This collection contains 8 zines created at the New School Archives and Special Collections “Festival of New” zine workshop in October 2019. The workshop was part of a series of events hosted in October 2019 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of The New School’s founding. The zines are mostly by New School students, although the collection may also include zines by other members of the New School community.

Zines can be means of expression for marginalized voices or personal experiences. These zines explore topics of poetry, self-expression, and questions of one’s higher or existential purpose. The zines are not topically related to The New School or to the university centennial celebration.

The New School Archives and Special Collections contributed to the week-long celebration of the university’s centennial by sponsoring a zine workshop on October 5, 2019. The New School community was invited to participate by creating a zine of duplicate and weeded material removed from archival collections.

Zines (derived from the term “fanzines”) are handmade magazines that can be different shapes, sizes, and formats. The origin of zines dates back to the 1930s in the United States and grew in popularity as part of 1970s-1980s counterculture movements both in the U.S. and United Kingdom. They are often handwritten and photocopies, although zines can be professionally printed, magazine-like publications. Zines are unique forms of self-expression and can be about any topic that the creator, or “zinester,” is interested in sharing with others. The definition of zines used in this finding aid was adapted from the New York Public Library: https://libguides.nypl.org/zines#:~:text=Zines%20(pronounced%20zeens)%20are%20easier,like%20publications%20and%20professionally%20printed.