Zines are self-published small-circulation booklets used as art, protest, and community building. Learn their history from 1930s sci-fi to 2026 exhibitions.
In September 2026, the Center for Book Arts in New York will open Paper Cuts, an exhibition examining 25 years of independent publishing in the United States through a collection of more than 600 zines and small-press publications. The collection was gathered and researched by Christopher Kardambikis over the past decade, through extensive travel, studio visits, and conversations with artists and publishers across the country. Three guest curators, each working within distinct communities, developed thematic reading tables shaped by queer publishing, Black-led editorial platforms, and DIY print networks. The exhibition documents a distributed and largely self-organized field of artistic production operating outside commercial and institutional publishing structures. Read more at Center for Book Arts.
Zines are self-published, small-circulation booklets produced by individuals or small groups, typically using cheap reproduction methods like photocopying, risograph printing, or letterpress. They are distributed through mail, zine fairs, independent bookstores, and word of mouth rather than through commercial publishing channels. Zines cover any subject: personal diaries, music criticism, political organizing, poetry, comics, collage, fiction, and art. What unites them is not content but method: zines are made by the people who want to make them, distributed to whoever wants to read them, and produced without the expectation of commercial profit.
This entry covers the history of zines from 1930s science fiction fanzines to the 2026 museum exhibitions that treat them as cultural artifacts, the communities that defined the medium, and how zines continue to function as tools for art, protest, and community building.
The word "zine" is short for "fanzine," which is short for "fan magazine." The term originated in science fiction fandom in the 1930s, where fans produced amateur magazines about their favorite stories and authors. Over time, the "fan" was dropped, and "zine" came to refer to any self-published, small-circulation publication. There is no single definition of a zine, and zine makers themselves resist rigid categorization. The Wellcome Collection in London, which began collecting zines in 2016, described zines as coming in all shapes, sizes, and media, from single-page handwritten mini-zines to tactile zines exploring accessibility through braille and audio.
What distinguishes a zine from other small publications is its DIY ethos. Zines are made with whatever tools are available: photocopiers, scissors, glue sticks, typewriters, pens, and increasingly, risograph printers. The production values are often deliberately rough, with visible paste-up marks, crooked text, and hand-drawn elements. This roughness is not a limitation but an aesthetic choice. It signals that the zine was made by a person, not a corporation, and that the maker prioritized expression over polish.
Zines are typically produced in editions of 10 to 500 copies, though some are one-of-a-kind. They are sold or traded at zine fairs, through mail-order distros, and at independent bookstores. The low cost of production and distribution means that zines can be made by anyone, regardless of financial resources or institutional backing. This accessibility has made zines the medium of choice for communities that are excluded from mainstream publishing: punks, queer communities, people of color, disabled people, and political activists.
The first modern zine is generally considered to be The Comet, published in 1930 by the Science Correspondence Club in Chicago. Science fiction fandom created a culture of zine production that lasted for decades, with fans producing mimeographed or hectographed magazines about their favorite stories, authors, and conventions. Spockanalia (1967), a Star Trek fanzine edited by Devra Michels and Sherna Comer, was one of the first media fanzines, launching a culture of fan fiction and fan art that continues online today.
The science fiction zine culture also included feminist publications. Janus (later Aurora), edited by Janice Bogstad and Jeanne Gomoll in Madison, Wisconsin, from 1975 to 1990, was a feminist science fiction zine that provided a space for women in a male-dominated fandom. The University of Kent's 2026 exhibition Make It Yourself traced this history from 1930s sci-fi fanzines through punk and riot grrrl to contemporary practice. Read more at University of Kent.
Punk culture transformed zines from a niche fandom practice into a widespread cultural phenomenon. The punk movement was a reaction against the commercialization of music and the authoritarianism of mainstream culture, and zines were its primary communication tool. Punk zines like Sniffin' Glue (1976, edited by Mark Perry in London) and Search and Destroy (1977, edited by V. Vale in San Francisco) documented the punk scene with a raw, photocopied aesthetic that matched the music. Sniffin' Glue famously printed the three chords of "God Save the Queen" with the caption "Here's a chord, here's another, here's another. Now form a band," capturing the DIY ethos in a single page.
Punk zines also created spaces for voices that were excluded from the mainstream music press. Women in punk produced zines that addressed sexism in the scene. Girlfrenzy (1980s, UK) was a queercore zine that critiqued homophobia in both punk culture and wider society. The punk zine culture established the template that later movements would adopt: cheap production, personal voice, political engagement, and a refusal to wait for institutional permission.
The riot grrrl movement of the early 1990s made zines a central tool of feminist organizing. Bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile were part of a movement that combined music, zines, and political activism to address issues including sexual violence, body image, and sexism in the music industry. Zines like Bikini Kill (1991, edited by Kathleen Hanna and Tobi Vail) and Jigsaw (edited by Tobi Vail) were distributed at shows and through mail order, creating a network of feminist communication that existed outside mainstream media.
Riot grrrl zines were deliberately personal and political at the same time. They included manifestos, personal essays, collages, and hand-drawn text. The aesthetic was rough and urgent, matching the content. The movement's zine culture influenced a generation of feminist writers and artists who saw self-publishing as a political act. The Expozine exhibition Owning Our Histories in Montreal (February to March 2026) showcased riot grrrl zines alongside contemporary queer and BIPOC zines, tracing this lineage from the 1980s to the present. Read more at Expozine.
The internet did not kill zines. It changed how they are distributed and discovered, but the physical object remains important. Zine fairs like Expozine in Montreal (founded in 2002), the NYC Zine Fest (founded in 2010), and the Los Angeles Zine Fest (founded in 2012) grew into major events. The risograph printer, which became widely available in the 2010s, gave zine makers a new tool that combined the cheapness of photocopying with the color capabilities of offset printing, leading to a risograph zine aesthetic characterized by fluorescent colors and tactile textures.
In 2026, the Fanzineist Vienna International Mail Art Book and Zine Exhibition received nearly 500 packages containing approximately 1,300 art books and zines from 61 countries. The exhibition at Semperdepot in Vienna presented handmade zines, experimental artist books, self-published catalogues, and conceptual publications, revealing what the organizers described as a global network of exchange shaped by printed matter, DIY ethics, and artistic autonomy. Read more at Fanzineist Vienna.
The science fiction fan community created the first zine culture. The Comet (1930) is generally considered the first fanzine. Fans produced zines using mimeographs and hectographs, distributing them through fan clubs and mail. This culture established the practices of self-publishing, trade, and community building that later zine cultures adopted. Janus/Aurora (1975-1990) was a feminist science fiction zine that provided space for women in a male-dominated fandom.
Mark Perry's Sniffin' Glue (1976, London) and V. Vale's Search and Destroy (1977, San Francisco) defined the punk zine aesthetic: photocopied, handwritten, collage-based, and urgent. Punk zines documented the scene, reviewed shows, and published interviews with bands that the mainstream press ignored. The punk zine culture established zines as a tool for countercultural communication.
Kathleen Hanna and Tobi Vail's Bikini Kill zine (1991) and Vail's Jigsaw zine were central to the riot grrrl movement. These zines combined political manifestos with personal essays and hand-drawn text, addressing sexual violence, body image, and sexism in the music industry. Riot grrrl zines demonstrated that self-publishing could be a form of feminist organizing, not just cultural expression.
Russian created Ring of Fire in the late 1990s, a zine about becoming disabled, politics, sexuality, and gender. Twenty years later, the Wellcome Collection in London invited Russian to reflect on the original zine by creating an audio-described animation depicting disabled friends, mentors, and ancestors, with new drawings and collaged images from the original. The work was part of the Zines Forever! DIY Publishing and Disability Justice exhibition at the Wellcome Collection (March to September 2025), which explored how zines have been used to share experiences of disability and disabled identity. Read more at Wellcome Collection.
The Center for Book Arts' Paper Cuts exhibition (September to December 2026) is the most significant zine exhibition of the year, documenting 25 years of independent publishing in the United States through over 600 zines. The exhibition's three guest curators brought perspectives from queer publishing, Black-led editorial platforms, and DIY print networks, situating individual works within the broader systems of production, exchange, and circulation that define independent publishing.
The Expozine Owning Our Histories programme in Montreal (February to March 2026) celebrated how queer and BIPOC communities create, share, and preserve their own histories through zines, oral traditions, and grassroots collections. The exhibition featured dozens of rare zines from the 1980s to today, from riot grrrl zines to contemporary queer and BIPOC expressions. The programme emphasized that zines have always been how communities document themselves, and that these archives were built by communities, not institutions.
The Wellcome Collection's Zines Forever! DIY Publishing and Disability Justice (2025) looked at how zines have been used to share experiences of disability and disabled identity. The display drew on the museum's growing collection of over 1,300 zines themed around health and explored how the making and sharing of zines can further disability activism and community building. The exhibition included tactile zines exploring accessibility through braille and audio, and a zine-making station where visitors could create their own.
Zines connect to artists' books as a related form of book-based art, though zines tend to be cheaper, faster, and more ephemeral. They relate to collage, as many zines use collage as a primary visual technique, and to illustration, as zines are a major outlet for independent illustrators. Zines also connect to letterpress and bookbinding as production methods used by some zine makers. For more on art and publishing, read our post on art and advertising, or explore our guide to digital art.
Zines are best experienced by holding them. The Center for Book Arts in New York runs rotating zine exhibitions, including Paper Cuts from September to December 2026. Printed Matter in New York carries a wide selection of zines alongside artists' books. Expozine in Montreal holds an annual zine fair, typically in November, that is one of the largest in North America. The Wellcome Collection in London maintains a growing collection of over 1,300 zines themed around health. The University of Kent's Special Collections holds over 350 zines donated by artist Dan Thompson.
If you want to understand zines, the best approach is to make one. Take a sheet of paper, fold it into eighths, cut the middle, and you have a single-page zine. Write, draw, or collage on it, photocopy it, and give it to someone. That is the entire practice. For more on the broader context, read our entries on artists' books and collage, or explore our post on art and advertising.
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