What Is a Zine? rhymes with “bean” challenging, individual, exciting limitless, ephemeral, ever-changing ubiquitous in the 60s and 70s poised for a renewal

Zine “start ups” 1749 Ben Franklin aka a plethera of pen names The good Education of Youth has been esteemed by wise Men in all Ages, as the surest Foundation of the Happiness both of private Families and of Common-wealths. Almost all Governments have therefore made it a principal Object of their Attention, to establish and endow with proper Revenues, such Seminaries of Learning, as might supply the succeeding Age with Men qualified to serve the Publick with Honour to themselves, and to their Country. 1517 Martin Luther “These are the times that try men’s souls” “Give me liberty or give me death” 1776 anonymous aka Thomas Paine Da·da or da·da  (dä dä) n. Fr. hobbyhorse A European artistic and literary movement (1916-1923) that flouted conventional aesthetic and cultural values by producing works marked by nonsense, travesty, and incongruity.

2000s…you can guess what happened… Moving right along: 1920s and beyond 1970s punk subculture fanzine TBA: 21st Century 2000s…you can guess what happened… 1980s-1990s whatever you create

What will you learn? What a zine is and why it’s part of our world A plethera of creative writing ideas, formats, and models from the poetry guides on this website. You will, naturally, use any other formats you find, like and know about as you write original pieces and collect and document pieces you find. Several methods for making magazines and how to produce interesting designs and formats for presenting information and art The importance of having several ideas and plans from which to choose the best, and the necessity of revising and reworking these ideas and pieces More about yourself, your beliefs, your interests, and your talents That you can plan and produce a worthwhile project and stay focused on your tasks That you can continue to be a first class zine master!

Where’s Zine world now?

It’s in your hands You are so used to guidelines and definitions and regulations that it may be a struggle to accept that there are very few rules in the world of zines. Issued by one person not for profit but for self-expression. “Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.” DIY with pen, paper, scissors, glue or the latest in word processing technology…your choice. “…cut and paste, ‘sorry this was late,’ self-published magazines reproduced at Kinko’s or on the sly at work and distributed by mail or word of mouth.” Chip Rowe “…can be about toasters, food, a favorite show, thrift stores, anarchism, candy, bunnies, architecture, war, gingerbread men, activism, comics, eating, Barbie dolls—you name it. There are personal zines, music zines, sport zines, zines about politics and pop culture.” Bartel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zine On the next slide you’ll find links to more on-line info as you think about and create your zines.

And Here’s where you begin… What are you interested in? What’s your passion? What do you do well? What do you know? What do you want to tell others about? What do you want to show others? What do you want to make? How do you want to do it?

Here are a few covers of zines from past classes just to give you a nudge to try one of your own. I wish I could show you some of the inside pages too.

Wow! Cool! Fabulous! Awesome!