- Size: 1/4 size
- Pages: 48
- Published: April 2017
- Available: On Etsy
- Price: $2
I’ve been a fan of Dig Deep zine since my early days of zine collecting, as they are some of the first to show up when you search “zine” on Etsy, and they are all either $1 or $2, so they are very accessible. The layout of zines in this series are very clean, but still very zine-y, with old-fashioned clip art and a variety of fonts. These are very much perzines, and they contributed to making the perzine genre my favorite zine genre.
Dig Deep 8 was the first issue to come out in over two years, and it’s a nice thick one. Maybe not compared to many of my perzines, but it’s still very text heavy compared to a lot of perzines nowadays, and it is very well written. The zine is divided up into three parts. The first part is titled “Zines,” and is ironically about the author feeling conflicted about her relationship to zines and stepping down as an organizer of the Chicago Zine Fest. Heather asks hard questions about whether it still feels right to share so much of herself to strangers when many of her friends have moved on from zines.
The ending of this section is bittersweet, recognizing how much zines have meant to her, but also that she, to some degree, has moved on. It saddens me, because I’ve been a fan of her zines for a few years now, but I’m glad she’s made friends and grown because of the zine community. It would be sad to see her distro, Stranger Danger, close down, especially since I distro some of my zines with her. I think what really gets to me about this part of the zine is my own worries that someday I’ll grow out of zines, that they won’t mean as much for me as they do now.I guess I’m afraid of changing, of looking in the mirror and not recognizing myself. I’ve definitely had times, especially recently, when I’ve spent more time on game development than on zines, but zines are still a major part of my life. I want the love and connection zines bring to continue in my life, and to spread those things to new zinesters though my workshops. I don’t know how long it will last, but for now I’m holding on.
The next section is titled “Mail.” It’s essentially a love letter to sending letters and other forms of mail, and all the wonderful things the author has gotten out of having pen pals. One thing she talks about in this section is an event she and her friends invented called 31 Postcards in 31 Days, in which they send 31 postcards in the month of October. Also described is an exhibit at a local art gallery where people who have experienced trauma sent in postcards talking about healing, and the author comments on how mail itself can be healing. I agree. I love getting and sending mail, though I tire easily when I have to write letters by hand, which may be related to my multiple sclerosis. I don’t have a lot of close pen pals, but I still do a lot of zine trades and write letters to the people I am close with when I can, and I cover the envelopes in stickers and washi tape, hoping to brighten someone’s day. As is described in the end of this section of the zine, mail is a way to cultivate the love one has with the people one is closest to, despite the distance.
The last section of the zine is titled “Care.” It’s a guide full of suggestions for caring for yourself and others. It’s divided up into 11 parts. I won’t spoil them all here, but I will say that it includes such varied things as questions to ask oneself, actions to take, actions not to take, a book to read, and things to consider. Not all of the suggestions work for me, particularly those that recommend daily records of things, because I’ve tried that before and it can become obsessive, something I feel guilty about if I don’t do (this is why I don’t keep a diary,) but I’m sure they’ll work for some people.
This is probably not the zine to read if you’re brand new to zines, but boy did it make me feel things. I recommend it especially to people interested in sending mail and pen pals, as well as people looking to be more intentional in how they care for themselves and others. This zine makes me want to write more letters to my friends. I think I will.
Olivia Reads Zines 