All About Zines

We are thrilled to bring educational zines to our community through TFI Teaches.

What is a zine?

Great question. Zines are commonly small circulation publications of original or appropriated texts and images. They are emblematic of DIY feminist practices that have preserved and recorded marginalized histories when large institutions excluded said narratives from the cultural record.

The feminist punk scene popularized the zine format in the 1990s, most notably by the inimitable Kathleen Hanna, who published the zine riot grrrl out of Olympia, Washington.

Why are zines important to our work?

Here at The Feminist Institute, we always want to pay homage to the DIY roots that have given us so much feminist history to work with.

Giving power back to marginalized voices to create a more equitable and accurate historical record is central to our work. Zines are an essential tool in accomplishing this mission.

Upcoming zines + where to find them?

If you follow us on social media, we have posted some teasers of zines we have planned under TFI Teaches.

• TFI Teaches: Personal Digital Archiving

• TFI Teaches: Considering Ethical Digitization Practices

We are excited to continue sharing more zines with our community.

Want to keep up with our zines? We’ll be releasing our first zines in the coming weeks. Make sure you subscribe to our Substack, follow us on social media, and, most importantly, check out our website + blog for the full versions of the zines and a deep dive into their content.

Lastly, you can learn more about these zine topics by attending our Pop Up Memory Lab from June 15 to July 15 at Pen and Brush.

About the TFI Memory Lab
TFI’s Memory Lab at Pen and Brush aligns our primary goal to increase access to feminist materials and empower individuals to preserve their analog and digital legacies by offering our archival services to the public. If you are interested in starting a personal archiving project and need assistance, an archival consultation at the memory lab may be the place to start.