Zine Collection at Bryn Mawr College

The Bryn Mawr Zine Collection contains a collection of zines: hand-made, self-published, small press and/or independent publications made for limited distribution. These publications date from 1978 to 2015 with the bulk of the materials from 1990-2005.

This collection is organized into two series: “Series I: Zines” and “Series II: Related Materials.”

“Series I: Zines” comprises the majority of the collection and is composed of independent or self-published materials largely focusing on countercultural movements of the 1990s and early 2000s. The included publications are largely focused on various social justice causes including ‘riot grrrl’ and other associated feminist movements, LGBT+ rights, racial justice, and anti-capitalism as well as the underground/punk scene and the DIY movement. Many also contain collections of poetry, short fiction, and hand-drawn artwork created by the author or gathered from reader submissions.

“Series II: Related Materials” are publications in the collection that, while related to zines and their creators, are not zines themselves. Most of these are zine guides produced contemporaneously that summarized popular publications of various genres and offered recommendations to readers within the scene. Additionally, some materials in this series were written by ‘zinesters’ reflecting on their experiences as an active creator within the zine community.