discontents zine
(Well-Red Bear/Impeller Press)

“There should be a science of discontent. People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles.”
— from “Collected Sayings of Muad’Dib” by the Princess Irulan in Frank Herbert’s Dune

 

To be discontent is to be unsatisfied.

We don’t see that as a negative ideation. We’re not here to whine. We’re here to win.

We’re not nostalgic, but we’d be lying if there wasn’t something alluring about turning real pages, exchanging real mail. The patina of packages sent and received, stamps licked and affixed, rubber-stamped and cancelled, address labels written and rewritten, the physicality of effort in every aspect.

We’re not trying to recapture something from the past. We’re trying to renew something else for the future. The idea is to bring back a sense of slow contemplation without losing the immediacy of the now. The breadth of time and the depth of attention.

This is the preface.

We all met when print was the vehicle for words and ideas, when paper was the hub of the social network. So, we made a zine together. Our interests are all here. Maybe some of yours are, too.

This is the pitch.

As for content, the watchwords were “cumulative culture.” A lack of focus is a suicide pact, but we didn’t want to define it until it existed. It’s as serious as it is fun. We refuse to choose between being nerdy and getting our hands dirty.

This is the pilot.

We are unsatisfied. We are discontents.

Join us.           

 

— Roy Christopher, Editor.