Zine

Overview

The 1990s saw a small publishing revolution in the form of zines: independently- or self-published magazines that sought to give voice to underrepresented people or groups.  These zines ran the gamut from fanzines promoting music, film, or literary genres to publications that told the very personal stories of their authors.  The popularity of zines reached its apex in the 1990s.  The founders of Razorcake/Gorsky, Inc., the Los Angeles-based 501(c)3 publisher of the nation’s largest zine dedicated to independent music and culture, amassed an extensive collection of these zines spanning over two decades.  Razorcake/Gorsky has donated their collection to the California State University Channel Islands library. 

The stories encapsulated within these zines represent a multicultural ethnography of emerging artists over the last decade of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first.  Many of the writers, artists, and musicians who tell their stories in this collection have gone on to become award-winning writers, NEA fellows, best-selling authors or musicians, and fine artists who exhibit their works in major galleries.  The digital collection at CI allows scholars, fans, and the uninitiated free access to these rapidly disappearing stories.

Resources

• Digital Collection

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