Zines began as self-published fan magazines in the 1930s and gained popularity among counterculture groups like beat poets and punks in the 1960s-70s. The rise of photocopying and offset printing technologies in the 1940s-50s helped the underground zine scene grow. In the 1990s, the Riot Grrrl feminist punk movement spread through zines like Bikini Kill. While the internet impacted zines, providing new platforms and wider audiences, it also contributed to some decline as blogs and websites rose. Today, zines still thrive as a grassroots art and publishing form.

1. A Short History of Zines
(Barnard College Zine Library)

2. Zines Are...
mostly photocopied
different from magazines -
no barcode or ISSN
arise from the concept of
self publishing
topics usually too far out of
the mainstream for
traditional media Sticky Institute, Melbourne

3. Names And All That
zine is not short for
magazine
comes from fanzine, which
is a combination of “fan
mags” and “letterzines”
the opposite of a fanzine
was a “prozine”
Librarian at Papercut Zine Library,
Cambridge, Massachusetts

4. In the Olden Days
1930s - the duplicating
Mimeograph makes
reproduction possible
The Comet, the first scifi
fanzine is also published

5. I Love My Photocopier
1942 Xerography is
patented by Chester Carlson
in 1942
Electrostatic printing with
photography
Used in photocopiers today

6. The Underground
1960s Beat poets make
chapbooks, hippies make
radical underground
newspapers
1970s Rise of punk zines
e.g. Maximum RocknRoll,
Punk, Sniffing Glue

7. Getting the Word Out
1982 Factsheet Five is
published - thousands of
zine reviews and contacts
spreads zine culture pre
internet

8. Riot Grrrl
1990s From the zine Bikini
Kill comes the band of the
same name, 1st Riot Grrrl
band
Riot Grrrl = Pro queer, anti
sexism, against sexual
abuse, pro choice
From Bikini Kill zine #1

9. Riot Grrrl
Combining DIY ethos of
punk scene to create own
music, art & zines
more females become
involved in traditionally
male zine scene, also rise
of “perzine”

10. The Internet Arrives
1994 Internet begins to
become more widespread
Usenet and alt.zines
E-zines
Internet causes both boom
(exposure) and decline
(webpages & blogging)

11. And Now...
Zine revival?
Art zines often referred to
as “zines” today (e.g. small
press such as Nieves)
Advantages to paper over
screens? Like books, zines
are tactile
Nieves 100+ Zines Exhibition

12. MCA Zine Fair, Sydney
Zines have the tang of truth about them. They're unabashedly
passionate and sell nothing but ideas
Chris Dodge, Utne magazine