Exhibition - Laughter in the Long Twentieth Century

A short history of zine-making

Beginnings

Zines are usually self-published do-it-yourself publications. They are either unique or have a limited number of copies in circulation. Content is often personal and is hugely varied featuring art, poetry, interviews, cartoons, comics, collage, fiction and non-fiction. Zines often represent the voices of those who are marginalised and unrepresented in society and allow zine creators a form of expression outside of the mainstream.

Zines have their roots in self-published pamphlets (we have a 1907 anarchist magazine by Emma Goldman in the exhibition), but modern zines are thought  to have originated from a science fiction fanzine called The Comet first published in 1930 by the Science Correspondence Club in the USA. Science Fiction fan culture created a hugely popular set of zine publications such as Spockanalia (about Star Trek), and Janus/Aurora, a science fiction feminist zine. Other types of fanzine created from the 1930s to the 1970s included comics fanzines (such as The Fantasy World - 1936), music fanzines, and fanzines inspired by counterculture – such as Oz magazine (1960s).

Small press poetry produced in the 1950s - 1970s shared a similarity with the beginnings of zine production. Both methods of publishing provided a voice for people outside the mainstream media, allowing authors ownership of their work and how it was published and shared. Works were often shared within small networks of fans and other interested people. This was empowering for writers and artists and was an important part of the growing popularity of the self-publishing movement. For example, the Beat Poets movement used cheap printing techniques to disseminate their work.