The culture values of zines

Why Diverse Zines Matter: A Case Study of the People of Color Zines Project

Melanie Ramdarshan Bold1

Published online: 26 July 2017

© The Author(s) 2017. This article is an open access publication

Abstract Historically, zines have been an alternative outlet for niche topics, or writers and writing, that are ignored by mainstream media. Zines are significant

because they offer the opportunity for connection, community, and networking

between those interested in these diverse topics. The developments in digital

technology have enabled zines to extend into the online sphere: this increased

access has resulted in increased participation (by readers and writers). This paper

will focus on (digital) zines that are created by people of colour (POC). In recent

years, there has been much discussion and media coverage about the lack of

diversity in cultural output, and various campaigns, to promote diverse writing have

followed. Through a case study of the POC Zines Project—a community-building

project that promotes zines by POC—this paper will look at how creators of zines

are experimenting with digital formats and social platforms, and will consider what

mainstream publishers can learn from this. As Radway (in: Anouk (ed) From codex

to hypertext. University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 2012) outlines “zine-ing

is a social phenomenon, a form of social action driven by desires for new forms of sociability and new ways of being in the world” (p. 140): this paper will highlight

the important of social collaboration and production on opening up the creative

process and offering a response to the under-represented in traditional publishing.

Keywords Zines · Alternative publishing · Authorship · Authors · Diversity · Community

& Melanie Ramdarshan Bold m.bold@ucl.ac.uk

1 Department of Information Studies, University College London, Foster Court, Gower Street,

London WC1E 6BT, UK

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DOI 10.1007/s12109-017-9533-4

Introduction

The contraction of the book publishing industry, through various mergers and

acquisitions, has increased in recent years, and the contemporary book publishing

industry is now dominated by five, global, conglomerates: Hachette, HarperCol-

lins, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, and Simon and Schuster.

There are, therefore, fewer gatekeepers to an industry that currently focuses on

bestsellers: this means that non-mainstream/non-commercial, and/or experimental,

topics, what Bourdieu called the field of restrictive production, can be overlooked

and their authors often have to find alternative routes for their writing [7]. For

example, in recent years, there has been much discussion and media coverage

about the lack of diversity in cultural output, and various campaigns, to promote

diverse writing have followed. Consequently, alternative media streams are

increasingly important, particularly, as Atton argues, for “offering the means for

democratic communication to people who are normally excluded from media

production” [5, p. 4].

Historically, zines have been an alternative outlet for niche topics, or writers and

writing, that are ignored by mainstream media. Zines are significant because they

offer the opportunity for connection, community, and networking between those

interested in these diverse topics. Despite this, there has been many criticisms that

diversity in race, class, and age are underrepresented in the zine community. The

developments in digital technology have enabled zines to extend into the online

sphere: this increased access has resulted in increased participation (by readers and

writers). This paper will focus on zines that are created by people of colour (POC).

Through a case study of the POC Zines Project (an online community-building

project that promotes zines by POC)—specifically the zines they feature—this paper

will look at what POC zinesters are creating and how they are connecting to

communities, and will consider what mainstream publishers can learn from this. As

Radway [49] outlines, “zine-ing is a social phenomenon, a form of social action driven by desires for new forms of sociability and new ways of being in the world”

(p. 140): this paper will highlight the important of social collaboration and

production on opening up the creative process and offering a response to the under-

represented in traditional publishing.

From Conglomeration to Participatory Culture

Although some publishing historians, such as Schiffrin, Epstein, and Greco,

castigate the conglomeration of the publishing industry, linking it to the

homogenisation of cultural output, others argue that new technologies and business

models actual open up the production process to include a wealth of new and niche

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products [1, 22, 27, 42, 54, 67]. Technology developments have lowered the barriers

for cultural production, what Shirky describes as the “mass amateurisation of

publishing”: digital folk culture has grown considerably over the decades [58,

p. 60]. The Internet, in particular, has increased the possibilities for affordable

cultural production, without the aid of gatekeepers, which can reach a global

audience [4, 6, 13, 34, 38, 66]. Community media projects, that support and serve a

range of different communities, enable amateur creators to engage in the different

processes of cultural production [14, 23, 37, 43]. Mathieu et al. describe how such,

small, community publishing endeavours engender the publication of “underrep-

resented voices”, including “people of color, women, working-class radicals, gay

and lesbian groups, and homeless advocates, among others” [46, p. 4].

According to Couldry, the participatory nature of alternative media democratizes

and progresses the consumption and production of cultural content. Alternative

media challenges the corporate realities and agendas [that the mainstream media

portrays] by allowing the broader public to create their own versions of reality [13].

Additionally, participation in citizen media can encourage participation in activism

[52]. Servaes argues that participatory and alternative methods of communication

are “an agent for social change, culture development and democratization” [57,

p. 269]. For example, a digital civil rights movement, enabled and shaped by social

technology, is currently underway in the USA. The #BlackLivesMatter campaign,

which followed the acquittal of a white police officer who shot and killed Trayvon

Martin, an unarmed African-American teenager, [and against racism and police

brutality in against African-Americans in general] demonstrates that there are

important conversations, particularly from black voices, that are missing from

mainstream discourse. Couldry argues that participatory media can challenge the

dominance of mainstream media [13]. In the case of #BlackLivesMatter, the

movement confronts and discredits the vilification of African-Americans (partic-

ularly young men) by some of the right-leaning mainstream media [3, 62]. Such

media reinforces stereotypes and leads to the development and extension of

inequality: “The media can impose their own logic on assembled materials in a

number of ways, including emphasizing behaviors and people and stereotyping”

[60, p. 33].

Although alternative media cannot change the corporate structures of the

contemporary media/publishing industry: it can empower the public by giving them

a space and a voice [8, 15, 25, 37, 52]. However, Sandoval and Fuchs stressed the

importance of connected communities, lest individual projects lead to the

fragmentation of the public sphere [30, 53, p. 143]:

Self-sufficient alternative media projects that do not engage in wider political

projects will become individualistic spaces of withdrawal, whereas networks

of alternative media that develop political visions and practices and act

together to form a larger political counter-public sphere have the potential to

support larger-scale political change processes.

Della Porta and Diani [16] also argue that collective action is enabled by

collective identity. However, it is clear that some alternative projects are so

marginal, and reject all corporate structures (for example, marketing/advertising),

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that they are not visible at all. It is for this reason that this paper will focus on the

POC Project. The POC Project, supported by the zine community, collates and

showcases these marginal zines in one digital platform. This helps to raise the

visibility of the zines, their creators, and their content, to create “a joint counter-

public sphere” [53, p. 143]. This counter public sphere makes challenging the dominant conversations, spread by mainstream media, more efficient and effective.

Of course, not all zinesters/alternative media producers aim to reach a broad

audience, as this research shows [15, 52]

The Diverse Nature of Zines

Alternative forms of written production, such as pamphlets, have been in existence

for centuries: the issue of commerce versus culture is one that is weaved through the

history of cultural production [18, 48]. As outlined earlier, in the book publishing

industry, large, global companies dominate the market so alternative outlets in the

sphere of “parallel and unbound literatures”, such as zines, play a key role in

representing possibilities for counter-hegemonic transformation [17, p. 192].

Zine comes from the term fanzine, a type of publication first published in the

1930s [65]. Zine publishing has become an increasingly common practice,

particularly in the USA, since the advent of these science fiction fanzines. This

established into something more developed with the popularity of punk fanzines in

the 1970 s, and the rise of feminist and queer zines the 1990s 1 [18]. The term

fanzine gradually evolved to become zine by the late 1980s. This is a result of zines

expanding to include zinesters (people who create zines) that, instead of belonging

to a fan culture (such as the sci-fi zinesters), produced zines because they felt

misrepresented by mainstream media [18]. Zines are a way for people to come

together to build a community, and to share interests and information [12, 28]. 2

In his 1997 study, Duncombe described ‘zines as “noncommercial, nonprofes-

sional, small-circulation magazines which their creators produce, publish, and

distribute by themselves” [18, p. 6]. Zines have evolved over the decades,

particularly with the developments in technology, and now include different types

of content, such as literary zines, personal reflections, special interests, and political

zines, in addition to fanzines. What unifies all zines is the fact that they are

independently produced, written, and designed, and that they exist outside, or on the

fringes of, the mainstream. Thus, they often cover issues that are often ignored, or

overlooked, by mainstream media [64]. Zines are independent from commercial

considerations and, as such, serve a very small audience (usually of like-minded

individuals); therefore, zines are typically considered to be a safe space for self-

expression [55]. One of the key functions of zines is to be the primary source of

information and collective meaning for different subcultures. However, some

1 In his 1997 study, Duncombe estimated that the circulation of zines was at an all time high in the mid-

1990s: approximately 10,000 different zines were in publication, read by 500,000-750,000 people. 2 One of the main reasons that fanzines were created, and proliferated, was because they connected

geographically-dispersed fandoms.

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underground culture, as promoted through different zines, has been appropriated

and commercialized by mainstream media e.g. the commodification of Feminism

[18, 51]. Schmidt argues that the blurred boundaries between underground and

mainstream cultures acted as a catalyst to the evolution, and proliferation, of zines

(particularly personal zine/perzines) [56].

Zines and DIY/self publishing have helped to change the way that consumers

engage with content: turning passive consumers into active cultural producers

[38, 58]. Many scholars have focused on the grrrl zine 3 scene to explore the effects

of DIY cultural production in female consumers/creators: namely giving them a

public voice and a space to discuss related issues and interests

[11, 12, 26, 29, 33, 41, 45, 50, 55]. Making and consuming zines allow female

consumers to explore information, and make decisions, outwith traditional

hegemonic spaces [11, 55, 64]. However, as Kearney observes, ‘‘the gender

deviance displayed by riot grrrls is a privilege to which only middle-class white girls

have access” (p. 65). Duncombe [18, 19] argued that marginalised people used zines

to reclaim their identities; however, racial identity is not covered in-depth in his

analysis. Consequently, POC zines are often missed out from histories of zine-ing

(and from zine archives 4 ), despite the wealth of POC being published. There have,

however, been several key studies that have appeared in the last decade, which have

criticized the lack of race, class, and age diversity in zine production. For example

Nguyen’s analysis of race in the zine community is one of the most important and

influential studies within scholarly discourse [47]. This, lack of diverse voices, is a

reflection on mainstream media (especially the book publishing industry): where

white male authors, supported by cultural gatekeepers and tastemakers, dominate

the marketplace [21, 59].

Hall’s [31] study of inferential racism is particularly pertinent in contemporary

discourse about the cultural industries where there have been conversations about

diverse voices, and faces, being underrepresented and/or omitted [31, 40, 59]. Two

recent examples of this are the #WeNeedDiverseBooks and the #OscarsSoWhite

[social media] campaigns. The #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign started in 2014 in

response to the lack of diverse – covering POC, LGBTQIA+ , gender diversity,

people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities – children’s

books. A 2014 study, by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center School of

Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, found that representations of ethnic

diversity in children’s books had decreased from 1985 to 1995 [9]. A 2004 study

found that the UK publishing industry was predominantly “white and middle class”

and that the under-representation of BAME employees and authors on the United

Kingdom had adverse effects on cultural expression [39]. A follow up report,

published a decade later, revealed that the “old mono-culture still prevails” [40, 59].

Additionally, many authors (of colour) felt tokenished, fetishized, and a spokesper-

son for their specific ethnic background [40]. Such issues also occur in other cultural

and creative industries. The #OscarsSoWhite campaign was in response to only

3 This term comes from the, much researched, zine Riot Grrrl.

4 Barnard Zine Library partnered with the POCZP and Mimi Thi Nguyen in 2012 to start a collection of

zines by POC.

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white actors and actresses being nominated for the top four awards in 2016, for the

second year in a row. A study by the Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at

Annenberg (IDEA) found that the entertainment industry, in the USA, was “a

straight, white boys’ club” and, as such, POC, women, and LGBTQIA+ were

underrepresented [61]. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the [Oscars] academy

is primarily comprised of white males [36]. It is, therefore, important to study the

culture of POC zine-ing to explore the issues, and creative work, produced by this

underrepresented community.

A Case Study of the POC Zines Project

This case study of POC Zine Project, and the zines showcased on this digital

platform, will give a snapshot of contemporary POC zines, and how they fit within

Duncombe’s taxonomy of zines (see below), particularly in the context of the

#BlackLivesMatter campaign and various other anti-discrimination campaigns [19].

The POC Zine Project (POCZP) was established in 2010 in response to the limited

availability of zines by POC. Their mission is to make “ALL zines by POC (People

of Color) easy to find, distribute and share”. 5

Fundamentally, POCZP is a

community building space and a curation project but it has also developed into a

platform for advocacy (partnering with universities, educators, activist networks

etc.) This paper will concentrate on the 59 zines on the POCZP zine spotlight:

chosen by both the POCZP and members of their community. The showcase

promoted, mostly North American, zines published between 2012 and 2015: this

was during some of the more recent race-related issues in the USA (i.e.

#BlackLivesMatter).

Traditionally, print zines have been characterized by simple, hand-made,

production values and aesthetics. However, the Internet, and the development of

publishing technologies has mean that a spate of digital zines have been appearing

in recent years. Some subcultural communities, particularly those surrounding fan

culture, have proliferated and found a natural home online. The zine community,

was once a “relatively closed underground culture” with limited circulation [and

access] and thus small audiences is now more open, and accessible, than ever before

[18, p. 230]. The significance of digital zines is that the subcultural issues and

themes, that are often ignored by mainstream media become more accessible; thus

the possibility for connection, networking, and community building increases. As

Eisenstein surmised, “without access there can be no participation” [20, p. 32].

Despite POCZP being an online project, and the eminence of digital and social

technologies, only 12% of the showcased zines were solely in digital format. The

materiality of zines extends into the digital age: 44% of the showcased zines were

solely print, and 44% were available in both digital and print. The digital medium

makes it easier for the reader to connect to the zinester through social media or via

email. This can cause problems when the zinester is writing about some of the more

transgressive issues: this could be why the popularity of print zines continues. The

5 See: http://poczineproject.tumblr.com.

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POCZP, however, has made many of the zines accessible through ISSUU, which

has widened access and visibility.

Genres, Sub-genres, and Crossover Zines

Duncombe [19] categorized the different types of zines as: fanzines; sci-fi zines,

music zines, sports zines, television and film zines, political zines; personal zines;

scene zines; network zines; fringe culture zines; religious zines; vocational zines;

health zines; sex zines; travel zines; comixs; literary zines; art zines and ‘the rest’

(pp. 15-17). The category is extended, for this paper, to add social zine: a hybrid zine, an extension of Duncombe’s network zine, that provides a space for

likeminded voices to come together through collaborate work. The majority of the

zines in the POCZP showcase extend across these different categories and only a

few fall under one particular category. For example, there were only two purely

literary zines: The Greatest Most Traveling Circus (2014) by Jonas. This is a crowd- funded anthology of sci-fi and fantasy short stories, which is available to buy at $6;

and ANANSASEM by Aida Amoako/KidisAlright: a small print zine, made for Black History Month (UK), featuring two short Ghanaian folk tales.

As outlined earlier, there have been many calls for more BAME literary voices,

so zine-ing can be an incubation hub for POC, a potential stepping stone to more

mainstream forms of publishing. The oldest zine/literary magazine in the collection,

FIRE!! Devoted To Younger Negro Artists (1926). This was a literary/political/ network/social publication that used creative writing to express the experiences of

African-American during the Harlem Renaissance. It covered controversial topics,

for the time, such as homosexuality, sexual freedom, and prejudice. FIRE!! published the art and writing of many central artist figures in the Harlem

Renaissance, such as authors Zora Neale Hurston, Wallace Henry Thurman, and

Gwendolyn Bennett, poets Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps, and artist Aaron

Douglas. 6

The most popular types of zines, in this list, were: political zines (30); literary

zines (21); network/social zines (20); personal zines/perzines (16); and art zines

(13). The remaining zines were a mixture of health zines, fanzines, travel zines,

music zines, scene zines, comixs, and vocational zines. Over half of all of the zines

had a clear political, with both a lowercase and uppercase p, message. Some could

be segmented into traditional categories, such as Anarchist, Libertarian, Feminist,

and Queer etc. but the majority were political and/or cultural critiques through a

variety of formats e.g. autobiographical accounts, creative writing, artwork etc.

This research found that POC, particularly women (cis and trans-), used zines to

share their experiences of, but not limited to, racism, sexism, contemporary culture,

and other issues of marginalization with interconnected communities: 45 zines

(76%) explicitly discussed racism or issues of race; 40 zines (68%) explicitly

discussed Feminism or issues of sexism; and 33 (56%) explicitly discussed issues of

sexuality and/or gender identity. Women created over half (35 out of 59) of the

zines and 30 of the zines had multiple contributors, forming interconnected textual

6 See: https://issuu.com/poczineproject/docs/poczp_fire_1926_readview.

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communities. This confirms that, “zines are a community-building tool of meaning

making that can inform coalitional work” [44, p. 60]. With many marginalized

communities and groups still facing discrimination and underrepresentation in 2016:

these textual communities are more important than ever.

Political and Cultural Issues: Racism and Race, Sexism and Feminism, and Sexuality and Gender Identity

As discussed earlier, a digital civil rights movement is currently underway in the

USA in response to police brutality against the black community. Swaine et al. [63]

found that African American men (between the ages of 15-34) were nine times more

likely to be killed by the police than any other demographic in the USA. There have

also been a number of high profile cases of police brutality against black women in

recent years, which has resulted in the #SayHerName movement [35]. It comes as

no surprise, then, that so many (76%) of the zines on the POCZP deal explicitly with

issues of race and racism. For example, political zine, Black Women Matter: the Zine Edition, Vol. 1 (2014) details the stories of 11 black women who have been killed by law enforcement in the USA. While perzines, such as Watermelon…and other things that make me uncomfortable as a black person (2011) by Whit Taylor and network/social/literary zines such as Ra(i)ze by “a collection of radical Asians at UNC”,

7 deal with racial stereotypes and cultural assumptions. On a more positive

note, Mocha Chocolata Momma Zine: COLLECTION (2014), by Marya Erinn Jones, is a fanzine series dedicated to the lives of black American women, real or

imagined. For example, the Bessie Coleman edition gives the history of the first

black female pilot. There are a number of other literary zines, such as literary/art/

political/social/network zine BDGRMMR (2014) by Yulan Grant, Justin Allen, and Brandon Owens, that showcase the literary and artists works of emerging creators.

As outlined above, a number of scholars have looked the emergence of feminist

zine culture, starting with the Riot Grrrl movement, and its impact of feminism and

female cultural production. However, as discussed earlier, the experiences and

practices of women of colour (WOC) are missing from many of these major studies.

Feminism and sexism are clearly important issues for the majority of the POC

zinesters: 68% of all the zines explicitly discussed these issues. Several of the zines

deal with issues such as misogyny and the fetishization of WOC. For example,

political/literary/social/network zine, BROS FALL BACK (2013) by The Secret Society of Femmes is a cultural critique of patriarchal oppression and identity,

particularly within the bro/fraternity subculture. While Ra(i)ze (details above) and Not Straight Not White Male (details below) both subvert the submissive Asian women stereotype while providing experience of being sexualised and fetishized by,

largely older, men.

Gender and sexual identity was a topic explored by 56% of the POCZP zines.

Despite the rise in LGBTQIA+ stories in the last few years: there is a distant lack of

trans protagonists, particularly those written by trans authors [32]. Additionally,

LGBTQIA+ people still face discrimination across the world. In 2016, the state of

7 See: https://issuu.com/raize/docs/zinelayout.

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North Carolina passed an anti-discriminatory law against LGBTQIA+ people,

stripping them of many of their rights. The law, which has been protested against by

numerous key figures including authors, demonstrates that LGBTQIA+ voices and

experiences are not being recognized everywhere and it is, thus, more important

than ever that they are heard [24].

For example, Hidden Expressions Vol .18 (2013) and Freeing Ourselves: A Guide to Health and Self Love for Brown Bois (2011) both collated stories and personal narratives about gender identity. Hidden Expressions Vol .1 is a political/social/ network/literary, collaborate, annual zine with contributions from incarcerated

transgender and gender non-conforming people. Supported by the Transformative

Justice Law Project of Illinois (TJLP), an advocacy group that supports transgender

people, the aims of the zine are to connect the contributing prisoners to friends,

family, and likeminded people, help with feelings of isolation, and provide a space

for self-representation. Freeing Ourselves: A Guide to Health and Self Love for Brown Bois is a multi-genre health guide by the Brown Boi Project, a community and leadership project working across race and gender to promote gender

transformative learning for POC. Like, Hidden Expressions Vol .1 the zine aims to connect people and to help give them a voice; however, it is focused on

developing leadership skills for a young, mostly teenage, audience.

Sexuality, particularly in less liberal communities and countries, was also

discussed in several zines: perzine Korea: The Queer Edition (2013) by, mixed- media artist, Estella Miyuki Baker documents her experience of attending various

LGBTQ demonstrations and rallies in South Korea; Vănguard: Issue #1 (2014) by Aiden Nguyẽ̂n and Thanh Mai, a literary/art/social/network zine, provides a space

for self-expression for the LGBTQ community in Vietnam; Gaysi Zine (2011), a literary/political/social/network zine, by Gaysi, also providing a space for LBGTQ

in the Desi community in India; and Totally Radical Muslim Zine (2014), a literary/ political/social/network, zine with contributions from multiple authors deals with

Islamophobia and homophobia.

All of these zines, and many of the others in the POCZP, aim to empower their

contributors and readers by giving them control of their stories. Zines, and self-

publishing in general, allow creators to control how they represented because the

content is not created to serve the interest of others: zinesters do not have to bend to,

or tap into, market trends and pressures. This is especially pertinent for marginalized

people and groups [33].

Perzines and Network Zines

Over a quarter of the zines in the POC Zine showcase were perzines (but often with

political, literary, or artistic slant). Perzines, personal zines, are “diaries open to the

public; shared notes on the day-to-day life, thoughts, and experiences of the writer”

[18, p. 11]. This type of autobiographical zine gives an insight into the subcultural

identity construction of POC (both individually and as a collective). Perzines are a

popular genre of zines. According to Schmidt, approximately two thirds of all zines

8 See: http://tjlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Hidden-Expressions-volume-1.pdf.

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published in the USA are perzines: a higher percentage than the number of perzines

in the POCZP showcase [56].

Chidgey [10] argues that perzines “provide valuable qualitative data document-

ing the micro-histories and situated knowledges of lived experiences” and they

should, subsequently, “take their place among other sources such as letters, diaries,

oral history interviews, as offering a unique narrative demonstrating the effects of history, as experienced by its living participants”. Zine-ing, and self-publishing in

general, removes the barriers to self-expression and enables these, traditionally

private formats, to become semi-public (printed) and public (digital). Although

many of the POCZP zines had a political context, this was usually based on identity

rather than ideology: the phrase the personal is political is particularly relevant to many of the perzines in this collection.

For example, the political perzine, Light Skinned Tears (2014) by Lena F-G-M is an autobiographical essay that looks at issues faced by people of dual ethnicities in

what she calls, “our white supremacist culture” 9 In her description of the zine, the

creator explicitly writes, “Please pass it on to other folks that are interested in

talking about mixed race identity! Please don’t pass it on to people with the intent to

derail conversations about other, related struggles against white supremacy!”

Another example is, perzine, Not Straight Not White Male (2012) by Rosi: an autobiographical zine that deals with gender, sexual, and ethnic identity. Rosi

writes, “I wrote this zine because there is a lack of media that I can really, truly

relate to. It is glaringly obvious that this radical scene is comprised mostly of

heteros, of whites, and of males. I am Asian, I am hella gay, and I am female.” The First 7-inch Was Better: How I Became an Ex-Punk (2008), a political perzine, by Nia King was also created in response to the lack of inclusion of POC, women and

LGBTQIA+ people in some subcultures, primarily the anarcho-punk. All of these

zines have a strong political message, and despite Rosi writing, “I wrote this for me

a lot more than I wrote it for you”, it is clear that they are intended to contribute to

ongoing discussions about identity and racism.

Network zines, according to Duncombe, help to publicize underground culture.

The community aspects of zines is a safe space for POC and/or LGBTQIA+ people

to come to come together to share their stories. The aforementioned, Vănguard: Issue #1, Ra(i)ze, Gaysi Zine, and Totally Radical Muslim Zine were created specifically for this purpose, as a place for a place for “participation among equals”

[18, p. 12]. In fact Vănguard’s mission statement is:

We hope to establish a safe platform where LGBTQ individuals can freely

express themselves and have their voices heard. Lastly, we aim to foster

solidarity and unite the LGBTQ community through art, literature and

activism. 10

The participatory nature of these collaborative zines allows communities to come

together and form a strong, collective identity. For example, there were several

zines that concentrated on reproductive health and justice: Muchacha Issue 8:

9 See: http://issuu.com/flyoverdistro/docs/lst_web_version/21?e=11861756/10052942.

10 See: http://www.vanguardzine.com/#!about/cazn.

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Nuestros Cuerpos/Our Bodies (2013) and RAIX Zine (Vol. 1, issue 2.) (2015) are both health/political/social/network/literary a multi-author, multi-genre zines, which

focus on reproductive activism in the Americas. While The Radical Doula Guide: A Political Primer for Full-Spectrum Pregnancy and Childbirth Support (2012) by Miriam Zoila Pérez is a health/political/vocational zine that tackles issues such as

class, race, gender, and identity within the contexts of this vocation.

Conclusion

This research found that there is a diverse and thriving POC zine culture, as

showcased by the POCZP. Political zines, particularly those focused on issues of

racism and race, feminism and sexism, and gender and sexual identity, dominated

the POCZP showcase. Network zines were also popular, more so than perzines,

which, in previous studies, were the most popular type of zine. This shows that POC

zinesters, as spotlighted by POCZP, were more concerned with connecting with

others and showcasing the work of likeminded people than writing individual,

autobiographical narratives. These larger networks form a counter public sphere that allows POC zinesters to self-represent, as a collective, outwith the confines of

mainstream media. This reemphasizes the social nature of zine-ing, as described by

Radway [49].

The question remains, what can mainstream media, particularly the publishing

industry, learn from this? While there have been some initiatives to support

emerging authors and to open up the publishing process—for example, independent

publishers are increasingly turning to crowdfunding to fund more risky projects and

to build to establish reading communities—Unbound are one of the only publishers

to do this on a regular basis (and only two of their fully-funded projects deal

explicitly with issues surrounding racism and race). 11

This is where zines fit into the

publishing ecosystem and how they can help shape diversity in publishing: they can

be indicators of new genres, subgenres, developing markets, and audiences; they can

provide a space for these areas to enroot; and they can allow authentic, and diverse,

voices to develop. As outlined above, zines (and self-publishing) enable zinesters to

create content that is not covered by mainstream media and to express themselves

freely without the constraints of cultural gatekeepers and market demands. As

marginalized communities congregate around shared experiences and identities,

non-mainstream and or difficult topics grow in popularity and become integrated

into mainstream culture. This means that zines are often the first space, to support

and promote, areas of culture that are emerging. A recent example of where these

emerging topics, as written about on the POCZP, have entered the mainstream is the

spate of Young Adult novels that explore race and police brutality being published

by major publishing companies (e.g. THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas,

published by HarperCollins: this book was inspired by the #BlackLivesMatter

movement) [2].

11 See: https://unbound.co.uk.

Pub Res Q (2017) 33:215–228 225

123

Duncombe argued, twenty years ago, that zines could be used as “a model of

participatory cultural production and organization”: they have, at least, the potential

to make the cultural industries more democratic [18, p. 129]. It is clear that

zinesters, and those reading zines, have redefined and are redefining the way we

produce, exchange, and consume cultural products. It is relatively easy to start zine-

ing, particularly with the advancements in digital technologies, and anyone—no

matter what their background or skill—can create their own their own zines and thus

participate in literary culture. This more collaborative, participatory, approach to

cultural production is changing the way that people, especially marginalized

communities, see themselves situated within wider social contexts. Zinesters are

creating their own narratives, which subvert and challenge mainstream viewpoints

and realities: this counters the hegemonic stronghold of cultural production and

expression.

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, dis-

tribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s)

and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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