Our collection of zines from far and wide
But first, a quick history
Zines began their life officially in the 1930s with ‘The Comet’ a fan zine as a way of the Sci-Fi community to share their passions, but zine-like mini self published magazine type publications go way back and include the 1776 publication ‘Common Sense’, where Thomas Paine would use his ‘pamphlet’ to share his political persuasions,
Zines became big in the 1970s –
mainly as music fandom publications, as a way of sharing gigs, new music and politics in the Punk community, with one of the most well known Zines being ‘Sniffing Glue’ – a music zine which was simply made with cut out images, hand-typed and drawn on, then photocoiped and sent to record shops and music venues.
They had a further need to exist with punk and LGBT+ communities, sharing politics and as an underground distribution network for the Gay community in light of the restrictive Clause 28 legislature which banned discussion of gay relationships in many educational establishments, and because of the AIDS crisis sending the community underground.
Today, there are Zine Fests, communities and libraries across the world, and zinemaking acts as the antithesis to the perils of social media and its ills. Zines are totally inclusive. Anyone can make one, keep it anonymous if they want, put whatever the hell they like in them, then sell or give them away or swap with another zinester. no comeback whatsoever, no angry emojis or hateful comments.
Our Tees Zine Library
From the very start, we wanted to build a library as a shareable asset, constantly developing, something we can add to along the way.
We already have an expansive collection of zines, housed in a transportable library (a vintage suitcase to be exact) which cover topics including gender, disability, train travel, important cups of tea, poetry, collecting trinkets, sex work, polaroid photography, and a range of themes around LGBTQIA+ lives and issues.
Our tenets for zines describe them as
Easy to publish and share
An independently produced publication that shares a personal or community voice or passion
An outlet for free speech for underrepresented groups
Accessible to make
Accessible to purchase
We’re always looking for additions for the zine library and can bring the library along to your event.
Contact us for more details and rates.