Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
(an occasional outburst)

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Contents © Gavin J. Grant

 

from LCRW no. 13

Zines Reviews

The Land-Grant College Review is a new independent lit mag from New York, NY, whose first ish came out last summer. It's a beautiful thing (in the way $12 mags usually are) with title-page art for all the stories by Joy Kolitsky. Most enjoyed: Karen Rile's "Gingerbread City". There are some other good ones here, esp. Josip Novakovich's "Easy Living" and a new Aimee Bender story. Back to college, hi ho, and all that. $12, lit mag size, PO Box 1164, NY NY 10159

In Tres glossy. Pictures of house boat pirates. Interview with Werner Herzog. Pretty sure I got this at Other Music in NYC. What a place. V1,N3, $(wasn't this free? How do they do that?), 5 by 5, (as she said), 35 Howard St., NY NY 10013

The Free Press Death Ship Either you know about this by now, or you don't. It's a fantastic thing. It is an opinionated thing. It is a review. It is a polemic. It is a conversation. It is most definitely not on the web. Send a couple of dollars and stand firm. $1-? large, PO Box 94545, Hayward, CA 94545

The Broken Face What possessed me to think that I'd have the time to read hundred of music reviews and so on and on. Man at back raising lighter, put it away. Hope may rise eternal but the fire code overrules you. I think it was the great design (lots of content, but without that overstuffed feeling) and that they reviewed tons of bands I'd never heard of (including J-Pop, yay!). It sucked me in then, and now, so go figure. Online, a bit, too. No.15, $6, large, Mats Gustafsson, Brovagen 14, 610 72 Vagnharad, Sweden

Hoyden Earning money is hard. Earning money by picking fruit just sucks. But life is long and there's time for this and other things. Comic, basic, but worth your buck. #3, $1, half-letter, not slim, hoyden888@yahoo.com

Bully Boy Ok, so don't have the full ish or much info, but this seems worth tracking down (because we saw it being made at the copier). Git, go email. Odd. Great pic of a skateboarder on the cover. #2, $?, half-letter, 12pp., j-shep@msn.com

Oral Acts of Outrage: New & Collected Poems Chapbook split into two acts -- with an intermission, mais oui. Emotion runs beneath the surface, held back by a cool and sometimes wry voice. Emotion outs in the end. $a couple, half letter, 34pp., Jules Nyquist julesnyquist@yahoo.com

Kitty Magik Glossy! I could of sworn I'd reviewed an earlier ish (3?) of this. It was a groovy girl-band and stuff zine. Couldn't find the review (too scared to go dig up the zine, look, they went full size and glossy and we. Yep. Stopped that thought. Back to nonglossy next time. Kitty Magik steps into a new space and is very comfortable there. Janeane Garafalo interviews Sleater-Kinney, Cat Power is in there, and a bunch of other things. Don't blink: evolution is occurring. #8, $4, letter, full-bodied, PO Box 96, Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889-0096

The Blotter Skunk encounter and chicken paintings makes everything worthwhile. June 2003, freebie, letter, slim, Ignatz R. Butterfly, PO Box 175, Hillsborough, NC 27278

Clamor Someone has to ask the questions, set a spark to the grassroots, kick up a ruckus. Even while this issue concentrates on travel there is still a helluva cultural critique going on here. A real alternative voice. #22, $4.50 (sub $18), letter, hefty, PO Box 20128, Toledo, OH 43610

Junior High Yearbook: New Fiction by Carolyn Tuttle, Chris Besinger, & Spencer Keralis More proof that Minneapolis is an incredible hotbed of all things literary. JHY is a three-story chapbook dedicated to seduction: Madeline -- seduced by a voice on the phone; the eighth grade orchestra -- by the new music teacher; and Armando -- who attempts vice, only to find seduction. $5, half-letter, 31pp., Laughing Mouse Press, 304 W 22nd St. #303, Minneapolis, MN 55404 laughing_mouse@att.net

how cattle herding is a slowdance A poetry chapbook by Brecken Rose Hancock, one of the powerhouses behind the Canadian litzine Backyard Ashes -- which is up to #5 and is highly recommended. (Backyard Ashes has a freshness to their poetry (and the full letter-sized presentation) that keeps me reading and returning.) Back to cattle herding, which is a beautiful thing with cattle-skull cover art by Jared Peace and has a lovely (handmade paper?) flyleaf. The poems reminded me of Nin Andrews. There's family and strangeness, food and grief, inextricably intertwined. c/o Backyard Ashes, 34 Mackenzie Cres., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, SJ7 2R5, Canada backyard_ashes@hotmail.com

Brainscan Quick, hide the photocopier. Oh, too late. Now see what she's done: she's gone and done a zine again. Alex isn't the girl writing in public so much anymore: she's riding her bike, she's married. Before that: a zine fair; nights at shows; Rock'n'Roll Camp for Girls (great idea); and aren't there always friends? Another great buy from Mac's Backs in Cleveland. This underground thing (esp. the Perpetual Motion Roadshow) is amazing. Zinester from west coast travels to middle. Later the same year reader from east coast does same. Communication occurs. #19 (Microcosm #76017), $2, 64pp., Brainscan, POB 14332, Portland, OR 97293

Iron Clad This one from Quimby's. Amazing cover. The story of the Iron Clad ships in the US Civil War in comic form. Oh yeah. History teachers should be lining up to get their students reading this. Includes notes and technical specs for the ships. Extra points if you remember their names. $2, letter, Dan Zettwoch, 1914 Yale Ave., Apt.1N, St. Louis MO 64143

Supermonster by Kevin Huizenga -- who's featured in the new Drawn & Quarterly Showcase. Huizenga's style is reminiscent of Dylan Horrocks and his impressionistic -- often wordless -- mellow comics make for satisfying, relaxing reading. Low on the tension, high on the recommended list. #12 ('99-00), $3, fat, quarter-letter, Kevin Huizenga, POB 12299, St. Louis, MO 63157

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from LCRW no. 13