zines @ Wellington City Libraries

Somewhat embarrassingly, this is our first post this year on the zines blog. Hmm. But anyways! Please don’t consider this to be a lack of enthusiam; in fact, quite the opposite! We have been slogging away and have finally finished processing the hoard of sweet local zines we nabbed at the most recent ZineFest. So far, these have been my faves:

Twin Lullaby by Charlotte Forrester
This wee zine is sooo beautifully put together. (Okay, I admit it – am a total sucker for pieces of paper tied together with string. Swoon!) It’s essentially a poem in five verses, and is accompanied by beautiful watercolour art works. There is also a really sweet touch on the final page – check it out.

Not Afraid of Ruins #3 by Nausea Nissenbaum
This zine is a kind of travel diary with a difference. I love hearing people’s travel stories – I especially love hearing about far-flung countries I’ve never ventured to, and possibly never will. If this sounds like your bag, I definitely recommend this zine. You can read about loads of different European locales, and it also has other random bits and pieces, like book recommendations! Get in.

Extra Curricular issue 11, edited by Ellie Smith
I can’t help but continue the Extra Curricular love. It’s just so cool. And pretty! Beautifully put-together. This issue is dedicated to new beginnings, and introduces a host of interesting folk who have, in some way, had exactly that. This issue also has tips for crafters who are pondering starting a business from their hobby or passion. As per, this edition is crammed with other interesting bits and is an exceedingly pleasant way to kill a couple of hours! Tea and cake to accompany, optional.

Nowhere Land by Stolen
As the first page of this zine states, eveything in it is stolen from facebook. While I’m not totally down with the method, I have to say, it has made for a pretty sweet zine! It is entirely made up of images, some kinda banal and some kinda awesome. Definitely worth a flick.

We also have loads of sweet new international zines. I have been enjoying these:

This is Portland by Alexander Barrett
This zine is fun, and, not surprisingly, is aaaaall about Portland. Loaded with interesting points and things you learn about a city only by living there, it has made me want to visit! With its manky weather, famous food, abundance of coffee and a multitude of bands, it actually sounds kinda similar to Wellington… This may or may not be true… anyone out there that’s travelled both cities and knows? (image supplied by microcosmpublishing.com)

Barefoot and in the Kitchen by Ashley Rowe
Vegan recipe book! Zine style! What’s not to like? “With an emphasis on demystifying veganism and taking the intimidation out of cooking”, it helps makes cooking easy and way more fun. The Beaver Casablancas recipe is a highlight. (image supplied by microcosmpublishing.com)

Fix your Clothes by Naleigh Briggs
I love a practical zine (that’s not to say that I dislike impractical ones – keep ‘em coming!) and this one is awesome. The cover is super cute, as are the text and the illustrations inside. And best of all, it contains information we all need! Step-by-step instructions accompanied by clear illustrations, you’ll be darning your own socks in no time. Booya! (image supplied by microcosmpublishing.com)

So little time, so many awesome zines. I’m hoping to have a bit more time over the holidays to do some proper zine reading – but for now here are a few zines that I’ve been excited about lately.

The Play-A-Long Songbook: Number One: Wellington by Isobel Cairns, with transcriptions by Mark Turner

Hello this is a great idea! The Play-A-Long songbook (but we’re calling it a zine just because) is a lovingly produced A4 compendium of radness. It compiles lyrics, chords and melodies for five songs from some of Wellington’s best known artists – Disasteradio – Wet Wings – Secret Knives – The Sing Songs (with our very own 2nd floor librarian Jeremy!) – Seth Frightening. Also features awesome drawings by one of our favourite zine authors Isobel Cairns.

Extra Curricular (issue 10) edited by Ellie Smith

Merry Christmas! The newest issue of Extra Curricular has hit the zine shelves. Each issue has a theme and issue 10 encourages you to dip your toes into the whole self sufficiency thing. I had a completely lovely time listening to some tunes and browsing through its pages full of stories of regular* type folk creating and doing such inspiring (and yes, self sufficient) things, like – soap making, beer brewing, bread baking, fashion designing, herbal medicine concocting and beekeeping. Beekeeping looks awesome btw, we should so do that! I could live in Extra Curricular. It is good for the soul.

* regular not in a boring way, but in a hey, you can probably maybe one day do this sorta way

Christchurch Post Earthquake Reaction: Zine Expression by Jennifer Holdaway

I’ve been meaning to share this zine since it came across our desks a few months ago. It thoughtfully brings together photographs of the aftermath of the Christchurch Earthquake with a few carefully chosen poetic words and phrases. To me these collages really expressed both the sadness and emptiness that must be felt by the Christchurch people but also conveyed a real sense of emerging hope. Simple and heartfelt, this zine also includes a beautiful ‘wrap around’ poem by Jennifer.

Hey Zinesters! Come to Wellington Zinefest 2012, this Saturday, Mighty Mighty, Cuba Mall, 1-5pm.

Wellington City Libraries will have their own stall – so come down and check out Wellington’s finest in print media DIY. Word <3

Hello, it’s been a while but here are some zines I’ve been reading lately.

Epitaph for my heart: a survival guide to being social, number four by amandapandajapanese

Reading this zine, I found myself nodding in agreement several times. The author describes many situations that will be common to the non-social among us and gives some useful advice. The accidental blank (not to be confused with ‘the blank’ – a form of social abuse), selective and deliberate Alzheimer’s (where you are constantly confronted by people who don’t remember your name), inane questions (usually about your love life and usually from relatives) and eyeballing (when a stranger looks you up and down with no indication of approval or civility) are all covered in some detail.

Tinkerbell is missing (again): one cat’s tale of adventure by The WaterBear Appreciation Society

From the award winning team behind the Neighbour Cats zine, comes a heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting zine following the journey of local cat Tinkerbell. The story is told through filiers delivered to the author’s letterbox and covers multiple disappearances and reunions spanning years.

Powdered Milk, volume 5 by Keiler Roberts

Keiler Roberts parenting comic is a sweet yet realistic look at life as a new mother. From Microcosm Publishing: ”In volume five Keiler navigates the strange and parasitic worlds of depression and insomnia. She also tackles the touchy subject of public breastfeeding and deals with calm-baby-envy at a MCA comics art show. Powdered Milk is a refreshingly candid and oft-times hilarious look at juggling life as a working artist and the increasing demands of motherhood (and the resulting mental strain).” See more of Keiler’s work here.

The Field Trip to Nowhere by E.Rodda

This is a lovely little zine of handwritten thoughts and poetry, accompanied by delicate illustrations. What also struck me was the dedication “This book was written for Zora Patrick. I read her zine at lunch time on the library carpet, it took me faraway from the library carpet and reminded me that making things thoughtfully is a good thing.”

Needless to say we library zine people love this sort of story!

Beloved by e.s. Fletschinger

Beloved is a comic’s zine about a grandpa who has just lost his partner. He’s sad and lonely, and getting used to his new life. This zine is really nice because it feels so real. It is a bit sad, but it does have a happy ending. Make sure you come to the library and check it out. It’s quite touching.

A rough guide to bicycle maintenance.

This is the famous DIY Portland based  zine on how to take care of your bike. The zine introduces you to bike-shop-politics, bike parts identification, how to fix a flat, an intro to the tools you will need, brake basics and further literature on repairs and maintenance. This zine is awesome because it is super useful! If you learn some new tips on how to fix your bike you can save lots of cash.

Obsessive consumption: what did you buy today? by Kate Bingaman Burt.

Kate is a really talented illustrator besides being an obsessive consumer. In this cute little zine you will fine drawings of Kate’s daily new acquisitions. This zine is cute funny. You can check out her drawing style here.

How did you get into making zines?

I had contributed to a zine made by a friend of mine (it’s called The Collectivist) and I’d been meaning to make one of my own for a while but never really got around to it. And since I didn’t have a job or any commitments over summer, I decided to put some of my free time to good use.

Can you give us a short bio about you?

Uhh, there’s not much to tell. I’m a socially inept 18 year old, studying English and Political Science at Vic, and I love my cat.

We have read the zine and loved it. In your words could you please explain to us why you decided to make it and publish it?

I always get anxious that I’m taking myself too seriously when I talk about the zine like this, I’ll give it a try. I guess I wanted to explore the way in which we tell stories that seem so personal to us, but at the same time possess this universal quality. So I made the stories anonymous to give the interviewees space to open up and share more than they’d otherwise be comfortable with. And I also tried to find a middle ground between keeping the distinctive voice of each person, while removing a lot of the idiosyncrasies and specifics of the stories, to allow the reader to apply their own experiences or experiences they might be familiar with to each story. I don’t know whether I achieved that, but that was my intent.

Once it was out there, did you get any unexpected reactions?

Most of the people who have read it have been my friends, who have been universally supportive, but they’re sort of obliged to be. I’m not really sure whether to trust their opinions or not. It did make someone cry though, I felt pretty bad about that.

Blogging about romantic experiences can be so much fun; do you have a blog where you update your love life?

I don’t really have a love life to blog about. I have a Tumblr, but it’s mostly just pictures of Tilda Swinton and racist things Rick Santorum has said. Oh, and I have a blog just for Things We’re Not Going to Talk About.

Do you have plans to make any future zines?

I have most of the second issue finished. I just have to take a few more photos and then put everything together. It’s called Arguments I Meant to Finish but Didn’t.

What would you say to other zine makers?

I would say, “I have a dwindling social life and low self esteem, would you like to be my friend?”

Do you have any music/zines/blogs recommendations?

I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to make zines in Wellington and not have a deep respect for Incredibly Hot Sex With Hideous People. My favourite Zinefest finds are probably Family Photos – which is basically a series of photos made from photocopied hands with doodles drawn over them – Cupcake Monsters, and Neighbour Cats.I also adore This American Life podcast. I feel like everyone on the internet constantly raves about it and anything I say will end up detracting from how wonderful it is.

In terms of music, I mostly just listen to Billie Holiday and sob quietly to myself.

Whew! we have FINALLY finished processing the more than 100 zines we bought this year at the Wellington Zinefest. They are mainly titles from local zine authors/artists - and as usual, cover all subjects imaginable!  (Do-it-yourself, arts, political ones, funny ones, comics etc…)

They make for great summer reading, so please come into the Central Library and check them out!

If you’re looking for some whimsical ephemera to help wile away the holiday hours, we have HEAPS of new zines, including Wellington Zinefest purchases, on display in the zine collection on the first floor at WCL.  Here are some of my picks from the newbies…

Book of Poetry and Short Stories by Zora Patrick. 
This was Wellington Zinefest 2011’s ’Best of Fest’ winner, and as part of the erudite panel of judges for that award I’m possibly slightly biased, but I cannot say enough about how awesome this little zine is.  At just 11 years old, Zora has created a piece of self-published art that is funny, philosophical, original, weird, a little bit poignant, and downright lovingly crafted and beautiful.  Pretty much everything a zine should be, in my opinion. 

1984: The Year I Met Elvis – An Exhibition About Growing Up in the 80s by Sally Papps et al. 
Zine/catalogue of an exhibition by Sally Papps, Elvis is a memoir of teenage life in Nelson/Golden Bay in the 80s. A cute work of local history and a wonderful slice-of-life ethos.

Daily Secretion: Third Emission by Hannah Salmon. 
As delightfully transgressive and bad-taste pioneering as ever, the third installment of Daily Secretion answers all your questions on topics such as Paul Henry and thantophobia (fear of death or dying). The perfect Christmas present for grandma. 

Where You at, Bro? by David Merritt. 
David Merritt’s self-published travelling poetic ramblings are bite-sized but sturdily built.  While this is my favourite of his latest offerings, grab a few at a time – they are genuinely inspirational for writing, roadtrips and general Kerouac-esque badassness.

Statistical Analysis of The Things that happen but don’t make sense and everything else by Sarah McNeil
This zine is much more fun than taking a course in research methods or Statistics 101. Sarah has managed to find a very interesting use for statistics by collecting data on funny, mundane events and creating all sorts of graphs. In her zine you can find pie charts on “thoughts in thinking time”; as well as linear graphs of “uncomfortable ideas and feelings” set against “time looking at kittens behind the glass at the pet shop”. This zine is full of funny, cute and interesting diagrams and graphs.

Imaginary Lovers by Devon Smith
This zine is so romantic and funny! It is full of illustrations of people that Devon thinks are cool. All kinds of descriptions of imaginary lovers are included in this zine… but some of them are crossed out! I think I recognised one of them the other day… This zine deserves a “librarian’s choice” sticker ASAP!

Application Poems 2010-2011 by Alex Mitcalfe Wilson
This is another awesome zine from Alex Mitcalfe Wilson, a well-known multidisciplinary artist from Wellington. Alex’s anthology of poems is quite unusual and original. I really enjoyed the poems inspired by the World Press photo exhibition and one called “Empire”. These poems were originally submitted in applications for various writing programmes, and they are really good.

Cupcakemonsters 13 by Alex Mitcalfe Wilson
This is an upgraded/next-level-beats edition of the usual Cupcakemonsters. Alex has moved away from the usual dull winter-like colours to explore the contagious positivity of pastel colours. This pastel pink issue is bigger and feels nicer. This zine features three bands (Grouper, Martial Canterel & Captain Ahab) and it also comes with a really powerful poster of crystals.

Pernicious anaemia by Alex Mitcalfe Wilson
This zine is quite mysterious. The theme of the zine is black metal iconography and is full on scary logos and hilarious statements. There is a really funny list of Doom Band names. Come and check out this zine even if you are not into black metal.

Protroast5 by Ya-Wen Ho and Makyla Curtis
This zine has a lot of cool stories written by various story tellers from all around the world. Some of these stories are accompanied by illustrations. There are some beautiful poems and nice comics. I wonder how the editors manage to get artists from Russia and Japan to collaborate on this awesome zine? Quite impressive.

Red, yellow, blue repeat AND Blue bits by Anthony Zinonos
I have been following Anthony Zinonos’ art for years, and I am so happy that we have 2 of his zines. Red, yellow, blue repeat is full of beautiful abstract collages; while Blue bits is a bit more conceptual and funny. Both zines are gems, especially if you like collage-montage art and Anthony’s style.