Research Guides

Zines

Scholarship

Over the past several decades, zines have increasingly been the subject of scholarly inquiry. Below are a few suggested resources. 

Books

Cultural Analysis

  • Duncombe, Stephen. Notes from Underground Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture, 3rd ed. Portland: Microcosm Publishing, 2017.
  • Licona, Adela C. Zines in Third Space: Radical Cooperation and Borderlands Rhetoric. Albany: SUNY Press, 2013.
  • Piepmeier, Alison. Girl Zines Making Media, Doing Feminism. New York: New York University Press, 2009.
  • Triggs, Teal. Fanzines. London: Thames & Hudson, 2010.

Zine Anthologies

  • Atoe, Osa. Shotgun Seamstress Zine Collection: Six Zines By & For Black Punks. Tacoma, WA: Mend My Dress Press, 2012.
  • Clark, Ethan. Stories Care Forgot: An Anthology of New Orleans Zines. San Francisco, CA: Last Gasp, 2006.
  • Crabb, Cindy, editor. Learning Good Consent On Healthy Relationships and Survivor Support. Edinburgh: AK Press, 2016.
  • Crabb, Cindy. The Encyclopedia of Doris: Stories, Essays, & Interviews. Athens, Ohio: Doris Press, 2011.
  • Elizabeth, Maranda. Telegram: A Collection of 27 Issues. Tacoma: Mend My Dress Press, 2012.
  • Martens, China. The Future Generation: The Zine-Book for Subculture Parents, Kids, Friends & Others. Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2017.

"How-to" Guides

  • Todd, Mark, and Esther Pearl Watson. Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine?: The Art of Making Zines and Minicomics. Boston, MA: Graphia, 2006.
  • Wrekk, Alex. Stolen Sharpie Revolution 2: A DIY Zine Resource for Zines and Zine Culture. Portland, OR: Lunchroom Pub, 2009.

Interviews with Zinesters

  • Vale, V. Zines!. San Francisco, Calif: V. Vale, 1996.

Articles

Here are a few places to look for articles about zines. 

  • CUNY Academic Works - The institutional repository may be searched by keyword, and new works are uploaded continually. 

A few highlights: 

Funding

Barnard Library Research Awards - Barnard has two grants available to researchers using the Archives, Zine Library, or Barnard Center for Research on Women (BCRW) collection. 

Mary Lily Research Grants - Annual grants to support research at The Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture at Duke University. Their collections include an extensive zine library: "over 3500 zines relating to the experience of women, girls, and women-identified people, with a majority dating from 1985-2005."