… (and such brilliant titles!)? Recently I was looking through the interviews on Grrrlzines.net and Grassrootsfeminism.net and started to really miss those days and those zines. Not that there aren’t any wonderful zines out there today, far from! But zines are so ephemeral, so fragile, and aren’t documented and archived enough I think, and I don’t want them to get lost and be forgotten. Maybe it’s time for some new interview series, just so we make sure to remember the zines and zinesters of the 2010s?

So that was it for International Zine Month 2018! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! If you want to read more about my IZM2018 adventures, check the overviews of the first and second halves of the month or read all of my posts here.

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To read all my posts about International Zine Month, click here or here.

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IZM day 30 – write about IZM2018

I hope I’m not boring you too much with yet another post about International Zine Month but don’t blame me because this is today’s prompt:

“Write a letter or post about your IZM2018”

IZM is almost over – one more day to go – but I’ve very much enjoyed taking part in most of the daily activities. It was so nice that a new beautiful IZM calendar was made for 2018 with new activities to do each day.

I already wrote a blog post about the first half of this month that you can read about here.

So how was the rest of this month?

  • On day 17 I worked on a page of Same Heartbeats #13 that lists most of the zines I currently have in stock. It’s basicly a combination of a mini-catalog and a flyer. You can see the work in progress on the left.
  • July 18th was zine trade day. I’ve been swapping zines with a few zinesters this month and soon you’ll be able to read about their zines on this blog in my “zine reading lists“.
  • I sent off some zines for consideration to 2 distros (July 19) and listed some zine shops that I have visited in the past (July 20).
  • Day 21 and 22 were dedicated to zine libraries. For this occasion, I listed some online zine archives because all my local zine libraries were closed on those days (weekend + summer break).
  • On July 23rd I ordered zines from the distro Antiquated Future.
  • Because I went travelling on the 24th it seemed like a fun idea to do some sketching and experiment a bit with drawing techniques and materials as a way to learn new skills.
  • I skipped the activity of day 25 – send your zine out to be reviewed – but then found out that Korbi Falardeau reviewed 3 of my zines on YouTube! Yay, what a wonderful surprise! Korbi traded zines with me so keep an eye on this blog for upcoming reviews of Korbi’s zines!
  • As I was still travelling on the 26th, I took some photos of my zine collection and mini-zine boxes in advance. I love (re)organising my zines. 🙂
  • July 27th and 28th were lazy days zine-wise. I didn’t write about my favourite zines or organised a zine event but just used this opportunity to announce an upcoming zine workshop at Ieperfest.
  • And yesterday was a bit lazy too, just re-posting the photo of my zine collection.
Print-out of the pdf poster of IZM2018 as well as an image made by Penfight for International Zine Month hanging on my living room wall.

Today I also plan to (continue to) do some letter-writing, catching up on snail mail… But firstly I’d like to thank all the zinesters who sent me amazing creative zine mail this month (and any time). It has made this month even more awesome and ziney than it already was and it also made the current heat wave more bearable.

So how about you? Have you done any of the listed IZM2018 activities? Did you post about zines online? Did you read or write any zines? Did you enjoy this zine month? Let me know, I’m always curious about all-things-zine-related!

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To read all my posts about International Zine Month, click here or here.

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IZM day 29 – photo of your zine collection or zine

Hello there!

It’s International Zine Month day 29 and today we are encouraged to:

“take a photo of you with your zine or zine collection and post it online.”

Do you write and/or read zines? What do(es) your zine(s) look like? And your zine collection?

I already posted a photo of my zine collection a few days ago and here on the left you can see it again. These shelves might look a bit more impressive than they really are because part of them is filled with the stock of my own zines, as well as with some magazines, pamphlets, and leaflets that aren’t really zines. But I’ve still gathered quite a bunch of great zines throughout the years that I’ve grown very attached to.

For photos of my zines, you can look at my catalog or scroll through this blog.

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To read all my posts about International Zine Month, click here or here.

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IZM day 27 + 28 – write about your favourite zines + plan/attend a zine event

These last few days, I’m not so active zine-wise, despite it being International Zine Month. For example, I skipped yesterday’s activity:

July 27 -“Post online about some of your favorite zines!”

Instead, you can just look for my favourites elsewhere on this blog or read my reviews and zine reading lists.

Today is also gonna be a quiet day. Apart from an announcement…

July 28 – “Plan or attend a zine event! Big or tiny!”

Photo from a zine workshop at Mothers & Daughters just before it started…

I’m not attending or organising a zine event today but I can announce a zine workshop I’ll do on August 12th at Ieperfest in Ieper (Belgium). I’ll also be selling my zines on the table of everyone’s favourite feminist group FEL. More info soon! In the meantime, take a look at the website of Ieperfest.

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To read all my posts about International Zine Month, click here or here.

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IZM day 26 – organise your zine collection: mini-zine boxes

Welcome to International Zine Month day 26! I hope all is going well with you zine-wise and otherwise and that you’re not melting in the hot sun as I am… This could be called Sun Month too! (at least where I live)

Today let’s …

“Organize your zine collection”

Organising your zine collection may be a quite nerdy zine activity but as a librarian I like it. I have not made an actual catalog for my collection but I do enjoy organising and arranging my zines and inventing categories and choosing boxes so they become easier to browse.

On the photo on the left you can see my current zine collection as well as the stock of zines I made myself. The book shelf on the left is mostly for my own zines (and some of FEL) plus some magazines and other stuff. The book shelf in the middle is the “organised” part of my zine collection. Those are the zines I have read too. Yes, it’s quite a lot but I have been collecting them for a long time and I don’t throw anything away. The smaller book shelf on the right are the unread and less organised zines. And then there is a separate big box for my Maximumrocknroll zines too.

The tall boxes that you can see on the shelves are mostly useful for A5 and A4 size zines. Smaller zines I keep in different boxes.

For the mini-zines that I make myself (as well as some by friends that I take with when I go to a zine fair) I recently found a useful box with subcompartments. See on the photo on the right. It’s perfect!

What does your zine collection and home library looks like?

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To read all my posts about International Zine Month, click here or here.

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IZM day 25 – get your zine reviewed

It’s always nice to have someone give feedback on or review your zines and today, for International Zine Month, you get to…

“send your zine out for review to a website or magazine that does reviews”

I’m postponing this activity till Same Heartbeats #13 is finished and printed and I’m planning to send it off for review then.

Some places you can send your zine to for review:

Sea Green Zines’ IZM logo

I review zines too but I only write mini reviews (as part of my zine reading list) so if you’re ok with that, get in touch. I’m very willing to trade zines too!

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To read all my posts about International Zine Month, click here or here.

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IZM day 24 – new skills

Today is day 24 of International Zine Month! And it will be a very creative and fun day: a day to explore new artistic skills!

The IZM website says:

“Teach yourself a new zine skill like a new binding technique or how to make a 1 page zine.”

Background pages for Same Heartbeats #12 featuring a beautiful stamp that was a gift from a friend. I like stamps and hand-printing a lot.

In a previous edition of International Zine Month I’ve used this opportunity to try out making mini-zines (little zines made out of one A4 page). The result can be seen here. I’ve dabbled a tiny bit in book binding but would like to explore it more in the future to be able to make my own notebooks (I just have so many note/sketchbooks at the moment that it’s not urgent, including one self-made by my friend Emca). I’m also curious to try out tetra etching and other printing techniques but that’s for another time.

A page-in-progress for Same Heartbeats #12 which shows how I usually draw, hand-write and make zines.

So for this occasion I’m going to practice some rough sketching in public and experiment with some drawing techniques, maybe try out new ways of drawing/sketching and/or other materials than I usually use.

This is challenging for me because I don’t always feel comfortable with rough sketching and I have developed a certain way of creating a drawing from which I don’t deviate that often. So let’s push those boundaries and experiment!

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To read all my posts about International Zine Month, click here or here.

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IZM day 23 – distros

The final full week of International Zine Month (IZM) is kicking in! And today brings us another opportunity to place an order at a zine distro! IZM encourages us to:

“order zines from a different zine distro.”

I couldn’t resist and this time bought zines from Antiquated Future. They have a large online mailorder catalog full of zines, books, postcards, and more. I ordered a bunch of zines and the expansion pack of the “Best Game Ever (Because it is about Zines)”, a game I like to play a lot even if it means getting to destroy your opponents’ zines. 🙂

Look at all the wonderful zines! This is my zine order from the distro Portland Button Works.

Earlier this month I ordered zines from Portland Button Works and their parcel has arrived in the meantime, hurray! As you can see on the left, it even includes the official International Zine Month poster, as the person who designs it runs Portland Button Works.

But if you’re short on cash or can’t afford to buy zines from a distro, don’t feel pressured. How about making a zine yourself and/or trading zines with zine friends or zine strangers instead? Zines (making and buying) should be accessible and affordable to everyone (that’s why I try to keep the price of my own zines very low) but unfortunately increasing shipping costs often double the cost… Booh, privatisation of postal services!

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To read all my posts about International Zine Month, click here or here.

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IZM day 21 + 22 – zine libraries

Apart from zine shops and distros, zine libraries and archives also stock zines, and you can even read zines for free there! To celebrate all of their wonderful work and collections, July 21st is called Zine Library Day.

That’s why today, on July 21st, International Zine Month encourages us to

“visit your local zine library. Don’t have one in your area? Why not start one?”

And tomorrow, on July 22nd, we give some zine library love too by

“sending or dropping off your zine to a zine library to be included in their collection.”

Over the years, I think my zines got to live in quite a few libraries, I’m happy to announce. You can see the list here. Unfortunately this weekend, I won’t be able to visit a local zine library or archive because they are all closed at the moment. So I’ll have to donate zines another time.

One of my old zines – Radix #2 – in the collection of the Feminist Library in London

What are YOU doing on this zine library weekend? Do you have a zine library nearby? If not, you can also check out some online zine archives:

 

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To read all my posts about International Zine Month, click here or here.

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IZM day 19 + 20 – Send your zine to a distro + Zine shop day

Yesterday I missed a day but it’s still International Zine Month so what was and is on the programme for the 19th and 20th?

  • July 19 – Send your zine to a distro for consideration in the distro
  • July 20 – Zine Shop Appreciation Day! Visit your local zine shop!

Well, there is a kind of zine shop called Riot in Ghent so I heard but I think it’s more an artist books shop with expensive designy publications so not really my thing. In Antwerp the bookshop De Groene Waterman sells feminist zines too (including some of mine) but that’s it for Belgium as far as I know.

The only (not online but real brick & mortar) shops where I’ve ever bought zines are in other countries:

I hope I didn’t forget any! Let me know if you know of other zine places in those cities as I try to travel there quite regularly.

(one of my zines in Bluestockings thanks to Sister Ray Zines)

I’d like to visit the Penfight shop in Manchester some day soon and hopefully one day Quimbys, Bluestockings, The Sticky Institute, and other zine shops in the US and Australia (when they invent a train-like alternative for airplanes because I hate flying).

So I’m going to skip the “zine shop visiting” activity and do the activity of yesterday today as I have more time now to prepare a parcel for a distro (or 2?). I already compiled a list of distros (and shops and libraries) where my zines are available but I would love to have my zines stocked in more distros. OK, let’s get on with it!

PS. If anyone knows of zine shops or other zine-related places in Freiburg or Basel, please let me know!

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To read all my posts about International Zine Month, click here or here.

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