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Special Collections Floating Zine Collection Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department. Copyright: Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials. Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement. Acquisition and Processing Information: Special Collections Project Archivist Jeremy Brett began assembling this collection in early 2009. Individual donors include: Lisa Ahne, Sabrina Margarita Alcantara, Jackie Batey, Jeremy Brett, Ned Brooks, Ben Castle, Jenna Freedman, Kevin Kooyman, Alex Pickett, and a number of anonymous zinesters. Photographs: None |
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Scope and Contents
The Floating Zine Collection consists of numerous zines acquired by Special Collections at various times and which are not attached to a particular donor or otherwise dedicated collection. Hence, they might be described as "floating". This collection is, in a sense, the equivalent of a general materials collection in a library.
The zines in this collection constitute a wide variety of subjects and concerns, Many are perzines, that is,"personal" zines that describe the author's own experiences, thoughts and feelings. Others are anthologies of stories or poetry, or consist of comic or other types of art. Still other zines are designed as outlets for political or social expression. Many zines encompass more than one type or style, reflecting the fluidity of the zine as a product of creative endeavor.
Historical Note
The term "zine" (derived from the word "fanzine") refers generally to an small, informal, non-professionally produced publication. By their very nature zines are hard to define exactly, but distinguishing common characteristics of zines include a small circulation (sometimes via subscription but often distributed informally among interested parties) and a raison d'etre that stresses free expression over profit.
Zines are graphic expressions of their authors' social, cultural, and political interests and concerns. They are creative outlets devoted to individual and idiosyncratic self-expression. A zine can be about pretty much anything: politics, music, sex, gender relations, sports, pop culture - the list is virtually endless. As Julie Bartel, author of From A to Zine (2004) , notes,
"Zines are about diversity, creativity, innovation, and expression. As a group, zines deliberately lack cohesion
of form or function, representing as they do individual visions and ideals rather than professional or corporate
objectives. With zines, anything goes. Anything. They can be about toasters, food, a favorite television show, thrift
stores, anarchism, candy, bunnies, sexual abuse, architecture, war, gingerbread men, activism, retirement
homes, comics, eating disorders, Barbie dolls - you name it."
Zines have a long and storied tradition as instruments of social and political change, as cultural relics, and as outlets for expression by underground or marginalized populations. The first zines in America arguably were the many political broadsides produced prior to and during the American Revolution, the most famous of these being Common Sense (1776) by Thomas Paine. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries authors, essayists and political activists rejecting or rejected by the mainstream media as it then existed self-published their own opinions and creative works (a famous literary example from Britain would be that of the Bronte siblings - Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne - who as children wrote and "published" numerous stories of their imaginary literary worlds). Zines began to flower with the late 19th-century development of the "amateur press association" movement, in which groups of amateur printers obtained their own personal printing presses and created small magazines as products of their hobby.
Zines first really entered the cultural milieu as a specific and noticeable phenomenon in the 1930s, when the emerging science fiction fan community started creating "fanzines" as forums for their own stories and opinions on published and broadcast SF works. Fanzines became popular tools used by geographically disparate fans to communicate with one another before the emergence of the Internet in the 1990s. Zines are still primarily associated with science fiction fandom today because of their immense and ongoing popularity among fans. Special Collections has a number of collections consisting of fanzines and works of fan fiction from a number of different media properties.
The zine was taken up in the 1970s by the burgeoning punk music movement as a method of expressing its disdain for the mainstream
music and social scenes. The punk movement favored a strong anti-establishment, anti-corporate music way of life, and members created zines devoted to bands and artists who shared their worldview and were overlooked by standard publications and media outlets. Zines became an additional way for punk music fans and artists to circumvent "the system". The popularity of zines was helped along during this decade by the advent of the increasing availability of cheap photocopying (and, starting in the 1980s, the personal computer).
Following in the footsteps of punk, members of the emerging 1990s "riot grrrl" underground feminist movement - an amorphous melding of female-driven music, concern with the complexities of female identity, and a new consciousness of institutional, social and cultural sexism - adopted zines as forums for their own forms of self-expression. Riot grrrl zines often moved beyond the music itself and concerned themselves with feminist political and social issues such as discrimination, sexual abuse, eating disorders, and concerns over body image.
Many zines are marked by stories of intensely personal experiences relating to these issues, which reinforce the traditional concept of the zine as a uniquely individual creation, a truly DIY (Do-It-Yourself) product born directly out of the author's personal vision and unmarked by editors, publishers, reviewers or any outside parties.
Zines, although to some degree superceded by the arrival of blogs, continue to thrive today as methods of personal expression in print, and as places for exploration of new social issues, including environmentalism, consumerism, and globalization. Many, however, continue to devote themselves to more "traditional" subject matter - i.e. underground music, radical politics, or science fiction and fantasy fandom.
Related Materials
ATCA Periodicals and Zines Collection. Bulk dates: 1960 - 1980. 75+ ft.
This ATCA collection brings together journals, newspapers, zines, and similar formal and informal periodicals that are art-related or have artistic merit. The range of subjects is broad and include political and cultural issues, gender and sexuality questions, as well as music, film, poetry, and religion. MsC779. (Finding Aid)
BERGUS, NICK AND LAURA. Bergus Zine Collection, 1978-2002. 13.5 ft.
Zines collected by Nick and Laura Bergus documenting avant garde and popular music in the 1980s and 1990s. MsC834. (Finding Aid)
JOHNSON, BRENT. The Brent Johnson Iowa Killed Buddy Holly Small Press and Zine Shop Collection, 1990-2005. 5.5 ft.
Collection of zines and other small press publications assembled by Johnson, an Iowa City native who operated the Iowa Killed Buddy Holly Small Press and Zine Shop in Iowa City. MsC 319. (Finding Aid)
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS. Special Collections Floating Comic Book Collection, 1992-2009. 0.2 ft.
Collection of assorted comic books not tied to any particular donor or other collection. MsC342. (Finding Aid)
WOLFE, SARAH AND JEN. Sarah and Jen Wolfe Collection of Riot Grrrl and Underground Music Zines, 1991-1998, 2003. 6 ft.
Collection of amateur publications arising primarily from the feminist riot grrrl movement of the 1990s, together with numerous zines documenting various independent/underground music scenes. MsC 878. (Finding Aid)
Box Contents List
Box 1
After The Fall, no issue # (n.d)
[After The Fall Collective, auth.]
All Out Pointless, Random and Mundane. Stew #2 (October 2009)
[Ben Castle, auth.]
Alphabetical Odor: Word Salad Anthology (2008)
Annabelle Frumbatt: A Gastronomically Ghastly Tale (2002)
[Nina Bays and Lauren Gardiner, auth.]
Anon, Good Nurse! (n.d.)
[Midwest Anonymous Artists, auth.]
Art Missive #1.0 (Spring 2004)
[Lauren Jade Martin, auth.]
Awkwardly Put #1-10 [Collected] (2007-2009)
[Cody G. auth.]
A Beat Too Long (2002)
[Eric Evans, auth.]
Bewildered Bisexual (October 2008)
[Melaina, auth.]
BOB #1 (n.d.)
Build Your Own Boyfriend #1 - 2 (October 2004, 2008)
[Kim and Maciek Smuga]
Cereal Boxes and Milk Crates: ZIne Libraries and Infoshops are NOW (n.d.)
[Lacey Prpic Hedtke, auth.]
Chord Easy (2 editions, 2003, 2006)
[Lisa Ahne, auth.]
Clowns Make Good Watchdogs (2002)
"Collage As Cultural Practice" [Obermann Humanities Symposium, UI] (2005)
Conduit #1 - 2 (n.d., 2005)
[Kevin Kooyman, ed.]
Crap Hound #7: Part One of Church and State (2007)
[Sean Tejoratchi, ed.]
cultor-sore #15 (August 2003)
[Taylor Ball, ed.]
Day of Reckoning #5 (n.d.)
[David Rebat Wreck, auth.]
Desensitized #2 - 3 (May-August 2008)
[Nicolle Bennett, auth.]
Dicks Say the Funniest Things (2009)
[Rae Alexandria, auth.]
D.I.Y. Guide #2 (n.d.)
[Crimethinc, pub.]
Dog's Breakfast #1 (n.d.)
Doris #19 (2002)
[Cindy, auth.]
Everybody Get Up #4 (2009)
EZLN Communiques #2 - 3 (January/March-April/July 1998)
[Agit Press Collective, pub.]
The Fool #3 - 5 (Fall 2002-Summer 2008)
[Kevin Kooyman, ed.]
Future Fantasteek! #7 (July 2009)
[Jackie Batey, auth.]
The Garlic Press, vol. 2 #1 (February 2002), #3 (April 2002)
A Gentrification Reader (2nd edition, n.d.)
Gideon #3 (June 2002)
Grundig #1 - 2 (n.d., January 1996)
Hope Enough? (n.d.)
How2 Zine #1/2 (n.d.)
[Kyle Bravo, auth.]
How To Turn a Comon [sic] Electronic Device Into Your Ticket To Free Long Distance (n.d.)
[Leslie James, auth.]
I Hate This Part of Texas #4 (2002)
The Inner Swine, vol. 9 #1 (March 2003)
[Jeffrey Somers, ed.]
It Goes On The Shelf #31 (November 2009)
[Ned Brooks, auth.]
Jaded Hipsters Dig Whiskey Sours (2003)
[The Urban Hermit, auth.]
Kizzy #1 (2009)
[Ben Castle, auth.]
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet #23 - 24 (November 2008-July 2009)
[Kelly Link, et.al., ed.]
Law and Anarchy: New Anarchy Series Pamphlet #4 (n.d.)
Lazy Boy (n.d.)
[Mike Baker, auth.]
Letters From The War Years: Some Notes on Love and Struggle in Times of War (2003)
[Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, ed.]
"Liberated Images: The Subversive Culture of Collages and Zines" UI Exhibition Brochure (2004)
Likes/Dislikes: Some Things Lacey Prpic Hedtke Thinks About (n.d.)
[Lacey Prpic Hedtke, auth.]
A Little Guide to Truing Bike Wheels (2004)
[Ethan, auth.]
Lululand #3 - 4 (n.d.)
[Amy Adoyzie, auth.]
The Military Strategy of Women and Children (2003)
[Butch Lee, auth.]
Miss Badass Peacock & The Phoenix (2009)
[Ben Castle, auth.]
Molly: A Pop Culture Zine #1 (June 2004)
[Candra K. Gill, ed.]
My Evil Twin Sister #2 (1995)
[Amber Gayle, auth.]
Notes on Anarchism (n.d.)
[Noam Chomsky, auth.]
Overground Literature Distribution Catalog 2005
Permanent Ink #8 (n.d.), #11 (Summer 2008)
PersuAsian #21 (Summer 2004)
[Chris Chen and Conrad Chu, ed.]
Phoenix: An Anthology of New Vietnamese and Australian Creative Works (2002)
[Dominic Hong Duc Golding, ed.]
PTBH! zine #7 (n.d.)
The Puny Whipster #5 (n.d.)
[Samuel Feinstein, ed.]
Rescue the Word: Poems (2001)
[Marilyn Buck, auth.]
Resist #42 (July 2001)
Rhizoma #1 - 2 (2005)
[Shuang Qing Lu 85hao, ed.]
Ruffsketch #2 - 3 (n.d.)
[Crimethinc, pub.]
Scientific Dinosaur #2 - 3 (May-Autumn 2003)
[M.S., S.R., and J.R., ed.]
SemiBold #8 - 9 (2002-2003)
[Kathy Moseley, auth.]
Show Me The Money! #30 (Fall/Winter 2009)
[Tony Hunnicutt, ed.]
Sinister Wisdom #47 (Summer/Fall 1992), #58 (Winter/Spring 1998)
6x6 #15 (Spring 2008)
Speak Out! #6 (September 2002)
[Bee Lavender, auth.]
Stealing Babies (2002)
Survival Without Rent (n.d.)
Take Magazine #2 (Spring 2005)
[Josef Reyes, ed.]
Takecare #3 (n.d.)
Tall Corn #1 (Summer 2006)
[Kevin Kooyman, ed.]
Tazewell's Favorite Eccentric #7 - 8 (2008)
[Sarah Arr!, auth.]
Tongues Magazine #3 (2003)
[Stacy Macias, et.al., ed.]
Towards A Less Fucked Up World: Sobriety and Anarchist Struggle (n.d.)
What's The Big Idea? #1-2 (2009)
[Ian Guch, auth.]
Without a Trace (n.d.)
The Wreckless Press #2 (2009)
Zapatista Encuentro: Documents from the 1996 Encounter for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism (1998)
[Greg Ruggiero and Stuart Sahulka, ed.]
Zine Librarian Zine #2 (Winter 2003)
[Grieg, ed.]
Zine Librarian Zine #3 (2009)
[Rachel Murphy, Jenna Freedman and Alycia Sellie ed.]
