LA Zine Fest to Celebrate Self-Publishing Tradition

Sandra Miska

Zinesters unite! LA Zine Fest is gearing up to take place Feb. 15 at Homenetmen, a community center in Los Angeles’s Glassell Park neighborhood.

What exactly is a zine, you ask?  The traditional definition is a self-published magazine with a circulation of 1,000 or fewer.  The first zines were created around the time of the Great Depression as science fiction fan publications.  Zines are also heavily associated with the punk movement, which came to be in the 1970s.  The invention of the photocopier made it easy for fans to create zines in mass quantities, allowing fans to learn more about their favorite bands.  The first feminist zine was created in 1989 and the riot grrrl movement of the 1990s led to an explosion of zines.

With the invention of the Internet, zines went into decline.  Some were able to transform into websites, while many faded away.  However, the zine still lives, and today zine publishers and enthusiasts, also known as “zinesters,” can come together at events like LA Zine Fests, to sell their self-published zines and comics, as well as exchange ideas.

From the official LAZF website: “We believe that by embracing the urge to create and sharing ideas there can be a more robust and formidable local zine community extending beyond bookstores and bedrooms. L.A. Zine Fest is an opportunity for Southern California’s zinesters to be together en masse to meet and exchange ideas with those from all over the country.”

LA Zine Fest is free to attend and will feature over 180 exhibitors, including writers, illustrators, comic creators, photographers and other artists.  There will also be two zine libraries and music provided by KXLU 88.9 FM.

Punk is still a big part of the zine scene, which is apparent by LAZF’s keynote speakers, Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, co-authors of “Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk.”  Other panels and discussions include “POC Reclaimed Fame,” a panel on the role zines play in reclaiming cultural identity; “When To Say When,” a discussion about zinesters and boundaries; “Old School, New School,” a discussion between veteran and newer zinesters; and “Straightforward Stitches: Bookbinding For All,” a workshop on how to make two different book structures.

LA Zine Fest will take place Feb. 15 at Homenetmen in Glassell Park.