Six Killer NYC Zines Worth Reading

Published November 28, 2011

Modified November 28, 2011

Girl Crush: Started by Thessaly LaForce, the former web editor of The Paris Review, and Jenna Wortham, a technology reporter for The New York Times, Girl Crush is a high-low mix of essays about women who admire other women in a way that's not sexual, but still affectionate. “It’s someone you want to be like, and someone you think is cool. It’s a slightly silly way to say something a little serious—because it’s so earnest to be like, ‘I admire you immensely!,’” LaForce said this summer when it launched. Contributors include literary ladies like Jennifer Egan and Emma Straub, and it's available here ($10). — <strong>Girl Crush:</strong> Started by Thessaly LaForce, the former web editor of The Paris Review, and Jenna Wortham, a technology reporter for <em>The New York Times</em>, <a href="http://girlcrushzine.tumblr.com/">Girl Crush</a> is a high-low mix of essays about women who admire other women in a way that's not sexual, but still affectionate. “It’s someone you want to be like, and someone you think is cool. It’s a slightly silly way to say something a little serious—because it’s so earnest to be like, ‘I admire you immensely!,’” <a href="http://www.observer.com/2011/07/the-ladies-who-crush-girl-crush-lights-up-zine-scene/">LaForce said</a> this summer when it launched. Contributors include literary ladies like <a href="http://gothamist.com/2011/07/08/jennifer_egan.php">Jennifer Egan</a> and <a href="http://gothamist.com/2011/05/09/emma_straub_is_having_a.php">Emma Straub</a>, and it's <a href="http://girlcrushzine.tumblr.com/thezine">available here</a> ($10).
Gothamist

Maybe it's because Frances Bean Cobain is all grown up, but we've been feeling a little nostalgic for the early '90s lately. Beyond getting misty-eyed for plaid shirts and Doc Martens (oh wait, just kidding!), we also miss the abundance of zines that enjoyed semi-mainstream popularity for a hot second. In fact, small-press, self-published fanzines started way back in '30s, mainly for sci-fi geeks, eventually evolving to a form of communication for politically-inclined '70s punks and, later, '90s riot grrls. Sadly, in the past decade, the popularity of zines was waned, thanks mainly to The Internet. Lately, however, there's been something of a zine resurgence, where readers blinded by a constant technological onslaught seek out anything that's genuinely handcrafted. Here's a quick look at six local zines that are worth hunting down.