If you’re a young creative in Toronto, chances are you’ve encountered a zine. These handmade, short-run print publications can be found all over the city, from independent bookstores to libraries like the Toronto Reference Library and the Toronto Zine Library. But what exactly is a zine, and why are they so popular?
A small portion of the author’s zine collection (Image Source: Nadine Gonzales)
A zine (pronounced ZEEN, from a shortening of “magazine”) is an expansive art form that can take on many styles, topics, and genres. Generally, zines are short booklets that are self-published or published by a small press, and often have a distinct DIY or cut-and-paste visual style. As a noncommercial art form distributed in small numbers, zines provide “an alternative to the hierarchical, commodified world of mainstream media.” This makes them a perfect vehicle for accessible, subversive, challenging, or revolutionary material.
The history of zines is rooted in self-expression, radical art, and giving a voice to marginalized communities. While the 1940s saw a boom in zine culture with the rise of science fiction and fanzines, they additionally brought about the first ever queer zine, “Vice Versa,” created by Edythe Eyde (or Lisa Ben, an anagram of ‘lesbian’). Since publication was free – having been typed and made by Eyde herself – the zine was able to reach people quite easily.
A spread of UK fanzines from the 1970s (Image Source: Wikimedia)
Accessibility was made especially easier once the Xerox corporation introduced the photocopier in 1949, thus making copy shops widely available in the 1970s. Zinesters could print their work quickly and cheaply, and with the punk scene becoming the main source for zine culture, it’s only fitting for zines to be considered the “Punk Rock of Publishing.” In a time of cultural movements and the struggles of finding agency and a way to have your voice be heard, mail and print rose to the occasion allowing for communities to thrive outside of traditional industries; collections such as “Riot Grrrl” and “Queercore” being leaders in feminist and queer zine movements, respectively. Zines became a vital tool for connecting people, pushing political movements, and all in all allowing for an outlet of creative freedom.
Through the glass view of the 2025 Toronto’s Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) (Image Source: Nadine Gonzales)
The small scale of zine distribution means these publications often operate in niches, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a wide-reaching impact. Today, with algorithms and corporate censorship controlling what we see online, it’s more important than ever to engage with analog content. Zine libraries, independent bookstores, postsecondary campuses, and neighbourhood little libraries are great places to start your zine journey. Here are a few places to check out:
- Toronto Zine Library (292 Brunswick Ave)
- Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge St)
- OPRIG zine library at U of T (230 College St)
- Secret Planet (918 Danforth Ave)
- Type Books (2287 Dundas St W)
- The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives
- Colour Code Printing (251 Sorauren Ave #104)
Zines show the amount of power that the print holds and in turn shows the power we have as people seeing as anyone can make one! There are so many different kinds of zines to make and new ones pop up all the time. In 2025, Toronto’s zine culture is thriving so there has never been a better time to become a zinester.
A zine about this very article! (Image Source: Nadine Gonzales)
Featured Image Source: Nadine Gonzales
