how did you get involved with zines/d.i.y. publishing?
I didn’t know anything about zines when I put my first one together. I don’t mean I didn’t know how to put one together, because to me the whole point is that there is no “way” to do it, and everyone can and does put something together, whether they distribute it or not. But I mean I hadn’t read all that many zines…definitely didn’t have favorite zines or zine writers. I got in it purely for the accessibility. When I put together “refugee” it was to give out to friends and family and coworkers and fellow city college students/activists/strangers. Anyone who I thought might actually read it. Because I told all the women I had been living with on the Thai/Burma border that I would put the word out about what was going down in Burma, I put together a zine…I didn’t know a better way. I had the not-so-small goal of putting Burma on the map of as many minds to which i might have access.

why do you continue making paper zines in the age of the internet? how do you think the internet has affected the world of paper zines?
I really have no idea how the internet has affected the world of paper zines because truth is, I am an internetphobe. I just learned about youtube a couple of weeks ago when my little brother came to visit me. I’ve got email, but that is about as far as I go. I feel really funny and old or something because I sometimes think that the internet is the death of meaningfulness and our creativity…at least certain forms of it.

what is your writing/editing/layout process like?
Wow. I wish I knew. I am about to start another zine and I feel like I´m just stumbling around. My zine-making is definitely about compiling though. I don´t “write a zine”, rather, I put together a bunch of stuff I have written in the past. I read old journals and ask close friends if they have any copies of letters I recently wrote to them. Then I’ll cut and paste with photocopies of photos I’ve taken or something that strikes my eye. There isn’t much thought into the layout compared to the writing. Sometimes I will rewrite things so that they are either more understandable or just simply more legible. And sometimes I just say screw it and photocopy what I got. No doubt, it is a fast process of compiling more than anything else.

how do you think the zine community or the process of making zines has changed since you've been involved?
I have no idea since I don’t follow it much. No doubt, I read hella zines, but not really any series of zines, with the exception of anything and everything by LB (out of Chicago--"So Midwest", "Truckface", and "Susie is a Robot") who is, by far, one of the best writers I have ever encountered in any genre. Really fucken genius. Anyway, I can’t really answer this question as I haven’t been doing this or knowing about it that long.

are you "out" to people in your life as a zinester? how do you explain it to people who don't understand?
Uh, somewhat. I definitely don’t drop it on folks unless it seems somehow relevant. I will give my zines to someone who I think might be interested, but I don’t put a ton of time into distro-ing or anything like that. I guess I have faith in that happening on its own, if it is worthwile. And with all the feedback I’ve gotten over the past couple of years, I think it is worth it.

On the other hand, I work with youth and yes, I am “out” to some of them, at least in the way that I encourage folks who are writing or taking pictures or drawing or doing any kind of creative production to put something together for their local community…not “get into” the existing zine “community”, but to create a creative community of their own, in whatever form that takes. We have some amazing examples of those communities and role models here in Oakland: Youth Speaks, Youth Radio, and Youth Movement Records, who are really present in just about everything going on in the town.

what do you like best about the zine world? what do you like least?
Honestly, I’m not sure I know what the zine world is. To me it feels like a little teeny-tiny geographically-disparate but ideologically-similar kinda community. Which isn’t bad, but I guess I just don’t think of it as a zine world. Anyway, I must selfishly say that I think I like the mail best. I send that shit out there and have no idea where it goes…but when someone drops a line from georgia or croatia or new zealand or portland or ireland, acknowledging some engagement or critical thought in regards to what I wrote, well, that definitely gets me off for a minute or day or week, depending. I get excited knowing that other people are learning about what is going on Burma or thinking about riding freights for the first time.

do zines play a political role in your life? are you involved in other d.i.y. projects? do they play a political role?
Zines certainly play a political role in my life in that they inform me and my thoughts. They may not affect politics as politics is popularly defined in this country, but yes, they affect my politics. I’ve been really affected lately by a couple of zines by sex workers. Amazing stuff, of which "Rocket Queen" comes to mind.

what advice might you have for someone who is new to the zine community?
Roll with it for as long as it works for you and others involved. And give zines to folks on the bus, elders & youth! Branch out...because zines are pretty self-serving to the “zine community” if we aren’t reaching out to all kinds of folks.

what role do you think distros can/should play in the zine community?
Distros should play whatever role the folks willing to put time and energy and love into it hope for. Distro crews and folks rocking it solo get way too little credit for all they put into it. I can’t really ask for more or suggest more. I am incredibly impressed by and appreciative of this effort…enough that I don’t think my criticism is really useful or in touch with reality. I´m certainly not doing all that work to get zines out there.

are there changes you'd like to see in the zine community or your own zine creation?
Well, I would definitely like to be a part of a zine community that wasn’t madly white-dominant. However, I don’t think it’s about getting folks who you want to be involved into the scene, because, well, that’s just messed up. I am spending more of my energy and time trying to get involved in shit where those folks are already organizing and doing their own things…the battles they see as worth fighting. I choose to support that instead of thinking I should convince them to support whatever else I am doing. And then the “I” and the “they” become a much stronger “we” and “us.”

You can contact me for zines, feedback, trades, or whatever at soj@riseup.net. I am moving back to Mexico in the fall of 2008, so drop me an email if you would like a mailing address—-it is going to be changing a lot in the meantime.

you can get suze's zines, "refugee" & "sojourner", through the distro.