I READ ZINES [#7]

Wonderlust Literary Zine #2

Wonderlust is the name of the zine and also the theme of each issue (the desire to be in a constant state of wonder), it contains poetry, short stories and has a fantastic comic strip to close the show as well. It makes me really proud to say that PAPER AND INK partially inspired the creation of this zine. Even if the zine sucked, it's a huge compliment. However, this zine does not suck, far from it. I was massively impressed with the first issue and this second one blows it out of the water. I can't wait to see what editor Sonya Cheney comes up with for the third issue.



This House Is Not A Landmark

I bought this zine from Sonya Cheney's brand new zine distro Nine Lives. It sounded like my cup of tea, and thankfully I was right. It is a split between Jesse Grease (Windmill zine) and Rust Belt Jessie (Reckless Chants zine) on the theme of houses. Each writer shares little vignettes of houses they have lived in, visited, partied at, watched bands play at, etc. The underlying narrative is that none of these 'houses' were never quite 'homes'. Each story is deeply personal and wonderfully written. Finding little gems like this is why I love zines and if you're into punk culture or even just honest, confessional writing, then I recommend this one highly.



Loose Meat Sandwich #1

This is a zine from creative collective Teflon Beast. In the intro it says the zine was inspired by reading My Own Mag - an experimental lit mag from the 60s which published the work of William S. Burroughs (amongst others). There isn't much content in this first issue - some experimental poems created using iPhone autocorrect and some brightly coloured illustrations of faces. There is also a playlist that accompanies the zine on the Teflon Beast bandcamp page that features an eclectic mix of bands and musicians. I'm afraid Loose Meat Sandwich has not won me over. The zine is a little bit too 'polished' for my taste and it seems to only exist in order to promote the music. If they go again for another issue I would like a little more meat in my sandwich.


Marching Stars Zine Distro: The Zine

Marching Stars zine distro has been a staple of the UK zine scene since it opened in 2007. On 1st March this year distro owner Lizzy announced the sad news that it would be closing down. It will remain open until all of the stock is gone and then she is moving on to do other things with her life. She complied this zine as a little goodbye to all of her customers, partially to explain her decision to close and also as a celebration of what she achieved. It is quite an emotional read and I will be sad to see Marching Stars go. You can't buy this zine, but it is given away free with all final orders, SO GET IN QUICK!