Category: Short Form Prose

FIU student zines

The Zine Scene

Published on by Beatriz F.2 Comments

If you haven’t delved into the Zine scene lately, you may be missing out! A zine, pronounced “zeen,” short for “fanzine” or “magazine” is a personal hand-crafted publication that can contain anything the creator’s imagination can supply and often devoted to unconventional subject matter!

Zines are made to share, trade, explore, discover and celebrate all modes of self-expression that can be printed: writing, art, photography.  All you need to create a basic one is pen and paper.  (A photocopier helps if you want to produce more quantity!) 

My latest close encounter with zines happened when a professor at the university where I work asked to display her students’ zines in the library where others could read them or even take one with them if they wanted.  She was teaching a class called Zine Writing and her students produced a variety of zines on fascinating topics ranging from their personal struggles with cultural assimilation to social justice issues affecting them and their families. I was really captivated by their insightful observations and the accompanying artwork, which included collages, flags, maps, masks, pictures of food, drawings and even a playlist! 

These zines were tiny pamphlets cleverly folded from a single 8.5 X 11 piece of paper, but zines come in all shapes and sizes.  

How-to Zine

A quick YouTube search will yield many zine-making tutorials:

This guide shows how to make a zine from a single piece of paper such as the students did—no staples required!

Find a Zine Event Near You!

If you want to fire up your imagination, you can view original zines or learn how to craft one at a Zine fair or Zine fest! Zine events take place worldwide; you can easily search for your city or region and zine fair/ zine fest / zine event and the current year to find a zine-making workshop at your local library or a zine festival that includes many publishers:

Printed Matter lists both national and international zine events organized by state or country.

Book and zine fairs – Printed Matter

Nicezines also lists worldwide zine events and other zine resources such as how to make them, price them and share them:

Zine events in 2026 – Nicezines

I found out the Miami Zine Fair is coming up in April:

Miami Zine Fair 2026

“Founded in 2015 by EXILE Projects as part of O, Miami Poetry Month, the Fair is a free, public celebration of self-publishing and independent print culture.  Each year, it brings together over 150 artists, writers, illustrators, activists, and poets from Miami and beyond.

Visitors can explore hundreds of zines—handmade and expertly crafted—alongside workshops, performances, and multimedia projects. 
Open to all ages and backgrounds, the Miami Zine Fair invites the public to browse, touch, and engage with the vibrant world of independent publishing.”

Zine New Wave

Some see the Zine resurgence as a response to an increasingly digital world:

The New Wave of Zine Culture: Why Print Isn’t Dead in 2025 – Mole Empire

One reason writers and poets are attracted to the zine medium:

”Zines offer an intimate platform for sharing personal stories, poetry, and experimental writing that might not fit into traditional publishing models.”

The above article offers advice on how to delve deeper into the zine culture:

“Zine Fairs and Festivals: Keep an eye out for local and online zine fairs. These events are fantastic opportunities to discover new zines, meet creators, and connect with the community.

Independent Bookstores and Art Spaces: Many independent bookstores and art galleries are now stocking zines, recognizing their cultural significance.

Online Communities: Platforms like Instagram and Tumblr host thriving zine communities. Search hashtags like #zine, #zinester, #diyzine, and #[yourcountry]zines to discover creators and connect with others.

Directly from Creators: Many zine makers sell their work directly through their own websites or social media. Support independent artists by buying directly!”

From LitMag News:

Inside Zine Festivals (and Why Zines Matter)

Ironically, as zines are ephemeral print matter by nature, libraries have been digitizing them for preservation purposes.

Zine Collections in Libraries, Books on Zines

Many libraries have Zine collections (aka Zine libraries)

Barnard College’s site lists Zine libraries by region

Zine Libraries | Barnard Zine Library

And guides to zine history, books on zines, zine collections:

What is a Zine? – Zines – LibGuides at University of Texas at Austin

Search Worldcat.org for books on zines held in worldwide libraries:

www.worldcat.org

Zine Culture

Even the Smithsonian has gotten involved as zines have grown in importance to our cultural development:

How Zines Brought Power to Those on the Margins of Culture

Specific subcultures have used zines to promote their ideas:

Riot grrrl – Wikipedia

“The movement quickly spread well beyond its musical roots to influence the vibrant zine- and Internet-based nature of fourth-wave feminism’

Zine Classes

Apart from the DIY classes offered by your local library or zine fair, school systems have zine programs added to their curriculums:

Zines for Progress | The Wolfsonian | Florida International University | FIU

“Zines for Progress (Z4P) is a Miami-Dade County public high school outreach program centered on addressing topical issues through zine-making.”

At my university I found yet another class focused on Feminist Zine Writing.

Zine Writing Virtual Gallery – FIU Digital Writing Studio

“Social critiques, personal diary rants and impassioned protests are just some of the topics commonly discussed within feminist zines. Zines are able to bypass traditional gate-keeping mechanisms that silence non-dominant voices and perspectives. As a result, zines offer a platform upon which feminists of all genders are using words, images and other non-violent discursive practices to advocate for equity, mobilize activist efforts and build and sustain community.”

You can see how zines have become a much-valued venue for self-expression! 

Dip a toe in the zine pool and you might wake up a tsunami of creativity!

Thank you for reading and please follow us here and on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/OLDSCRATCHPRESS/

Beatriz F. Fernandez is a Miami area poet and University Reference librarian. She is the author of three poetry chapbooks, the most recent of which is Simultaneous States  (2025) by Bainbridge Island Press.  In 2025, she became a member of the Old Scratch Press writing collective.

(Pictures are of FIU students’ handcrafted zines and used with permission of the professor.)

Join us for a fun online mixer. March 28, 2 to 4 Pacific Time. Door Prizes, Activities, Free to Attend, Register today at currentwords.com/events.

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/7eRgLvBPSkuyhpUtgLlkdw#/registration

Exploring E.E. Cummings: Poems That Can Dance

Published on by Nadja Maril2 Comments

by Nadja Maril,a founding member of Old Scratch Press Collective

Many decades ago, I choreographed a dance to accompany a poem. I selected a poem by E.E. Cummings, “In Just—” Which in my mind I titled, “In Just Spring.”

I picked that particular poem for its exuberance.  I could imagine myself interpreting the verse with movements that were both fast and slow, languorous and springy. The challenge was to select movements that I could execute while reciting the words.

Photo by Jimmy Elizarraras on Pexels.com

[in Just-]

By E. E. Cummings  (1894-1962)

in Just-
spring          when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer
old balloonman whistles
far          and             wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's
spring
and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles
far
and
wee

This poem was written in 1923, over one hundred years ago.

Cummings was an experimenter who developed his own personal style. Although classically trained, with multiple degrees from Harvard University, he used punctuation as it suited him. Spaces on the page were seen as opportunities to spread out the pacing or to combine several words into one breath. Conjunctions were sometimes nouns and selected words might take on additional assigned meanings.

Hailed as one of the most influential and important poets of the 20th century, Cummings embraced the concept of Visual Poetry. Words were placed on the page to create shapes and images that serve to reinforce the mood of the verse.  

You can read more about E.E. Cummings in this article published on the Poetry Foundation website. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/e-e-cummings

It was easy for me to dance the role of the goat-footed balloon man, after seeing the words establishing his presence “skip” across the page.

The line “whistles far and wee” is spread out, which enabled me to say the individual words with enough time to run from one side of the stage to the other side.

In writing poetry, thought is often devoted to line breaks and capitalization. Traditional or avant garde, the last word in a line typically takes on greater importance. By choosing not to capitalize the first word of a line, emphasis is softened.

Try changing the line breaks on a poem you are working on. How do your changes impact the poem? Try adding extra spaces between words or merging them together. Once again, how do these changes reshape a poem’s texture and meaning?

In contrast, when you write a prose poem using sentences, it is the order and sound of the words that must create the poetry. No one approach is better than another. It all depends on what you are trying to achieve.

Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com

In a few more weeks it will officially be Spring, here in the Northeast USA where I live. I look for birds returning from the winter vacation in the south and I hear “in-Just” recited inside my head. Crocuses begin pushing up through the muddy soil. Bicycles are pulled out of storage and pastel chalk pictures are drawn on the sidewalk. No balloon man, but it is the start of outdoor birthday parties.

The idea of adding movement to your recitation of a poem, may inspire you to choose different words when writing verse.

WRITING PROMPT: Try writing a poem about a season, place, or time. Maybe your piece is about a mood such as anger or maybe it is about a feeling such as being satiated. Often a poem focuses on the visual, but instead think about movement. Use active verbs. In Cummings short poem the wind and the balloon man whistle. The children run and dance.

What did you create? Maybe you’re on to something you like. Keep playing with the concepts and see where they lead you. Part of the enjoyment of writing, is discovering what works and what doesn’t work. 

Read the work of other poets, and as March is Women’s History month, I am going to suggest three women poets:

Rae Armantrou ( B. 1947).

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rae-armantrout

Mina Loy (1882-1966)

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148476/love-songs-5bec636568b82

Gertrude Stein (1874-1946)

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/gertrude-stein

Writers and Readers, don’t forget to forget to follow us on Facebook to get the latest news and learn about submission opportunities.

Nadja Maril is an award winning writer and poet who has been published in dozens of online and print literary journals and anthologies including: Lunch Ticket, Spry Literary Journal, Invisible City Literary Review, Instant Noodles and The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts. She is the author of Recipes From My Garden, published by Old Scratch Press (September 2024), a Midwest Review California Book Watch Reviewer’s Choice. An Anne Arundel County Arts Council Literary Arts Award winner, her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and The Best of the Net. She has an MFA in creative writing from Stonecoast at USM.

Check out Nadja’s chapbook below and here.

It’s Not Too Late for Gravy

Published on by diannePLeave a comment

The holiday/end of year issue of INSTANT NOODLES, the issue where we always ask people to try for humor. Do you have what it takes to make us smile?

Submissions for 2025 are open through November 2, 2025.

The Old Scratch Press team asks that all fiction/non-fiction pieces adhere to a word count of 1,000 words or less. 

2025 Themes and Topics

GRAVY is our 2025 winter holiday theme. Give us your best holiday gravy fails, mishaps, ridiculous gravy encounters (any December holiday, from Hannukah, to Solstice, to NYE, etc.) or your best wry work about gravy, in general. The point of the end-of-year issue is always to be light-hearted to downright silly. Submissions for GRAVY are open through NOVEMBER 2, 2025; the issue will publish on DECEMBER 1, 2025. Please CLICK HERE to submit. We’re looking for short fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, art, and multi-media.

INSTANT NOODLES is always free to submit to, and free to read. We’re about to announce the pieces that were published that we’re submitting to BEST OF THE NET and PUSHCART, so stay tuned to this station!

Thanks for being an INSTANT NOODLES participant and/or fan! We appreciate you giving indie authors a place to get read!

Seeking Sanctuary in what you Read

Published on by gilliampoetLeave a comment

For many of us, reading is a means of escaping the clamor of the real world for a brief time. The theme of the current issue of Instant Noodles is “Sanctuary.” If you’re seeking to give your brain a respite from the news feed, head on over to read the latest issue, curated by the members of Old Scratch Press!

Instant Noodles is open for submissions for our Winter issue! If you have a piece that fits our “Gravy” theme and is on the light-hearted side, please check out the submission guidelines here! We try to fill our Winter issue with fun and mayhem, so please remember that HUMOR, not melancholy is our ask for this issue!

Old Scratch Press is also seeking new members to join our collective! If you write short form pieces (like flash fiction, poetry, or flash memoir), and you’re interested in working with our collective to publish your collection of work, check out our submission guidelines at Duotrope to see if we might be a good fit! The submission window closes on August 31!

Exploring the Art of Creative Nonfiction

Published on by Nadja MarilLeave a comment

By Nadja Maril

Before you read this you’ll want to check out the NEW issue of Instant Noodles Literary Magazine which has some excellent examples of creative nonfiction along with poetry, short stories and eye catching artwork.https://instantnoodleslitmag.com/

Now let’s talk a little about CNF.

In my previous profession as an antiques dealer, I came across many 18th and 19th century journals and often the most remarkable thing about them was their impeccable penmanship.

Nowadays the word journaling connotes the writing of innermost thoughts; but often the journals I encountered contained lists of items purchased and/or a record of weather events.  If someone did write down deep and personal information, they hadn’t left it behind to be found by a stranger.

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

In the 20th century it was fashionable to keep a “diary” and diaries came with locks and keys. Many stories have been told about a diary being read by a parent or a diary falling into the wrong hands. The locked diary contained things not meant to be shared.

Whatever was written in a journal or diary was someone’s truth.

Gradually a shift in what can be shared and what must be kept secret occurred.  True stories, nonfiction, became popular fodder for books, movies, and television series. We are intrigued by the unbelievable. In literature, the memoir that thoughtfully reveals the life of the author is celebrated.

Creative nonfiction is a writing genre that can be tricky to define. Based on a true event, the creative designation, indicates the importance of artistry. The writer seeks to use their craft to convey a feeling, a fear, a triumph, a predicament they personally experienced or witnessed.

Often creative nonfiction and poetry cross paths. A poem can be inspired by a witnessed event or experience, and therefore some might call it creative nonfiction.  A flash creative nonfiction story with rhyme, alliteration, and rhythmic sentences could be categorized by some as a prose poem.

Here is an example for you to ponder, a prose poem by American poet Amy Lowell.

Bath

               By Amy Lowell (1874-1925)

The day is fresh-washed and fair, and there is a smell of tulips and narcissus in the air.
      The sunshine pours in at the bath-room window and bores through the water in the bath-tub in lathes and planes of greenish-white. It cleaves the water into flaws like a jewel, and cracks it to bright light.
      Little spots of sunshine lie on the surface of the water and dance, dance, and their reflections wobble deliciously over the ceiling; a stir of my finger sets them whirring, reeling. I move a foot and the planes of light in the water jar. I lie back and laugh, and let the green-white water, the sun-flawed beryl water, flow over me. The day is almost too bright to bear, the green water covers me from the too bright day. I will lie here awhile and play with the water and the sun spots. The sky is blue and high. A crow flaps by the window, and there is a whiff of tulips and narcissus in the air.

***

Each person’s perception of what they witnessed is slightly different. Then the question shifts to how much is fact and how much is fiction. Has the story has been changed to suit the storyteller? In the telling and the writing, the emphasis of what was important may shift. Once again, this can be the result of artistic interpretation.

The process of writing creative nonfiction has me returning to it again and again. Pure fiction has its own joys, but creative nonfiction provides an opportunity for personal discovery. Why do i remember an event a certain way, I ask myself, while someone else remembers it differently? Maybe that tells me something about myself.

The best way to develop an appreciation for creative nonfiction is to read it.

Some magazines I like to read for their flash creative nonfiction include: Riverteeth https://riverteethjournal.com/beautiful-things/

Hippocampus Magazine. https://hippocampusmagazine.com/

and Bending  Genres https://bendinggenres.com/

Thank you for reading this post and visiting the Old Scratch Press Blog. This Sunday, August 3rd.  from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., several members of the Old Scratch Press Team are participating in an international Poetry Reading, Blot of Blue

And you can attend online. Here is the information and invitation.

https://www.facebook.com/events/764779602578772/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22home%22%7D%2C%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22surface%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22groups_highlight_units%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D