It’s pronounced zeen, like a “little magazine.” I make them about issues and ideas that are important to me and give them out for free, both at my shows and when I bring my mobile zine library to other events.

My current library is below; click through for the digital versions (many of them also have printable PDF versions to print/fold your own).

SPECIAL OFFER: I give away my zines for free at shows, but for people who aren’t able to catch me in person, I put together a bundle you can order via Button Poetry.

Bulk Orders

On a hand-to-hand level, these zines are all free if I have them in stock and you come to a show; if you can’t do that though, feel free to print (and fold) some yourself.

Quick note: if you want a bunch of one or more of these zines, get in touch. For example: if you work at a university and want a few thousand consent zines to include in first-year orientation materials, or if you’re organizing a young writers’ conference and want a few hundred of the poetry one- let’s talk! Contact me via my booking form.

Some Background

A zine is, more or less, a little booklet that someone creates, copies, and shares. Maybe you have a passion you want to write about, or you just want to showcase some sketches or poems, or you’re spreading the word about some local activist work- whatever the topic, a zine is a tool for communication and community-building. Of course, that’s the simple version. There is a whole long, rich history of zine-making in the US (and beyond). That’s beyond the scope of this page, but I share a few related links for further reading below.

I’m drawn to zines for three primary reasons:

• They’re real. In a world where so much is digital, zines are something concrete that you can physically distribute (ideally using recycled materials). Of course, they can also be digitized for maximum accessibility, but in a world where social media platforms are increasingly unreliable, zines are one option (among others) for a more old-school approach to sharing information.
• They’re small. The limited space is an exercise in editing: how do you share what you want to share, especially when you’re super passionate about it, when you have a limited amount of pages to work with? What information is most vital and/or “sticky” for your intended audience? This has been a healthy challenge for me (and one that relates pretty directly to poetry too).
• They’re democratic. Another point that has something in common with spoken word and slam poetry: Zines acknowledge that everyone has a story, or a passion, or something meaningful to share. You don’t have to ask for permission or have a formal publisher. You don’t need a huge budget, or enormous social media following. You just have to have something to say.

Make Your Own Zines

There’s no one way to make or format a zine, but I really like the 8-page “z-fold” format. You take one sheet of paper (I use 11×17 paper, but it also works with 8.5×11), cut a slit in the middle, and then fold it how that link says. Here’s a tutorial video too. For shorter runs of a particular zine, I just print them out myself, and spend a few hours cutting/folding while watching a movie or whatever. You could also throw zine-folding parties and get more people involved.

For larger runs, I’ve been sending PDFs to a print shop (Smart Set here in MPLS; a union shop, offering a paper option that is 100% post-consumer waste recycled) and getting them printed/stapled instead, just to save the time/effort of doing all that folding. That’s more expensive, but can be worth it if you’re printing thousands at a time (which is rare for most zines, but something to think about).

A couple other resources:

• How to Make a Zine
• A Brief History of Zines
• Get To Know The Little Magazines of The Harlem Renaissance
• Twin Cities Zine Fest + Videos
• Barnard College Zine Library
• Chapman University Feminist Zine Archive
• Sprout Distro Anarchist Zines
• Finally, here is a resource document from my workshop on “zines as bullhorns.” In it, you’ll find the slides from that session, links to a ton of examples and resources, and two Canva templates that I use for making 8-page mini-zines using a single sheet of 8.5×11 paper.

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