Zine queen

Hazel Pine shares what it’s like to run the planet’s largest zine archive

By Mairead Case
Published: September 4th, 2007 | 1:13pm

Hazel Pine is the coordinator of Seattle’s Zine Archive & Publishing Project (ZAPP), whose 17,000-plus publications make up the largest known zine library in the world. In addition to zines, the multi-tentacled collection includes comics, chapbooks, pamphlets, perzines, fan art, monographs, journals, and a giant poster of Madonna. It’s all located in the basement of the Hugo House, a writing center that used to be a funeral home. In fact, ZAPP now occupies the room once used to embalm bodies.

ZAPP’s zines are alphabetized in 27 categories, from “Arts” to “Work.” Randomly browsing the archives, you are likely to bump into topics you didn’t even know you were interested in (composting! Satanism!) or inspire you to engage in conversations you didn’t know were happening (copyright law! Monkeys!).

The topics that dominate zines vary widely, but trends are still noticeable to experts like Pine. “I am disappointed to say I hardly see any DIY projects focused around feminism or gender issues. Or queer culture even,” she says. “The main focus right now is bike culture and building self-sustaining communities.”

Staffed by volunteers, ZAPP also provides workspace for people interested in creating their own zines and offers classes, readings, and indie publishing workshops.

In addition to coordinating the library, Pine publishes her own zine, Cursive Bomb. Although it is sometimes a challenge to keep the archive running without losing one’s own passion for the medium, a sense of responsibility to the zine community keeps her writing. “I’m the only one who is going to tell my story,” Pine says. “And since I love nothing more than reading other people’s stories, what else can I do to pay them back but do the same?”

More info at hugohouse.org.

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DON’T LIVE IN SEATTLE? CHECK OUT THESE OTHER ZINE LIBRARIES
• Aboveground Zine Library in New Orleans (abovegroundzinelibrary.com)
• Barnard Zine Library (barnard.edu/library/zines)
• Chicago Underground Library (underground-library.org)
• Denver Zine Library (denverzinelibrary.org)
• Papercut Zine Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts (baamboston.org/papercut)
• Zine World (undergroundpress.org)
• message boards at punkplanet.com

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