Race revolt is a zine all about race, racism, and the surrounding issues. Pieces include: 'white men shut up', a conversation between zinesters Nia ('angry black-white girl') and Osa ('shotgun seamstress'), 'how women could fight patriarchies by having anal sex with straight men' (which is my fave piece) and 'trapped between two worlds'. A long, text-heavy zine, with lots to take in.

This is a smart, messy, jam-packed zine, all about the writer's travels around Central America and other places. It's full to the brim with fascinating stories and random adventures- makes me want to hop on a plane and go explore somewhere!

A brilliant half-sized comp-zine featuring 23 unique posters, each celebrating an inspiring European woman. The poster subjects are varied, ranging from musicians such as Nana Mouskouri, to activists such as Jayaben Desai; from scientists such as Jocelyn Bell Burnell, to writers such as Angela Carter. I found reading about these inspirational women, many of whom I regret to say I’d never heard of, very enlightening – I think it’s important to learn about the pioneering women that came before us, who worked (and are sometimes still working) to further the feminist cause in Europe. Melanie also lists a number of helpful links to further relevant reading, viewing, and research. My favourite quote from the zine, taken from a page dedicated to Ari Up and Poly Styrene: “To be normal is not a healthy aspiration”.

This is a well written, intelligent and eloquent zine. Kelly starts by telling the reader that ‘this is a zine about setting boundaries’. In it he writes about trans identities, the use of gendered pronouns and how these can be upsetting. He also uses extracts from diaries from as far back as 2000 which explore his feeling on this issue up to the present day.
This is a brave zine and well worth a read.

This is an incredible zine. Kelly, a transgender guy, writes all about periods- past, present and (hopefully) their absence in the future. He covers everything, including his first period, pads, tampons, underwear and the fateful day when his period returned again. At the back of the zine is stories/thoughts of contributors about their own periods. I always thought that if I read a zine on the subject of menstruation it would be from a feminist/grrrl perspective, so to view it from this angle was fascinating. If you like your zines a little different, this is highly recommended.

“Short and queer” is an amazing zine written by a transgender bloke, Kelly. This issue features experts of some of the speeches and performances he has given over the years. Included is “Tranny roadshow piece 2006” (all about the reactions of friends and strangers during the sex change process), Tranny roadshow piece 2008 (female socialization), “Keynote speech delivered at the Colorado Goldrush Conference” and loads more. A thought-provoking and interesting zine.

This perzine was written by a girl in the UK all about dropping out of university and and trying to sort out her sexuality. She moved to Brighton (my favourite city ever!) to learn German and Spanish, but realized that the courses weren't challenging enough and wound up dropping out and deciding to pursue studies in linguistics instead. This tale is followed by a really interesting page of little-known facts about the English language. For example, no one knows where the word 'dog' comes from. Also, English was first written in a runic alphabet and there was a symbol similar to a 'y' but pronounced as a 'th'. Which means that the word 'ye' was actually pronounced 'the'. Neat, huh? She writes about attending a students' LGBT conference and not fitting in; with the students and "gay culture" in general. This is something I can relate to entirely, and found really captivating. This feeling lead to discussions on dating, coming out, crushing on straight girls and being diagnosed with depression. I think that Sophie seems like a pretty cool girl and I'm looking forward to seeing what she comes up with in the future.

This is a charming, dream-like (as suggested by the title) zine. Lisa tells tales of being a student and a mother, visiting an art gallery, keeping a diary and music. This zine has such a precious, whimsical feel to it.

This is an absolutely phenomenal resource and an essential read for everyone. Everything is written so honestly which is needed to approach such a sensitive topic. It’s a compilation zine of sorts but with lots of writing and compiled by Cindy (who writes Doris zine).
*could be really triggering*

Stolen Sharpie Revolution 2 is a must for anyone who is interested in making a zine, getting zines, or just remotely interested in zines. It includes a useful skill sharing section on the basics of making a zine including pages of "how to" tutorials on making your own paper, block printing and mail art. With tips on protecting yourself from those who try to exploit the zine community, lots of website addresses and even information on how to set up your own distro, SSR2 is a jam-packed little book. At a quarter size, it's small enough to fit into your pocket or backpack. No zine fan should be without it!

Prolific Canadian zinester Maranda has long been one of my favourite writers and this issue of Telegram Ma’am doesn’t disappoint.
They write about the excitement of new beginnings in autumn time, looking back at the back at the highs and lows of the year past, all whilst not forgetting how vital the present moment can and should be for all of us. As always, Maranda’s writing is honest, funny and poignant.
This issue includes writing on their experience coming out of a psychiatric hospital (“ye olde mental hospital”), sobriety, genderqueerness, positive self-love (“Be your own therapist” – amen to that) and – huzzah! – a fantastic piece all about the ins and outs of Borderline Personality Disorder.
“This zine is about fucking up and learning and letting go. Mourning my lives and creating new ones”.
Reading it is like having a beautiful, late-night conversation with an old friend. It is wonderful and super inspiring, with lovely collage work throughout.

I can't imagine travelling almost three thousand miles by bus, but that's what Rum Lad author did in his trip to Portland on a Greyhound bus, where he encountered all manner of characters!

I was impressed by this zine- it's cute to look at and covers a range of topics including weight and body issues, days off, being acquisitive and books. With lovely little drawings. A charming read.

The Venns is a research project about finding the perfect pub quiz, where Quint advances her own Quiz Venn Theory based on research conducted at various pub quizzes in Sheffield. This theory is illustrated with flow charts, pie charts, graphs, equations, and venn diagrams. It’s a lovely zine for pub quiz enthusiasts, which also features articles on why Quint and Jow love pub quizzes, the archetypes within a pub quiz team (e.g. The Ditherer), pub quiz etiquette, sample quiz questions, and rules of pub quiz nature (including “never second-guess your first instinct”). There’s also a list of pub quizzes in and around Sheffield to check out. A fun little read that made me want to check out more pub quizzes (even though I’m terrible at them

Virgin is a quarter-size perzine written by an anonymous girl in the UK all about, well, virginity. In the intro, she says, "Basically, I'm not getting any and never have had any. This doesn't really bother me, but it bothers the rest of the world and that reaction DOES bother me." She chronicles her romantic life in chronological order, from being bullied as a preteen for not crushing on boys and having her first celebrity crush turn out to be a girl, to persevering through awkward dates and makeout sessions. Her lack of experience often leads friends to question her sexuality, basically asking, "If you haven't had sex, how do you know who you're attracted to?" This, of course, is absolutely ridiculous - If a virgin claims to be heterosexual, no one questions them, but if you're queer (or bisexual, or asexual, or anything but straight), somehow you have to prove yourself? Not cool. She writes about the many questions she asks herself about her own sexuality, and her experiences within the LGBT community. Also included is a short list of famous virgins throughout history (Hans Christian Andersen, Lewis Carroll and Emily Dickinson, among others), and people who were known for their virginity at some point in their lives (including Adolf Hitler and Britney Spears). This is a short but engaging read on a topic that is not discussed often enough.

The first issue of Virgin, published in summer 2009, was written by one anonymous girl about her own experiences of being a virgin. This issue, finally published last month, is “the submissions issue”, made up of other people’s stories instead of the author/editor’s own. The submissions cover topics of disability, fear of intimacy, virginity as a burden rather than a blessing, asexuality, lesbianism, sexual abuse, self-worth and virginity as an exclusive heterosexual concept. As well as these submissions, the author/editor writes about the overwhelmingly positive feedback she got about the first issue, and the way the issues of asexuality and choice were misinterpreted in her original issue. The zine is half-sized, with clean layouts. I highly recommend picking up a copy of this zine, as it’s a really thought-provoking read.

At an A5 size with quality thick pages this is a very professional looking zine. As someone who is not a chronic pain sufferer, but with acquaintances who are, it was a really useful and insightful read. Various contributions means that it covers many different experiences. Annie's comic in the middle, called 'Sick' is possibly the loveliest comic I've ever seen in a zine, really thoughtful and beautifully drawn, it talks about the sorts of attitudes people face when they are sick or disabled. There are personal stories and advice for friends and family of chronic pain sufferers who want to support their loved ones in the best possible way. There is also a great section about each contributor and loads of further recommendations which is really helpful.

xyz is a zine that focuses on sex, gender, and being queer; this issue focuses on those issues in relation to kids and babies. Specifically, Will writes about how genderqueer behaviour is viewed in children (e.g. the Tomboy trope), mermaids, the agendered Swedish child Pop, how childhood is gendered at toy shops, and the development of gender and sex in early childhood. Will also considers the phrase “think of the children!”, paternity leave, and the issues that genderqueer parents have to face, such as who gets called mum and who gets called dad. My personal favourite, however, is a fantastic essay on how Disney villains are presented as queer, and how this attempts to normalise queerphobia for youngsters! I’d never considered the gentlemanly flamboyance of male villains such as Hook and Jafar, and the androgyny of Ursula (with her plus-sized frame and clumsiness) and Cruella de Vil (with her flat chest and big chin) that make them so threatening. An orange cover with pink interior pages, the layout is plain but eye-catching. An entertaining and thoughtful read, xyz is fast becoming one of my favourite British zines.

Another fantastic issue of xyz by Will! This one centers around the concept of femme, and is packed full of intelligent articles, alongside some more personal pieces. This issue includes pieces on femmephobia, the history of the colour pink and its origin as a boy’s colour (“pink was a fainter shade of red: strong, yet tempered enough to dress a child in”), make up, the issues ze has with the campaign “Pink Stinks”, feeling nervous around femme girls, unisex toilets, the poor treatment of femininity under the established medical model (e.g. the exclusively female “condition” called “hysteria”), and attending a protest march with Queer Resistance. The zine is rounded off with a lovely cut-and-paste page on how feminisms are for everyone. Half-sized with a red cover and a pretty little drawing on the front, it’s pretty nice to look at too. I always learn so much when reading Will’s zines, and devour them as soon as they arrive through my front door.

Holey Moley! This zine’s amazing. It could quite easily have been called “All you ever wanted to know about genderqueerness and being trans* (but were afraid to ask)”. This zine is indeed a real primer on many aspects of living as a trans* and genderqueerness.
xyz #4 discusses bodily autonomy and consent, the concept of ‘queerness’, privilege, has a rundown of famous hormones and much more. I doff my cap to the writer of xyz for zir thorough research and most excellent wordsmithery. Zir informed, whipsmart writing makes what could easily be quite dry topics spark into life - heck, there’s even a biography of an endocrinologist that kept me gripped and reading on.
xyz is written with passion and intelligence – sometimes tipping over into anger which is why the author issues a warning at the start that zir views might upset, especially those pieces on hatecrimes and consent.
C-section, the first issue of many I hope, discusses many aspects of being trans*: transitioning, dealing with children, and explores coming out as trans* through the author’s own experiences, wisdom and the experiences of her friends (what is it like to be come out to?). There is also a sort of ‘how to’ guide to coming out. Not only that, but there are also a few yummy recipes (for sweet potato roast with raspberry coulis, and sake and chilli jelly).
I enjoyed every aspect of this splitzine, but especially the mutual respect between the two writers: each writes a portrait of the other which made my cold, cold heart turn into mush. In short, this is one of the best, most informed and informative zines, I have ever read and I look forward to more issues.

This issue is mainly about Tukru's accident whilst at roller derby that resulted in her having to wear a cast on her arm for a long time, and how it affected her life, i.e: not being able to write, not being able to work etc. She talks through the whole experience, from the initial fall to when she gets her cast taken off. If i read any other zine about this subject i doubt i would have liked it- I don’t know how Tukru does it, but her writing pretty much makes any subject interesting.

This was a tough issue for Tukru. Last summer, her longterm boyfriend Carl's father passed on from throat cancer. Tukru shares with us all that she felt and experienced, and all that those close to her (and to him) felt and experienced, surrounding the time leading up to his hospitalisation, then his sadly passing on, his funeral, and life after all of the trauma. Inevitably, it's the most personal of Tukru's 'zines yet, and the emotion with which she writes is raw, open, and really moving to read. I love the tribute to Carl's father - I'll leave the heartwarming, ridiculous fun of that as a surprise. The way Carl's dad's death provokes Tukru to re-assess her own familial relations/ties is written with deep personal searching. Tukru also manages to fit in articles on her new distro, and her painful induction to rollerskating.

- more than 200 reviews of zines, comics, magazines, books, and other self-published materials
- commentary by Joshua (of Ms Valerie Park distro) called “Where We Were and Where We Want to Be.”
- commentary by Candace (of Sticky Institute) called “The Bubble — Zines and Constructive Criticism.”
- commentary by Jerianne titled “Why I’m Mad About the New Fanzines Book.”
- an article by Lizzy (of Marching Stars distro) called “Amusing, Odd and Infuriating Things That I’ve Learnt from Running a UK Distro.”
- two articles about Microcosm Publishing – “Cindy Crabb Says No to Microcosm” and “Microcosm Says No to ZW, Other Zines.”
- a list of reader recommended zine distros & stores that sell zines.
- resource listings on zine libraries, review zines, and online resources, with articles on postage changes and the Revenge of Print.