What is a Zine?
Zines are scrappy. Zines are inspired. Zines are audacious.
Words by Amelia Luke
Pronounced ZEEN and short for fanZINE (or is it magaZINE?), zines are the ultimate expression of the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) attitude. Zines aren’t published—they’re self-published. They don’t have a big budget or print run—they’re supposed to be handed or mailed to you, not bought in a storefront. They’re not conventional, but that’s the point: anyone can make a zine. Whether it’s sci-fi fans in the 30s, punks in the 70s, riot grrrl feminists in the 90s, it’s people outside the mainstream who really, really care. And to let you into a community they love and believe in, they’re going to share something with you that they made with their own blood, sweat, and tears.
So, get ready for this year’s ZINE ISSUE of EMPIRE TIMES—it’s arts and crafts time. Grab some paper, a dozen coloured markers, and a pair of scissors. We do hope you’ll stick around, at least for a little while, but you don’t need us. Just stick to the ethos:
No one can stop you from Doing It Yourself.
History of Zines
BEFORE
Although what we specifically call zines didn’t originate until the 20th century, people have been distributing leaflets and pamphlets for hundreds of years, tools for both propaganda and resistance during political and religious upheavals. Then, in the 1800s, we can see a key link to the modern conception of the zine in the rise of the amateur press movement and ‘little magazines’.
One of the first kinds of production that we recognise as a zine, however, was by fans, for fans.
TO BOLDLY GO
Created in the shadow of the popular pulp science fiction magazines of the 1930s, these amateur productions were originally known as ‘fanmags’[1]. In 1940, sci-fi fan and American chess champ Louis Chauvenet would give these publications the name ‘fanzines’, contrasting them against ‘prozines’ (read: professional magazines).
Fanzines became a staple of mid-century science-fiction fandom, a means by which fans could share information, discuss their favourite genre media, and find updates on fandom itself. Star Trek fanzines in particular have a long and storied history, particularly when it comes to publishing the first examples of what is now called slashfic[2].
This, along with conventions and other meetups, was how fandoms thrived and survived pre-Internet. And not just genre fandoms either—for example, a few decades later, one music fandom was about to blow up.
GET PUNK’D
It’s the 70s, and things have hit the roof. Punks enter the picture, alongside an all-time high in the ordinary person’s access to copy machines and printing technology. Punk was a genre of the working class, and this DIY sensibility was mirrored in its fans’ use of the zine format. Punks saw zines as inherently countercultural, a way to share reviews and interviews of bands outside the mainstream press. Long before the World Wide Web, zines let local punk scenes, subcultures, and knowledge of specific bands spread not just to nearby cities but to completely different countries.
Fanzines for other genres of music, such as Rock n’ Roll, were prevalent in this time as well, but a shared scrappy attitude has indelibly left punks and zines linked in the public consciousness.
LET’S RIOT, GRRRL
Fast-forward to the 90s, and third-wave feminism mixes with DIY punk sensibilities to produce the underground riot grrrl movement. Originating in America’s Pacific Northwest, this was music and art as activism, and, just like the 70s punks before it, was supported by homemade zines. These were often made from cut-and-paste text and images, photocopied and collaged into new art. Like the movement’s songs, zines were a way of bringing personal issues affecting young women[3] into a more public space. Queer zines and those of other activist movements also flourished during this time, a testament to how zines had become a voice for the marginalised.
This would be the last heyday of the zine. It wasn’t to disappear entirely[4], but the Internet and private webpages did much to displace print media as the place to express oneself[5].
NOW
In 2026, a zine is kind of like a tiny blog (I mean, if people still had blogs). But these days, it’s the tactile element that has become so important—you made something with your own hands that exists in the real world, that you can pass on to someone else. Zine fests and similar local events allow the creation and sharing of zines to become a community-building activity, while places like Australia’s State Libraries are now archiving zines for their historical importance.
It used to be we thought that putting something online was going to make it last forever, and physical objects like zines were ethereal. Now, more than ever, we know it’s the other way around.
[1] Or ‘fanags’, which is just terrible.
[2] Between Kirk and Spock, of course.
[3] Such as patriarchy, domestic violence, sexuality, and female empowerment.
[4] Otherwise, why would you be reading this issue?
[5] Well, at least until private webpages became blogs and forums, which became Tweeting and Facebooking, which became micro-vlogs, which will become…
This article was first published in Issue 3 of Empire Times.