What is a Zine?

From "Introduction to The Zine Yearbook" by Stephen Duncombe.

"Zines...are non commercial, nonprofessional, small circulation magazines that their creators produce, publish and distribute by themselves. I add that zines are usually reproduced on standard paper on regular old copy machines, assembled by hand, and swapped for other zines or sold at minimal cost."



"Zines are not normal.By this I mean that zines are a gateway into an alternative world. They twist and turn through the idosyncratic and sometimes bizarre interests of their publishers, opening up vistas into unexplored territory for the curious. Zines also shine a light into a shadow America (or Britain or Mexico or wherever), a world of subcultural scenes, where groups of individuals come together to forge novel systems of values, different artistic tastes and practices, or dissident political views...and then write about these self-generated alternative worlds. And as zine writers communicate to one another, swapping zines and thereby sharing their ideas and lives, they create a new community linked by words, paper, and the postal service; a virtual bohemia."