Our next interview is with founding editor of Pop Culture Puke, Rachel Davies! Check out their website here.
Kindly give us a short description of yourself and the work you do.
My name is Rachel Davies and I edit Pop Culture Puke, a zine and website. When I founded Pop Culture Puke I envisioned it as a space for young women to discuss pop culture in a way that doesn’t trivialize it. Although certain articles still involve this original conception, PCP has evolved as we now have a broad range of work including poetry, personal essays, photography, etc.
How did you get introduced to zines? Were you influenced by anyone?
I was introduced to zines my then favourite comic book artist posted links to his zines to Tumblr. I began buying zines on Etsy, but didn’t really think about making my own until reading a Rookie article about it. I began making my own lil’ zines of screenshots from Hey Arnold and quotes from my favourite books after that, but Pop Culture Puke is the first zine that I’ve made with a purpose.
What does it mean to do “feminist zine-making”? Does feminism appear in your work (explicitly or implicitly)?
In my opinion, feminist zine-making is about empowering other women through supporting their art and creativity. Feminism appears implicitly in Pop Culture Puke.
What is your favorite zine or piece of mail art? Do you like any specific style/part of a zine?
It’s really difficult to pick a favourite zine! I just read the fifth issue of Filmme Fatales and I’d have to say that that’s my favourite zine right now. I’ve only had it for a week but I’ve reread it a couple times already. There is an even balance of writing and illustration in the zine, which is what I try to focus on when editing Pop Culture Puke.
If you could sum up your zinester life in a kitchen appliance, what appliance would it be?
The appliance would have to be a blender! I think that collaborating on a project, mixing different perspectives together, is a lot more gratifying than doing a project on my own. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve worked on zines on my own but I’ve never felt nearly as proud of those zines as I do of Pop Culture Puke.
Finally, who are some of the other zinesters you’re excited to see at this year’s feminist zine fest?
I don’t know many of the zinesters at this year’s feminist zine fest so I am excited to see everyone, but particularly Suburban Blight, Sy Abudu of Slash Zine, and Caroline Tompkins.
NYC Feminist Zinefest 