Zine Collective revamps, improves

Student-run magazine revived

The group dedicated to producing student-run magazines, or zines, has been revived after a short half-year hiatus by La Raza studies professor Augustin Palacios. The group calls themselves The Zine Collective.

Zines are self-published magazines in which profits are not the main purpose of publication.

According to Palacios, The Zine Collective is for the creative, deviant, disillusioned, inspired, philosophical and artistic minds, to write and share anything that students wish to publish.

The collective is interested in works of creative thought and publishes and distributes prose, poetry, artwork, photography, social and political commentary, and intellectual opinions, Palacios said.

Palacios leads the group.

Though not an official club by ASU standards, the group meets every Thursday at 2 p.m. for 50 minutes in LA-28, on the bottom floor of the Liberal Arts Building.

"I like it low-key," Palacios said. "We're not even affiliated with the college." It is a group for any student to submit anything.

"It has no official rules," Palacios said, describing The Zine Collective as a group "for all us other weirdos."

Students may submit anything that they please, may it be art, funny cartoons, music videos or poetry in any language.

One poem, for example, submitted by Palacios himself, called Desnuda Eres, was written in Spanish. "Any language is fine," he said.

For student Luiz Castillo, The Zine Collective is there for students who want to "bring the message (they) want to bring out."

"(There is) really no structure, because this is not a class," Palacios said. "People are here because they want to be here, and in the end the group gets the (final) say."

That is not to say that The Zine Collective does not check for mistakes, however. Palacios, along with students, can help with editing or proofing.

"(The Zine Collective) is not for us to criticize over," student Oscar Cañedo said. "(The Zine) is there (for people) to learn to accept criticism without offense. If you want feedback, you ask for feedback."

"You have the final say," Palacios said. "It's your poem."

The group is lax when it comes to writing a zine. "Why are we hanging out, doing nothing?" Palacios said. "That's what we do, nothing."

Anything can be submitted for publication at any time, although Mondays are the recommended submission days, and all submissions are to be sent to ccczinecollective@gmail.com.

"There are no due dates and you'll never need deadlines," Palacios said.

All pages are black and white with the exception of the cover page.

The process of producing the Zine itself however, is notoriously slow, as it only meets once a week and takes time for the final product to be printed, Palacios said. "We meet one week, next week we submit, third week: hopefully it's printed."

There was also a zine club last year, according to Castillo, but only one zine was published.

"It was only here for a year, once per semester," Castillo said. "(This year) I'm looking for people to commit, as last time people backed out."

Contact Cheuk Ko at cko.advocate@gmail.com.

reprinted with permission