The zine has always aligned itself with queer culture. After all, the underground format of such publications instantly lends itself to a subculture that has long been oppressed and marginalised. And more often than not, the subversive content of such zines suit a genre that – inherently – usurps notions of mainstream publishing.
But how do you document an underground movement? Well, if you’re partners Milo Miller and Christopher Wilde you simply create an online archive of zines… which isn’t as easy as it sounds. Still, the couple have achieved international renown with the creation of the Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP), an operation which originates from their home in Milwaukee.
‘When my partner and I met, we realised that we had hundreds of queer zines between us,’ Miller explained of what lead to the creation of QZAP. ‘We wanted to create a way of preserving the history and culture (or subculture) that queer zines represent. The website was officially launched November 1st, 2003. We’ll be celebrating our 6th anniversary this year.’
The online archive features over 250 zines from across the globe. The zines are digitally scanned with users able to download them as PDFs. The earliest zine in the archive dates back to 1973 with titles added daily. Over a dozen countries are represented in the archive, as are over eight languages. QZAP essentially creates a ‘living history’ of zines, one that encourages constant input.
‘In curating such a unique aspect of culture, we value a collectivist approach that respects the diversity of experiences that fall under the heading “queer”,’ Miller added. ‘By providing access to the historical canon of queer zines we hope to make them more accessible to diverse communities and reach wider audiences.’
Miller also noted that the origins of the modern day queer zine movement grew out of San Francisco’s homocore and queercore music scenes in the mid-’80s, which spawned the respectively titled and now cult classic zines Homocore and Queercore.
‘In many ways queer zines traditionally (pre-internet) were and are vehicles for expressing discontent with the mainstream, for promoting oneself, for learning and growing communities, and as a means of connecting to others,’ Miller added.
‘The zine community at large has usually been very queer friendly, and also has the same values. While it’s not a monoculture, I think that there isn’t really a separation between the two. More likely, zinesters – the people who make zines – and queers naturally come together to inform, entertain, and resist.’
And, of course, QZAP is always open for submissions. Miller encourages zinesters to either scan their queer zines and email them as PDFs or simply post them in to QZAP. After all, it’s the only way such a culturally significant collection can grow… if those who create also contribute!
For further information visit www.qzap.org or email zines to milo@qzap.org.
QZAP
2935 N. Fratney St.
Milwaukee, WI 53212
USA
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