Do you still read books or magazines that you can hold in your hands? If you do, you’re definitely not alone.
While a lot of reading is done online since the advent of the internet, there is still a pre-existing alternative of blog-like, personal, local, very independent periodicals…or “zines.”
Moriah Russo is the director and organizer of Zine Fest, Orlando’s annual celebration of its community of dozens of zine publishers and their readers. It’s happening this weekend.
She says independent zines in Orlando may be seeing new levels of popularity, but they have a long history that might surprise you.
Over the years, I've been trying to figure out for how long Orlando has been hosting zine fests, because I know that these have been going on since the 90s,” Russo said. “There might have been a lapse in the early 2000s, but there's always been a zine community, and it ebbs and flows.”
“Right now, I think we're in kind of a zine boom,” she added. “There's usually 45 zine makers at each annual festival, so it's pretty robust.”
But what exactly is a zine?
“That’s a difficult question to answer, because there really isn't one definition,” Russo said. “There are some common characteristics to zines. Broadly, they're self-published pamphlets or booklets, sometimes magazines that reflect individual viewpoints. In being self-published, there's emphasis on self-expression. They are not beholden to publishers or things like the market. They're affordable.”
For Russo, along with self-expression, accessibility is an important aspect of zines. “I like to emphasize how zines break down barriers to cultural production. A lot of times, ‘the Arts with a capital A’ or ‘Literature with a capital L’ aren't super accessible to everyone,” she said, “but zines are something pretty much anyone can make with materials at home, and they can be about anything or about nothing.”
Zines generally reflect the interest of the zine maker, much like a blog, vlog, or podcast online. But Russo said new zine makers seem drawn to things that exist in real space, not cyberspace.
“I find that the younger creators are interested in the print medium because maybe they’re so inundated with social media and video format that it’s just a refreshing break for attention to hold something physical,” she explained. “I'm noticing that there are more individual zine makers making personal zines, or artist zines, like portfolios” that people can hold in their hands.
In fact, she said, illustration and visual art is popular content for zine makers these days. “So they'll be showcasing, sort of as a portfolio in zine format, their illustration work, drawing, or sometimes photographs of paintings or reproductions of photography.”
Literary zines full of writings or poetry and educational zines full of history or how-tos are also popular, added Russo, along with fan zines celebrating certain celebrities, bands or TV shows.
Zine Fest itself is “a bit of a party atmosphere,” laughed Russo. She explained that dozens of creative zine makers will be mixed with crafting, printing, and music, along with the board games, collectibles and food regularly on offer from event host Blackbird Comics and Coffeehouse.
“This community really does look forward to the Orlando ZINE Fest as an annual event. A lot of times, it's the only opportunity that creators have to share their work with a broader audience than what they might have cultivated on social media or through like a small circulation,” said Russo. “And I'm personally passionate about freedom and publishing and self-expression, so it's really rewarding to be able to facilitate that.”
