Richmond's a Real Person

This fall the Main Library hosted the Richmond Zine Fest, an exciting frenzy of do-it-yourself printed matter. Richmond in fact has a long history of forward-thinking publishing, stretching as far back as the Southern Literary Messenger, edited by Edgar Allan Poe, and, in the 1920s, the ambitious “little magazine,” The Reviewer. 

Between the Messenger and The Reviewer the South went through a period that caused H.L. Mencken to refer to it as something of a cultural desert. In 1921 the book section of the Richmond Evening-Journal closed, and its editors decided at a party in the Fan to continue reviewing books and publishing fiction and to prove Mencken wrong. Emily Tapscott Clark, The Reviewer’s first editor (pictured below), remembers someone simply stating: “Let’s start a little magazine.”

That magazine, The Reviewer, sought to be both regional and experimental, to see past the mists of the Old South towards new literary forms. In its first issue Mary Johnson recalled a man who, after visiting Richmond for the first time, said, “‘I shan’t let it be the last time. Richmond’s a Real Person!” Johnson agreed, and extended the sentiment: “A real person always has literary value.” Publishing from and about this real entity meant exploring new approaches to literature, dispelling old myths and finding new ones. 

   

Credited with prompting the Southern Literary Renaissance, The Reviewer published work by Ellen Glasgow (who lived not far from the Main Library), Gertrude Stein, and English stylist Ronald Firbank, whose eight short novels remain as challenging as they are hilarious. Reviewer editor Hunter Stagg (seen above as painted by Richmond-native Berkeley Williams) went on to spend time with Firbank in Europe, furthering a bridge between The Reviewer and the international avant-garde.

After 35 issues and the departure of editors Clark and Stagg, The Reviewer moved to Chapel Hill in 1925 and from there to Dallas, where it merged with The Southwest Review and continues to publish. The Main Library holds all original issues of the Richmond-based Reviewer as well as Clark’s memoir of her time at The Reviewer, Innocence Abroad.

Pioneering publishing lives on in Richmond ninety years after The Reviewer changed headquarters. Considering the daring nature of their magazine, Clark and Stagg would have been perfectly at home setting up a table at October’s Zine Fest, perhaps talking up the Gertrude Stein piece in the latest issue or handing out button badges that say: “Richmond’s a Real Person.”

Let's Zine About It!

Despite not being as prolific a zine-maker as my peers, I’ve been making zines for nearly a decade, and my mother and aunt still forget how to pronounce the word (like “magazine” without the “maga”), but I think they understand what zines are—hand-made pamphlets or “mini-books” or, if we go along with the idea of a magazine, imagine that by dropping the “maga,” you drop all of the superficial gloss, the hierarchy, the advertisers that twist your original voice, content, and intent into a game of survival for mass appeal.

Zines can contain anything from art to poems to collective histories to recipes and other do-it-yourself tips to ... REALLY ANYTHING. A zine can be about as much as everything or nothing that the zine-maker desires. A zine can be any size or any length or make use of different materials, although your basic 8.5x11 sheet of paper folded in half is the most common.

Making a zine can be a radical act even if the zine is about Taco Bell or haikus about your cat because in a world where everything is literally within the click of button and a few keystrokes, putting something in print still matters. That’s why zines attract a diverse group of makers and readers of all ages, backgrounds, and interests. And now you can access a small collection of zines at Richmond Public Library!

The RPL Zine Collection is currently housed in Ready Reference at the Main Branch, but they can be checked out and returned to the circulation counter at any of the branches.  All 78 issues are fully searchable via the library catalog.

1.  Go to the library website at richmondpubliclibrary.org. Perform a keyword search for "zine."

2. Browse the listing of zines. Each zine has been given a number starting with 101. If you spot one that interests you, click on the title in blue.

3. Once you click on the title, you'll see the following holding information. The zine number (in this case ZINE 176) is what you'll need when you request the zine for check-out.

4. To learn what the zine is about, you'll want to click on "Catalog Record." As you can see, this particular zine published in Richmond, VA, is one where you'll be sure to read some poems related to summer and self-discovery.

All of the zines currently in the RPL Zine Collection were donated at the 9^th Annual Richmond Zine Fest in 2015. Thanks to supportive librarians at the full-day event, several zine exhibitors were thrilled to donate zines, so RPL could establish a zine collection that would allow library patrons to experience what zines can be and maybe even be inspired to make some of their own! Read some of the zines that were available last year, and join us for another free event where artists and writers will have their zines available for purchase, trades, or in some cases for free! This year, Richmond Zine Fest will be at the Main Branch of Richmond Public Library with exhibitors tabling all day Saturday, October 1^st.