Zine Genres

This controlled vocabulary defines the genres used in ZineCore2 records. Genres help describe the type and style of a zine.

About Genres

Genres in ZineCore2 help categorize zines by their primary type or style. A zine can have multiple genres if it fits several categories.

Common Genre Types

• Perzine: Personal zines about the creator's life and experiences
• Fanzine: Fan-focused zines about specific topics, bands, or media
• Art zine: Primarily visual art-focused zines
• Comic zine: Comics and sequential art
• Political zine: Focused on political topics and activism
• Literary zine: Poetry, prose, and creative writing
• Music zine: About music scenes, bands, and reviews

Usage in ZineCore2

In a ZineCore2 record, use the code value from the vocabulary:

{
  "title": "My Zine",
  "genre": ["perzine", "art-zine"],
  ...
}

API Access

Get Genres Vocabulary

The genres vocabulary is available via HTTP API in multiple formats:

JSON (default):

curl https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/genres

SKOS/Turtle (W3C standard):

curl -H "Accept: text/turtle" \
  https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/genres

CSV:

curl -H "Accept: text/csv" \
  https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/genres

Stable URIs

Each genre has a persistent URI:

• https://zinecore.org/vocab/genres/perzine
• https://zinecore.org/vocab/genres/fanzine
• https://zinecore.org/vocab/genres/art-zine

Term Definitions

Personal & Creative Expression

perzine

• Definition: Personal zines sharing the creator's life, thoughts, experiences, and reflections
• Characteristics: First-person narrative, diary-like, autobiographical
• Examples: "My life with chronic illness" / "Travel journal from my bike tour" / "Reflections on turning 30"
• Related genres: Often overlaps with literary-zine, art-zine

fanzine

• Definition: Zines devoted to a specific fandom, band, media property, or cultural phenomenon
• Characteristics: Fan enthusiasm, community-building, reviews, analysis
• Examples: "Star Trek fanzine with original stories" / "Local music scene coverage" / "Doctor Who episode guides"
• Historical note: The original "zine" format dating back to 1930s sci-fi fandom

literary-zine

• Definition: Zines focused on creative writing, fiction, essays, and literary content
• Characteristics: Narrative prose, literary experimentation, essay form
• Examples: "Collection of short stories" / "Experimental fiction" / "Personal essays about family"
• Related genres: May overlap with perzine, poetry-zine

poetry-zine

• Definition: Zines consisting primarily or entirely of poetry
• Characteristics: Verse, experimental typography, visual poetry
• Examples: "Haiku collection" / "Spoken word transcriptions" / "Concrete poetry experiments"
• Related genres: Literary-zine, art-zine (when visual elements dominate)

Visual & Artistic Forms

art-zine

• Definition: Zines where visual art is the primary content
• Characteristics: Drawings, paintings, collage, graphic design, minimal text
• Examples: "Sketchbook zine" / "Collage experiments" / "Abstract art collection"
• Note: Distinct from comic-zine (which emphasizes sequential narrative)

photo-zine

• Definition: Zines consisting primarily of photography
• Characteristics: Photo essays, minimal captions, visual storytelling through images
• Examples: "Black and white street photography" / "Portraits of my community" / "Nature photography from local parks"
• Related genres: Art-zine

comic-zine

• Definition: Zines featuring comics, sequential art, and graphic narratives
• Characteristics: Panels, speech bubbles, visual storytelling
• Examples: "Autobiographical comics" / "Funny animal comics" / "Sci-fi comic series"
• Related genres: Minicomic (smaller format)

minicomic

• Definition: Small-format comic books, typically folded from a single sheet
• Characteristics: Usually 8 pages (quarter-size), quick production, comics-focused
• Examples: "One-page-folded minicomic" / "Anthology of 8-page stories"
• Historical note: Closely related to comic-zine but emphasizes the compact format

Topic-Focused Genres

political-zine

• Definition: Zines focused on political analysis, activism, and social justice
• Characteristics: Analysis, calls to action, organizing info, manifestos
• Examples: "Anarchist theory primer" / "Local tenant organizing guide" / "Anti-fascist action report"
• Related genres: Resource-zine (when providing practical organizing info)

music-zine

• Definition: Zines about music, bands, scenes, and audio culture
• Characteristics: Reviews, interviews, show listings, scene reports
• Examples: "Punk scene coverage" / "Album reviews" / "Interview with local bands"
• Historical note: Punk and indie music zines were major drivers of 1980s-90s zine culture

review-zine

• Definition: Zines consisting primarily of reviews (books, music, films, zines, etc.)
• Characteristics: Critical analysis, recommendations, ratings
• Examples: "Zine review zine" / "Horror movie reviews" / "Book recommendations"
• Related genres: Music-zine, literary-zine

diy-zine

• Definition: How-to guides and instructional zines on making, building, or learning skills
• Characteristics: Step-by-step instructions, diagrams, practical advice
• Examples: "How to screen print" / "Bike repair guide" / "Sewing basics"
• Related genres: Resource-zine, cookzine

cookzine

• Definition: Zines focused on recipes and food preparation
• Characteristics: Recipes, cooking techniques, food stories
• Examples: "Vegan cookbook" / "Dumpster diving recipes" / "Grandma's recipe collection"
• Related genres: DIY-zine

resource-zine

• Definition: Informational zines providing resources, directories, or practical guidance
• Characteristics: Lists, directories, contact info, how-to guides
• Examples: "Local free resources guide" / "Harm reduction information" / "Community organization directory"
• Related genres: DIY-zine, newsletter

Format & Production Methods

24-hour-zine

• Definition: Zines created in 24 hours or less, often during organized 24-Hour Zine Thing events
• Characteristics: Spontaneous, experimental, time-constrained creativity
• Examples: "Stream of consciousness writing" / "Whatever I made in one day"
• Historical note: Popularized by the July 24-Hour Zine Thing event

compilation-zine

• Definition: Zines collecting work from multiple contributors
• Characteristics: Multiple voices, themed or open submissions, community-created
• Examples: "Anthology of local writers" / "Themed submission zine about grief"
• Note: Can be combined with any content genre (compilation perzine, compilation poetry-zine, etc.)

split-zine

• Definition: Zines where two or more creators each contribute distinct sections
• Characteristics: Divided sections, multiple creators, often folded to show each person's work
• Examples: "Two perzines in one" / "Front/back split with different creators"
• Historical note: Common in punk and DIY culture

newsletter

• Definition: Zines in newsletter format, often serial/ongoing
• Characteristics: Regular publication, news/updates, multiple short items
• Examples: "Monthly scene report" / "Community newsletter" / "Organization updates"
• Note: Distinguishes from one-off zines by regular publication schedule

Genre vs Subject

Examples:

• A perzine (genre) might be about mental-health and poetry (subjects)
• A political-zine (genre) might cover anarchism and mutual-aid (subjects)
• A fanzine (genre) might focus on music and punk (subjects)

Selecting Genres

How Many Genres?

• Typical: 1-2 genres per zine
• Multiple genres: Use when a zine truly spans multiple forms
  • Example: A perzine with substantial art content could be both "perzine" and "art-zine"
  • Example: A political analysis zine with how-to organizing guides could be "political-zine" and "resource-zine"

Primary vs Secondary

When a zine spans multiple genres, consider what's primary:

• If it's mostly personal writing with some poems, use "perzine" (not both perzine and poetry-zine)
• If it's 50/50 poems and personal essays, use both "perzine" and "poetry-zine"

When Genre is Unclear

If a zine doesn't fit existing genres:

1. Choose the closest match
2. Use public_notes to clarify: "Experimental hybrid of poetry and collage"
3. Propose a new genre term if it represents a significant zine tradition

Historical Context

Zine genres have evolved with zine culture:

• 1930s-1960s: Fanzines dominate (sci-fi, comics)
• 1970s-1980s: Punk zines introduce music-zine and DIY-zine genres
• 1980s-1990s: Perzines emerge as major genre, Riot Grrrl movement
• 1990s-2000s: Art zines, photo zines, minicomics flourish
• 2000s-present: Digital/print hybrid zines, resource zines for social movements

Suggesting New Genres

To propose a new genre:

1. Verify it's not covered by existing terms (check if a subject would work instead)
2. Demonstrate multiple examples of this genre in zine culture
3. Submit via GitHub issues

Combining Genres with Subject

Well-described zines use both:

{
  "title": "Revolution in My Kitchen",
  "genre": ["cookzine", "political-zine"],
  "subject": ["food", "anarchism", "mutual-aid"]
}

{
  "title": "Queer Memory Project",
  "genre": ["photo-zine", "compilation-zine"],
  "subject": ["queer-history", "photography"]
}