This week I’m talking about my new found love of zines. Join me in a coffee whilst I do?
The Coffee:
This week I am drinking a Rwandan coffee this week. The Kinini Natural from Atkinson’s in Lancaster has tasting notes of pomegranate, lime and milk chocolate and I have really enjoyed drinking this one.
The Zines:
Zines have never been a thing in my life. I’d heard of them in passing, but never come across them until my two favourite authors (Melinda Salisbury and Sarah Maria Griffin) started making them. Little bundles of joy in the post from my favourites? Yes, thank you. I am all over that, and I love them! So I thought I would share some of the reasons why.
There is so much variety. They are about literally anything. In the last month or so, I’ve learned who Bin Bons is and why everyone loves him, I’ve been scared pants-less by a seaside ghost story, I’ve had my little heart hurt by a video game I knew nothing about (Zelda), I’ve read a feminist take on The Addams Family with added blackout poetry, and been almost destroyed by the most beautiful piece of writing about medication I have ever read. None of these things are things I’d have read about without these wee zines.
They arrive in the post. Actual post, from the postman. Post that is not a bill. There is something joyous about that in itself. I used to love getting post when I was younger, or handwritten notes from my friends passed between classes. As a grown up, I never get interesting post (unless it’s my birthday), so the opportunity to get some from my favourite authors is a great thing.
Zines are the perfect size to read over a coffee. They’re maybe A5 / A6 sized (I don’t know, I don’t really understand paper sizes). I love sitting down to read them with a hot coffee and finishing them in one sitting whilst the coffee is still warm. If I had a job in an office where I had set breaks, they’d be a great thing to read on a coffee break. As I don’t, they give me a good opportunity to carve out a coffee break in my day.
They pack a punch. My gods do these little bundles pack a punch. Mel’s ghost story is still haunting me weeks after reading it, and every single thing that Sarah writes is the new most beautiful thing I have ever read. They hit me right in the feels where it hurts.
More from my faves. Obviously, every tiny scrap of writing I can get from my favourites is a good thing. Books take a long time to write, and whilst I am more than happy to wait for every book these beauties write, the opportunity to have more of their writing in my life is too good an opportunity to pass up on.
Do you read zines? Can you recommend any I should be looking out for?
Charlotte, Somewhere 
Getting post is the BEST!
LikeLike