For the very first time, the zine is entering the Montreal Book Fair… and it is doing so through the front door. Having long gone under the radar of many stakeholders in the literary world and the public, this year it will benefit from its own space, where readers will be able to meet authors, attend round tables and participate in creative workshops.
A self-published and self-distributed small-run publication, often short and handcrafted, the zine is difficult to define. Paper leaning of what the Americans call the DIY (do it yourself), it encourages experimental approaches and offers artists the opportunity to take charge of all stages of creating a book, from content to container, including the different phases of production. Comic strip, poetry, autofiction, testimony, political pamphlet… Easy to access, the zine engages a plurality of voices and transcends genres and formats.
Increasingly present in more traditional literary institutions – bookstores, libraries and events – this form of micropublishing was not born out of the blue. In the 1930s, in the United States, it was first of all fans of science fiction and comics – two genres considered at the time as sub-literature – who cleared the ground, notably with the creation fanzines, which allowed fans to freely exchange and imagine parallel stories to the heroes of popular series.
In Quebec, we observed the same movement at the beginning of the 1970s. “Zines played a very important role in the history of comics in Quebec,” explains Izabeau Legendre, author of The Montreal zine scene (Aura, 2022). Before the 1990s, there was no French-speaking publishing house dedicated to comics. It was difficult to publish elsewhere than in Safarir And THE Resourceful. The author’s comic, which reflects on drawing, storytelling and which addresses social issues, only existed in zines. »
In the 1990s, the fringes took over the genre, influenced by the punk movement that took the world by storm two decades earlier. “We are starting to see more and more feminist, anarchist and anti-capitalist activist publications. These artists established visual codes that continue today,” explains the researcher.
Margins in the center
Quietly, since the beginning of this century, the zine world has been moving closer and closer to traditional cultural spaces. “We are witnessing the birth of literary and art zines, which will play with artisanal printing techniques, handmade bindings, etc. This turning point comes in parallel with the creation of Archive Montréal and Expozine, two bodies which still structure the sector today, and which affirm the place of micropublishing in the art sector. »
With an increased presence in bookstores – in Montreal, the bookstores L’Euguélionne, N’tait-ce pas l’été and Planète BD offer them a place of choice – zines also made their debut at the Grande Bibliothèque in October 2022. The small collection, which includes 400 works, is enjoying great success. “We have recorded 750 loans since the inauguration, which means that each book has been borrowed almost twice,” underlines Marie-Ève Plamondon, librarian at Bibliothèque et Archives nationaux du Québec. We also made around ten library loans, requested by users throughout Quebec. Since the zines are short, there was more of an expectation that people would check them out on the spot. This demonstrates the interest and relevance of the format. »
At the National Library on Holt Street, which houses the heritage collections, librarians are taking an increasing interest in the preservation of zines and artists’ books. “Although we have been archiving them for a long time, for several years we have been actively seeking to enrich the collection with more contemporary works,” indicates his colleague, Catherine Ratelle-Montemiglio. We see that the zine is an integral part of Quebec publishing, and that it testifies to the appearance of social and literary movements which eventually moved into the traditional environment. If we want to remain relevant as an institution, it is essential to take an interest in it. »
Even if the institutionalization of the zine is very recent in Quebec, the bridges between the traditional publishing and independent publishing communities have been built for a long time. “As the Quebec cultural environment is very small and threatened on all sides, the distance between the center and the margins is not very great. There is this impression that we must work together so as not to disappear, and that too frank exclusions would be disadvantageous,” indicates Izabeau Legendre. Cartoonists, poets and collage artists such as Cathon, Julie Doucet, Sara Hébert and Jimmy Beaulieu, for example, navigate easily between publishing and zines.
The arrival of online publications has also increased the sense of crisis in traditional publishing. “The book has long been the universal medium of literature, but this is no longer the case. This involves rethinking parameters, such as format and materiality, which were previously negligible,” specifies the researcher. At Éditions Alto, the series Blackwater or the literary oracle Clairvoyants bear witness to this work on the object. At Marchand de Feuilles, Sémaphore and Moult Éditions, among others, we also do not hesitate to borrow from the aesthetic of the zine, giving pride of place to collage (Suburban gem, Memory pieces) or by daring baroque and offbeat graphic publications (Songs by all kinds of people).
An open and inclusive space
Visionary, inclusive, a little anarchist, the zine world constitutes an essential incubator for the emergence of new literary talents, particularly because its ease of access opens the door to marginalized voices. “The creation of a zine depends only on its creator. Racialized, queer or feminist artists do not need to convince a publisher of the relevance of their work and their voice,” recalls Jess Roy, founder of Noeuds Éditions.
The multiplication of voices also allows the zine community to be at the forefront of social movements and debates. “Inclusive writing, fatphobia or non-binarity are all themes that have been addressed for decades. Through its format and speed of creation, the zine allows for an exchange that strikes the right balance between social networks and the book. It reflects thinking under construction and offers the possibility of creating alternatives which are subsequently taken up or discussed by the majority. » Certain works, such as Consent 101, by Jess Roy, are even distributed free of charge to allow the message to circulate more widely. This shows that the zine is still firmly anchored in its punk heritage.
The SLM Zines space will receive signing sessions, round tables, creative workshops and performances from November 22 to 26 at the Palais des congrès.