A Walk Around Pendle Hill
$4.00 A5 64p 80g
“I continued for quite some time, following the stream out of the village, bending now and then to examine one of the many flowering plants that grew along the banks or to run my fingers over a patch of lichen. I had reverted to my childhood self, exploring some long forgotten and ancient pathway of my dreams.” This zine from the Sydney Exploratory Society documents a journey around Pendle Hill in Lancashire, UK. In the style of previous SES zines, passages of text are interspersed with photographs and quotes.
Ampersand after Ampersand #3
$2.50 A5 30p 40g
This issue of Ampersand after Ampersand is about Amanda’s diagnosis with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and the emotions and lifestyle changes that this diagnosis brought about. “The anger was initially difficult to pinpoint. The rhetoric of health is so regularly mapped onto certain bodies in our society that it was hard (and still is hard) for me to think of myself as attractive or desirable if my body had been defined as medically undesirable.”
Band T-Shirt
$5 15x15cm 56p 55g
A zine by the almost worrying prolific Vanessa, Band T-Shirt is a chronicle of every band t-shirt that Vanessa has ever owned, going all the way back to the Cure shirt she bought as a twelve year old. If you, like me, grew up in the 1990s and were (and are) inordinately preoccupied with music, you will find this zine nostalgic and hilarious and essential.
Beyond Amnesty…
$0.50 A5 32p 40g
“I’m trying to understand the politics of self-directed violence in the UK and, as always, my writing is an extended thought, an idea, a perspective, an intuition, a work in progress and of course, it is embodied in my own experience an position in life and society. Sometimes, when my life takes an upturn, I feel very far from the ideas I explore here. And then I stumble again, my ability to cope falters and I am back in that darkest of places this piece of writing was born in and it makes sense again.”
Book Rehousing Project
$1.50 A5 28p 36g
This zine accompanied a small installation at the 2011 National Young Writers Festival in Newcastle. To make it we searched though our collection of deaccessioned books (i.e. books that have been ‘weeded’ from public libraries) for references to the importance of books, which we then photocopied and compiled to make a disjointed narrative.
Both by Accident and Design
$3.50 A6 32p 21g
Both by Accident & Design is a follow up to a zine we stocked last year which you may have been fortunate enough to read, entitled For Strength & Valour. Accident & Design chronicles the zinester’s movement from unemployment (having quit their job in an artist run initiative) to full time work as an admin assistant in a corporate office. Initially the zinester is enthusiastic about their new job and all the responsibilities it involves but soon finds that all their work colleagues are more or less bastards. In the proud tradition of zines that document crap jobs, this zinester recounts all the petty grievances that once piled up make for an insurmountable amount of workplace pressure and displeasure that leads to…well, you’ll have to read the zine to see where it leads to! The zinester asked us whether we thought the zine came across as bitchy, but we say no. Griping about work is nearly always justified, and nearly always makes for good zine fodder. It most certainly does in this case.
Both by Chance & Circumstance
$3 A6 20p 16g
“When I boldly quit the office job back in February, I knew I was taking a calculated risk. The calculation being I anticipated being unemployed for maybe 4-6 weeks before I found something else.” The latest episode in this fine, irregularly titled zine series, in which the author discusses an unexpectedly long stint of unemployment.
Brainscan #21
$3 A5 44p 56g
If you’ve been kicking around the zine scene for any amount of time you’ll have heard of Alex Wrekk: she’s one very dedicated, hard-working woman who, along with writing her zine Brainscan, runs a custom button (badge) making business and wrote the definitive how-to-make-a-zine resource Stolen Sharpie Revolution. Brainscan #21 is the story of Alex’s coming to terms with being in an emotionally abusive relationship. It happens that the relationship in question was with someone else who had/has high standing in the international zine community, so this zine had quite an impact within the zine scene, and sparked a lot of discussion that continues to this day. But the focus of this zine is not really the zine scene or anyone else in it: it’s about the nature of power and abuse of power within Alex’s relationship, and the long road she took to make the decision to leave that relationship and start regaining control of her life.
Brainscan #26
$2 A6 32p 19g
Although it comes a few issues after Brainscan #21, this zine can be read as an accompaniment to that issue. The publication of Brainscan #21 raised a lot of difficult questions for the international zine scene. Although she never mentioned it directly in the zine, it was clear that the ‘J’ in the narrative of Brainscan #21 was Alex’s previous partner Joe Biel, owner of Microcosm Publishing. The biggest question that arose from the publication of Brainscan #21 was this: what are the ethics of supporting a business that is run by someone with a history of abuse who has made no real effort to be accountable for their behaviour? Brainscan #26 is Alex’s response to the frequently asked question, ‘So, what’s the deal with you and Microcosm?’. It contains reprints of statements of support and discussions that happened on the internet, and a rundown of the various failed attempts that have been made to make Joe Biel accountable for his behaviour. This is a zine that should be read by anyone who is serious about the ideas of support, DIY, responsibility, solidarity, equality etc that are so often the subject of our zines.
Brainscan #28
$2 12x12cm 28p + mini insert 17g
Alex made this zine for 2011′s 24 Hour Zine Challenge and was happy enough with it to turn it into a full-blown issue of Brainscan. Based on the theme ‘it’s complicated’, Alex writes about the complicated nature of the various types of ‘work’ she does, her living arrangements, the length of her relationship with her current partner and her like/dislike of cats. Alex’s knack for photocopier art is showcased in a glorious full colour cover.
Briefly, Birds
$4 A5 46p 82g
Tamara’s beautiful cycle of poems that focus on the metaphor of birds and taking flight to describe emotional, physical and spiritual growth. That sounds awfully hippy, I know, but don’t be put off: Tamara’s skill as a writer is real, and the poems in this zine – a sort of chapbook, really – are elegantly balanced between verse and prose, memories and imaginings.
Building Blocs #1
$3 A5 44p 60g
An awesome new(ish) zine about radical parenting. Issue one is about ‘Firsts’ and contains essays on radical childcare and moving ‘towards a family friendly radical movement’, takes a look at the work of the Regeneracion Childcare Collective, features reviews and a recommends a mixtape for helping a baby get to sleep.
Building Blocs #2
$3 A5 40p 52g
This issue, subtitled ‘Home-Makin’, is about different perspectives on house arrangements for people with kids, from folks who share-house and people who have ‘gone nuclear’. There’s also a story of one family’s experience in Egypt during the recent revolution, comics, reviews and more.
Building Blocs #3
$3 A5 36p 48g
“The articles in this zine… speak to issues such as parenting Trans kids, being/supporting LGBTIQ parents and how to talk about sex…’ The ‘Spectrums’ issue of this valuable resource zine for parents and anyone else who’s interested in, for want of a better phrase, ‘radical parenting’.
Careers in Retail – Common People
$1.20 A3 fold-out zine 13g
Careers in Retail is a series of posters by art collective Dexter Fletcher, each poster inspired by and named after a song that influenced DF’s politicisation. Each zine in the series is a double sided A3 photocopy folded down to A6 size. (Top image is of zine when folded, bottom is a scan of half the poster side. See the badges page for related merch.)
Careers in Retail – Look Outside
$1.20 A3 fold-out zine 13g
Careers in Retail is a series of posters by art collective Dexter Fletcher, each poster inspired by and named after a song that influenced DF’s politicisation. Each zine in the series is a double sided A3 photocopy folded down to A6 size. (Top image is of zine when folded, bottom is a scan of half the poster side. See the badges page for related merch.)
Careers in Retail – Spanish Bombs
$1.20 A3 fold-out zine 13g
Careers in Retail is a series of posters by art collective Dexter Fletcher, each poster inspired by and named after a song that influenced DF’s politicisation. Each zine in the series is a double sided A3 photocopy folded down to A6 size. (Top image is of zine when folded, bottom is a scan of half the poster side. See the badges page for related merch.)
Careers in Retail – BBF3
$1.20 A3 fold-out zine 13g
Careers in Retail is a series of posters by art collective Dexter Fletcher, each poster inspired by and named after a song that influenced DF’s politicisation. Each zine in the series is a double sided A3 photocopy folded down to A6 size. (Top image is of zine when folded, bottom is a scan of half the poster side. See the badges page for related merch.)
Careers in Retail – Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now
$1.20 A3 fold-out zine 13g
Careers in Retail is a series of posters by art collective Dexter Fletcher, each poster inspired by and named after a song that influenced DF’s politicisation. Each zine in the series is a double sided A3 photocopy folded down to A6 size. (Top image is of zine when folded, bottom is a scan of half the poster side.)
Careers in Retail – Rebel Girl
$1.20 A3 fold-out zine 13g
Careers in Retail is a series of posters by art collective Dexter Fletcher, each poster inspired by and named after a song that influenced DF’s politicisation. Each zine in the series is a double sided A3 photocopy folded down to A6 size. (Top image is of zine when folded, bottom is a scan of half the poster side. See the badges page for related merch.)
Careers in Retail – Zine Set
$6 Set of six A3 fold-out zines 65g
A full set of the six zines in the Careers in Retail series (above). Visit the Dexter Fletcher website for more info on the project, and the badges page for related merch.
Chasing Hot Air Balloons #7
$2 A5 45p 68g
Another zine that made its way to us via the Absent Zinester Table at the Snapdragon Fair, Hannah’s Chasing Hot Air Balloons is a collection of cute, silly and scribbly drawings and thoughts.
Chew #2
$4 A6 48p 32g
‘Chew started out as a foodzine, but by the second issue (this one) it’s turned into something else entirely’. Isn’t that always the way? I always admire people who can stick to the theme they have ostensibly chosen for their zine, because it is easy to go on tangents. Chew does but they’re good ones. Mostly Chew is about attitudes towards food and drink from different cultural perspectives, from a non-vegan who decides to go vegan on Wednesdays to a Muslim woman trying alcohol for the first time.
Digging
$2 13x13cm 32p 14g
“I always get off at this stop, the one before the more logical one at the gates to the school… so that I can walk through the large vacant block which separates the hospital from the school, the road and the park. For some reason when I walk across this vacant block – or field, as I like to think of it – I feel good. There’s something wonderfully arcane about such a big empty field…” A zine of writing that drifts through small events such as kicking a wall, art projects that get interrupted by film crews, visiting ancient monuments and grandparents in Ireland, archetypical sadness and the space dog Laika, and more.
Disposable Camera
$3.50 A6 16p plus A4 fold-out 14g
“On new year’s morning, we woke to a lawn covered in little purple flowers. They had come up overnight, perhaps scared out of the ground by the thuds of city fireworks…” A magical issue of Disposbale Camera about lawn-mowers, unusual suburban goth houses, dandelions, wishes, typing and fireworks.
Disposable Camera – the Melbourne issue
$3 A6 12p plus A3 fold-out 20g
This issue of Disposable Camera is, as it says, about Melbourne. If you’re familiar with Vanessa’s zines you’ll know that recent issues of Disposable Camera have all been accompanied by maps of Vanessa’s own construction that expand on the theme of the zine. This issue’s map is the biggest and most complex yet, illustrative of the number of times Vanessa has visited Melbourne and the many adventures she’s had there. The writing in the zine is about a single night spent in Melbourne that evokes memories of other places and times.
Dogs Love and Others Angels
$7 A5 12p+ stitched vinyl cover 50g
This is Bertievan’s (Stuffed Turtles, Lessons in Life from My Mother’s Cookbooks) latest zine and, as with her others, it is beautifully presented in a hand sewn slip case. Bertievan experiments with a more cut and paste style in this zine, which is about the dog she had when she was young and associated memories of growing up, falling in love and leaving home.
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