how did you get involved in zines/d.i.y. publishing?
I stated making zines when I was sixteen (1996). I was really into taking photos and a friend of mine, Micheal, made a zine with some of his writing and he encouraged me to make one as well. I hadn't seen many, I'm not even sure where Micheal heard about them. My zine was called "in morning clouds".

I found "Broken Pencil" magazine and slowly ordered and traded more zines, mostly fanzine made about the Canadian music scene at the time (anyone remember? Sloan, Eric's Trip, all those bands). "In morning clouds" had lots of band pictures in it. Then I started to find more and more personal zines, partially through the zinesters listserve, and slowly mine came to include more of that, no more bands eventually but still lots of photos. I met lots of awesome penpals and read some amazing stuff.

Somehow I've kept it up, involved in that culture after all these years. For a long time it meant traveling and going to zine fairs and visiting penpals when I was on the road. But slowly, I've found zine cluture here in Halifax, and as a co-founder of the Anchor Archive Zine Library, become someone who encourages and creates zine sharing and reading here.

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?
Really, I don't really know how to use computers or the internet very well. For several years I didn't have a computer or internet access at home, so it was impossible to learn. Sometimes I want to learn to do fancy layout and make websites but really I'm way better off with scissors and glue, and I would rather do things that way. I think that the way that people experience a website and the way they experience a paper zine are totally different. I appreciate zines for their look and feel, for how easy they are to put them in your pocket or share with a friend. I hate reading large amounts of text online, I don't like the aesthetics of computer-made stuff nearly as much as good old cut and paste and printmaking.

I think that the internet has made getting zines and distributing information easier, but hasn't changed the types of paper zines made that much. I think a lot of people are still obsessed with the tangibility of zines and books and refuse to let that go. Maybe there are less computer-layout copied all-text zines out there because the info is online instead.

what is your writing/editing/layout process like?
I write in bits and pieces in a journal, both impressions and information gleaned everywhere. I should write more, this only happens sporadically. When making a zine I leaf through and copy out what I like, add to it and rearrange it and seek out bits and pieces of other stuff to fill it out. I usually do the writing on a computer, then print it out and work with the text and a pile of photos, images, materials, whatever I've been collecting. I guess I collect images in the same random way as ideas. And then I stick it all together. Retype or rewrite words, make the zine a page at a time, layers of paper thick. I can get started and make a mess and finish it all in a couple of weeks or less. It just takes months to gather the material and come up with ideas.

how do you think the zine community or the process of making zines has changed since you've been involved?
The zine communities that I've been involved with have been different over time, so it's hard to comment on one community changing. My role in them have certainly changed, going from young keen teenybopper to older zine educator and zine librarian.

One thing that I think is really amazing and positive is the amazing number of zine libraries and public or university libraries stocking zines. It seems that as the internet becomes the default mode of sharing information, zine making is almost more deliberate and acknowledged as a special art form and communication tool, not just a low-budget magazine. All the articles about zines for years were just "Hey! Look at these wacky teenagers!" and it's nice to see some more thoughtful writing about it all. I think there are more folks (or maybe I'm just aware of more, and hoping) using zines outside of punk subculture, pushing boundaries or where we expect to see them and who has access.

are you "out" to people in your life as a zinester? how do you explain it to people who don't understand?
Yes, lots of people know. Because I help run the Anchor Archive, and for years have ran zine fairs and taught zine classes, many people know about that part of my life.

But still it's interesting to have people tell me they've read my zines--I can distance myself from what I actually make and just become someone who's involved in zines. The local weekly paper, the Coast, is running a zine I made two pages at a time on their comics page, and it's funny to have people make little comments about having seen it.

I field lots of "what's a zine?" questions at the zine library, usually I just point to the stacks and tell people to have a look. My favorite questions come from people spending whole afternoons looking through zines for the first time, asking "who makes these?", "how much would this collection be worth?"

what do you like best about the zine world? what do you like least?
I like how accessible and diverse zines are as an art form. I like the inherent politicalness of self-publishing information and stories. I think that first person stories, especially when wrapped around the whole personal aesthetic of a zine, are an amazing way to learn. To me, zines just ooze people's passions and fascinations and personalities.

And I dislike that people assume making zines is just a step towards making a real magazine, and if you're not making money doing it you're failing. People come to the zine library with big publishing plans and I say "good luck. I have no idea what to tell you. That's not what this is about at all." But I also dislike that zine prices stay at $1/$2 and no one will pay more than that, even in the age of copy centre honour system crackdown and escalating postal costs. The difference between the way art multiples and zines are prices is insane, especially since sometimes they aren't that different.

do zines play a political role in your life? are you involved in other d.i.y. projects? do they play a political role?
I think zines have always been political for me. I started reading them as a sheltered stoner sixteen year old, and was slowly exposed to a huge amount of new information and opinions. Reading about experiences far outside my own, like stories of racism or abuse, showed me struggles that others face and helped me understand the privilege that I have. Other stories rang so true, I remember reading in a zine "you don't have to have kissed a girl to know you're queer" and that simple obvious statement floored me totally. I wrote it in my journal and carried it around as a truth in my head for days.

Even recently, I'm reminded of the amazing potential of zines to teach and empower. I toured with the mobilivre-bookmobile in the southern USA last year. More than once I saw a woman sitting quietly reading a zine compiling abortion stories, and wondered about all the women who have never had the chance to tell their story, or hear someone else's. Working with Books Beyond Bars, I compile a zine of poetry by women in prison in Nova Scotia. They are given an outlet to be listened to, their thoughts and art shared with those of us outside. Teaching zine classes to teenagers always makes me think of myself when I first started to figure myself out. I hope to show them something that they've never seen before, challenge them artistically but also challenge them to examine their identity and their place in the world. I hope they can learn from people that are like them, and people that are different from them, and to experience the power of honesty and first person stories through zines.

what advice might you have for someone who is new to the zine community?
Read lots of zines, get inspired by other people's stuff and make lots of your own. Think about what you're excited about and want to share with people and make a zine about that. Keep it simple, every issue doesn't need everything you think and everything you've done crowded inside of it. Write letters to people you like but don't get disappointed or discouraged when people don't write you back. Trade zines with anyone, go to zine fairs and visit zine libraries and bring copies of what you've made.

what role do you think distros can/should play in the zine community?
I think distros are really handy. When I was first involved in zines I really relished and loved the personal contact that I got through sending and receiving orders. Now I rarely get $2 tucked in an envelope, I more often send off 30 zines to a distro, and that makes my job a lot easier. But I worry about how there's fewer glowing feedback letters written (myself included), fewer chances taken sending out orders. Plus distros (especially the bigger ones) have a lot of control over which zines are widely read, making it harder for little zines that can't get distroed to get read.

I distro zines to promote awesome stuff that's made locally. I make a paper catalog (someday online) and sell zines people and stores, as well as here at the zine library and at tabeling at events. I like doing some of the legwork of distroing for folks making zines, especially if they've just made one and don't really know what to do with it. I also like to show off all the amazing things made here.

are there changes you'd like to see in the zine community or your own zine creation?
There's lots of ways the Anchor Archive could change, and we're slowly working up to it. There are dreams of moving it out of our living room and into a bigger more diverse DIY centre with other projects, cataloging our collection, doing more workshops with public libraries and rural teenagers and all kinds of other things. I used to depend on a zine community outside of my city but now it's really just here, the zine community overlapping with the activist and art communities. It's really great to be in a city small but big enough to make those connections and feel like people are supporting each other's projects. We've had a residency program to invite zine makers here, breaking down distance barriers and offering time and resources to help people working on zine-related projects.

And personally, I wish I was making more zines. I wish I could better incorporate politics, all the things I think and talk and read about, into zine making and not just make personal petty zines (although those are nice too).

I've made lots of zine over the years, "in morning clouds" and "try try again" and "root", as sell as lots of mini and one-offs, many collaborating with the amazing sonia edworthy.

The Anchor Archive is located in Halifax and only open six hours a week and if you want to visit, get in touch and we'd love that. anchorarchive@gmail.com

PO Box 33129. Halifax NS. B3L 4T6. Canada

sarah's zines can be found here & here.