Alex Wrekk

Stolen Sharpie Revolution is a tiny book packed with information crucial to anyone who is exploring the world of zines. Alex Wrekk lays out the social and cultural norms of the zine community in a way that is easy for anyone to understand. She also has decades of experience to draw on, and thus has a valuable retrospective view of how zines have evolved. Some of the advice on managing projects and working with groups is easily transferred to other life situations.

The section on running a show more zine distro probably deserves a separate book. In addition, the section on zine libraries is rather short, but in recent years there have been many developments in zine librarianship, including full-length books.

I would recommend this book to anyone new to zines. If you have been in the community for a while, this book will probably be redundant to you.

Please note that the artistic layout of some of the pages may be hard for people with visual or print disabilities to read. Some website links may also be out of date. show less

"Wrekk’s travel-themed vignettes are entertaining stories, told the way a friend would talk about the wild things that have happened to her. Not only is this zine an amusing way to kill some time while riding public transit or sitting in a waiting room, it also allows the reader to experience bits of one woman’s life. From trying to discourage unwanted suitors to exploring the urban legends of Salt Lake City and helping an unappreciative bike jock fix a flat, I felt I was right there show more with Wrekk through every adventure."
-feministreview.blogspot.com show less

This zine is about reflection and synthesis of location and it's effect on the human condition. It's full of stories that fit nicely into a venn diagram. There are stories about Alex Wrekk living in Utah, stories about living in Portland, and stories that merge the two; illuminating that Utah always finds her or that she's always managing to find it. Other themes are home and place through stories about personal ghosts, lost friendship, late night adventures, a coffeeshop, heartache, show more drinking, and the untimely demise of her bicycle, Jamie; exploring the connections between cyclists and the city streets they love. Quarter sized with letter pressed covers and continues the tradition from last issue of being very text heavy with high contrast cut and paste layout. show less

[Review originally published in 2003 on NewPages.com]

From the intro: “Stolen Sharpie Revolution is about DIY ethics. this zine is about looking at things and saying “I can do that!” Well, I’m all for that attitude. This is a handy little resource for new zinesters, or ones who either need to brush up on their skills or are looking for some new tips. There’s even a table of contents (I’m sorry, but that always impresses me in a zine)! For those who are just into reading zines and show more not creating them, there’s an excellent list of tips for writing to zinesters. Most of these tips probably seem like common sense by now to veteran zinesters, but many people who are unfamiliar with zine etiquette probably would find them to be quite helpful. Other sections of this zine include a design skill share, tips on making copies, promotion ideas, distro etiquette, advice on navigating the USPS, and a lengthy list of zine distributors. Very well done! show less