Utne Reader‘s library is abuzz with a steady flow of 1,500
magazines, newsletters, journals, weeklies, zines, and other lively
dispatches from the cultural front that are rarely found at big-box
bookstores, newsstands, or even online. So we share the highlights
(and occasional lowlights) of what’s landing in our library each
week in ‘From the Stacks.’ Check in every Friday for the latest
edition.
The unconventional stories featured in Geneva13 make
for entertaining reads,whether or not you’ve heard of the zine’s
small hometown of Geneva, New York. Art, comics, poetry,
photography, and short stories liven up the local zine’s debut
issue, which boasts a clean layout and first-rate writing. Kevin
Dunn and Doug Reilly, the driving forces behind Geneva13,
put their genre’s culture on full display, publishing an engaging
zine history by Anne Elizabeth Moore. Moore, the former publisher
of Punk Planet, traces the evolution of zines from sci-fi
to punk to Riot Grrrl and beyond. The strength behind this
publication may prove to be the diversity of its contributors:
‘Geneva13 is a love song,’ writes Reilly in the intro, ‘.
. . and I hope we can get as many people as we can to work on the
lyrics.’? For more information, contact them at geneva13 [at] gmail
[dot] com. — Danielle Maestretti
The
Summer issue of the literary quarterly
American Short Fiction features two
very different stories about bears. Benjamin Percy’s ‘When the Bear
Came’ chronicles a shiftless young man who finds purpose in
stalking a bear he blames for mauling two young hikers and
ransacking his mother’s clothing. In ‘Winter Memories of the Summer
Bear,’ by Kimberly Willardson, the winner of the magazine’s new
fiction contest, a woman tries to conquer her midlife crisis by
befriending a retired circus bear. Non-bear-related contributions
include standout pieces about insomniac orphans and gunfights in
Northern Ireland. — Brendan Mackie
A
whimsical magazine for foodies, Burnt toast arrives in our library
from Ottawa, filled with easy-to-read culinary-inspired articles
and reviews. The Fall issue’s cover feature, ‘Cheese, the
Accidental Miracle,’ made my mouth water with its descriptive
reviews of fine cheeses from Europe and Canada. Also in the issue,
editor Cindy Deachman’s ‘The Plate Makes the Food ‘ covers the
creative work of the Canadian-based Japanese ceramist HiDe Ebina,
an artist who points out that the plate is often as important as
the food in his native culture’s cuisine. — Julie
Dolan
?
Since
its first issue in 1969, the Match!, a zine covering
‘ethical anarchism,’ has been published the old-fashioned way:
without the use of computers. Editor and publisher Fred Woodworth’s
quixotic typesetting and printing lends the Match! a 1950s
look. The zine parses current events in the United States with
erudition, research, and humor, all while fighting against
religious and governmental authoritarianism. In the essay ‘Scenes
from the Collapse,’ Paul Roasberry looks to the political
philosophy of Thomas Jefferson as a justification for anarchism and
laments America’s quick downward slide toward authoritarianism. On
the issue’s back page, Woodworth points out that, ‘It is easier, in
fact, to score hard drugs on the street’ than it is to find the
Match!. Luckily, unlike most drugs, subscriptions to the
publication are free. — Eric Kelsey
An
emotional cartoon molar named Jesus and his pierced girlfriend
Juanita star in the Angry Tooth, a charming zine by artist
J. Swank. The story begins with the pair happily celebrating
Juanita’s birthday, but, as the zine’s title implies, the
frolicsome tale takes a sour turn. Jesus tries a bit too hard to
impress Juanita, and he ends up failing miserably. Eight
single-sided pages are all J. Swank needs to tell this vibrant
story about the relationship foibles and pitfalls of two small yet
expressive teeth. — Bennett Gordon
