We Make Zines

The Zine Machine is now on We Make Zines, an online networking community for zine makers. Do you make zines too? Sign up and be our friend.

Zine World #26

Zine World #26 is out, go get your own copy here.

"Zine World #26 is 62 pages, full-size, and contains:
>>about 300 reviews of zines, mini-comics, books, and indie magazines.
>>our completely updated list of zine libraries & infoshops in the United States and worldwide. (These updates haven’t been posted to the website yet but will be soon.)
>>an article on newspaper censorship.
>>columns about writing by Evan Fleischer and on politics by Grant Schreiber.
>>word of mouth on zine distros & stores, zine review zines & websites, upcoming events, zine resources, and address changes, plus classified listings for zines, indie groups, stuff for sale, and calls for submissions.
>>art by Sue Clancy, Jim Sumii, Kris, Pat M. and a cover by P.5!"

Apparently we're mentioned in this issue - thanks Chantel G. for letting us know!

Welcome to the archives

The Special Collections Department at the University of Iowa Libraries has taken a special interest in the Zine Machine and would like to create a permanent archive of zines that have been sold through the machine. Anyone sending us zines, please consider sending an extra copy for the archives. If you're a past contributor and would like a copy in this collection, please send us a copy with a note saying it's for the archives. You can send it to:

Zine Machine
PO Box 10022
Iowa City, IA 52240


A note from the library:

The University of Iowa Libraries are making a concerted effort to begin collecting zines. UI believes that zines have great value as cultural relics that give creative voice to people standing outside and beyond the societal mainstream, and provide wonderful examples of people’s artistic and literary abilities.

By collecting and preserving zines from all over the country, the Libraries hope to build a major collection of often-overlooked, often-ephemeral social documents that can be read and enjoyed by generations of researchers. Zines received by UI will be archived by Special Collections and University Archives and made accessible to all interested readers.

For more information, you can contact

Jeremy Brett

Special Collections Project Archivist
University Libraries
University of Iowa
100 Main Library
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
jeremy-brett@uiowa.edu


2 zines currently in the machine:

Generic Zine Exchange

My friend Amanda tells me that she and a fellow zinester in Buffalo, NY are organizing a zine exchange. It's open to anyone, with an open theme - it's even called the Generic Zine Exchange. The edition size is 25, and the deadline is November 15. Get more details at their website.

2008 Madison Zine Fest

The 2008 Madison Zine Fest is coming up soon - this Saturday, to be exact! This year, it'll be held at the Majestic Theater in Madison, Wisconsin, this Saturday Oct. 18, from 12-6pm. Unfortunately, the Zine Machine won't be able to go this year, but we had a lot of fun at the last one, held in 2006, and will plan ahead for next year.

SF Zine Fest

Just a note to our West Coast friends - San Francisco Zine Fest is this weekend, don't miss it! What an amazing line up they have this year, with special guests Cindy Crabb ("Doris") and Vanessa Davis ("Spaniel Rage"), along with workshops like bookbinding and screenprinting. Also, this year they're partnering with Mission Creek Music & Arts Festival, so take a break from zines and go listen to some music for a while too. Go to their website for all the details -San Francisco Zine Fest.

Good news, bad email

The good news is, we're moving back into the library this afternnon! I'm not sure when it'll be opened up to the general public, but this is definitely exciting, considering how many campus buildings are closed indefinitely. As far as I know, the flood waters didn't reach the first floor of the library so the Zine Machine is high and dry. Hooray for dry, un-moldy zines!

(This is how the book were moved upstairs, before we were all locked out.)

It's also been brought to my attention that emails to info@zinemachine.org have been bouncing back. I was wondering why no one's been writing to us! Anyways, that email account has always sucked so we're switching to zinemachine@gmail.com. They're being forwarded to this gmail account already, but soon we will cancel the info@zinemachine.org account completely.

We've received a few new submissions for the Zine Machine this summer, and keep them coming in - we won't restock the machine until late summer/early fall, but they will definitely make their way into the machine. Here are 2 to look forward to, from Art for a Democratic Society:

Iowa City flood

The Zine Machine is temporarily inaccessible due to the closing of the UI Main Library as a precaution against possible flooding. The building is protected by walls of sandbags, and now we'll just have to wait and see how high the water gets. The word is that it might flood in the basement, but is unlikely to reach the first floor (where the vending machine is). I'll keep you posted.

The parking lot behind the library (the English/Philosophy Bldg is on the right). The river usually ends on the *other* side of that row of trees on the upper left.

The swollen river behind the library, the Burlington Street bridge in the distance.

Summer of zines

Here's a more complete list of zine events that'll keep you busy until the frost returns:

April 27 London Zine Symposium (London, UK)
May 17-18 Vilnius Zine Fest (Vilnius, Lithuania)
May 24 Houston Zine Fest (Houston, Texas USA)
May 31 Denver Zine Fest (Denver, Colorado USA)
June 1 Olympia Zine Potluck (Olympia, Washington USA)
July 12-13 Twin Cities Zine Fest (Minneapolis, MN USA)
July 18-20 Milwaukee zine fest (Milwaukee, WI USA)
August 23-24 Portland Zine Symposium (Portland, Oregon USA)
September Philly Zine Fest (Philidaelphia, PA USA)
October Canzine (Toronto, ON & Halifax, NS Canada)
November Expozine (Montreal, QC Canada)

Also, we have great news from John Porcellino that his new book Thoreau at Walden came out April 22nd, in hardcover (the paperback edition will be released May 2009). Get more info on this and his other releases at King-Cat Comics.






now, get back to stapling!

Back up again!

The Zine Machine is up and running again, and has been updated with new zines (even though the website hasn't yet). Come by for a visit.

Some nearby Zine Fests coming up this summer:
Denver Zine Fest (May 31, 2008)



Twin Cities Zine Fest (July 12 & 13, 2008)
Milwaukee Zine Fest (July 18-20, 2008)

For our international zinesters, don't forget to check out The London Zine Symposium next week.

Machine Malfunction

The Zine Machine has been malfunctioning lately, having some difficulty accepting money. There are new zines in it, from Bob Lipski, Scott Smith, and Possibility Space among others (the site hasn't been updated), but for now just admire them through the glass and hold on to your hard-earned money. We'll let you know when it's up and running again.