Publishing ‘Zines for Prisoners

Publishing ‘Zines for Prisoners

Media

Digital print, Risograph

Binding

Saddle

Format

Zine

Dimensions

8.5 × 5.5 in

Pages

26

Publisher

Half Letter Press, Temporary Services

$ 5.00

Unavailable


In the summer of 2014, we drove to Monee, Illinois to meet Anthony Rayson of ABC ‘Zine Distro. Anthony has been self-publishing for about 40 years. We were particularly interested in the work he’s done to both distribute ‘zines to prisoners as well as to publish their writings, art, and complete ‘zines. In addition to interviewing Anthony about his history of publishing-related activism and the challenges of dealing with the prison system, we scanned examples of the powerful art that prisoners have sent him over the years. This booklet presents an interview with Anthony, prisoners’ art from his archives, with seven pages given over to the particularly powerful art of Kevid “Rashid” Johnson, a longtime friend of Rayson’s and a prisoner currently incarcerated in Amarillo, Texas.