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About us: Elke Zobl

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Elke Zobl, Austria, created the Grrrl Zine Network - A resource site for international grrrl, lady, queer and trans folk zines, distros and DIY projects (www.grrrlzines.net) in 2001. The web site currently lists around 2000 zines from 43 countries. The Grrrl Zine Network site hosts information on zine distros, comics, magazines, connected organizations, resources and writings on zines; Zobl has also conducted more than 100 interviews with feminist zine editors and distributors in 34 countries.

She frequently organizes workshops, seminars, exhibitions and conferences around zines and zine culture – as part of the Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go collective in San Diego, US, focusing on the empowerment of young women through the production of fanzines and self-published works in workshops (www.gzagg.org), and in her new home in Salzburg, Austria.

Her research focuses on feminist self-publishing, in particular on feminist zines. After finishing her doctorate at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria, with a dissertation on “The Global Grrrl Zine Network: A DIY Feminist Revolution for Social Change”, Zobl pursued postdoctoral studies at the University of California at San Diego documenting and analysing grrrl zines. Among others, Elke Zobl’s work has been published in an.schlaege (Austria), Fanzines 2 (Germany), Hecate (Australia), feminist collections (US), Peace Review (US), New Wave Cultures (UK/US) and Women in Action (Philippines).

She is now continuing her research on “Young women as creators of new cultural spaces” at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria, and coordinates the research project “Feminist media production in Europe” (both funded by the Austrian Science Fund). She is still involved in zine workshops and activism and is working on a couple of book projects.

She loves rock climbing and surfing and lives in Salzburg, Austria, and can be reached at elke.zobl(at)sbg.ac.at.

PUBLICATIONS

Book chapters:

Pockets of Resistance: Grrrl Zines im Spannungsfeld von Selbstbestimmung und Ermächtigung. In: Lea Susemichel, Saskya Rudigier, Gabi Horak (Hg.): Feministische Medien. Öffentlichkeiten jenseits des Malestream. Helmer Verlag 2008. 41-55.

Connecting the Dots: Riot Grrrls, Ladyfests, and the International Grrrl Zine Network (with Kristen Schilt). In: Next Wave Cultures: Feminism, Subcultures, Activism (Critical Youth Studies), Anita Harris, ed. Routledge: New York, 2008. 171-192.

Rebel Girls, Rebel Wor(l)ds. In: Birgit Sauer, Margit Niederhuber und Katharina Pewny. Her position in transition. Löcker-Verlag: Wien, 2007, 87-91.

Grrrl Zines: Weil wir es satt haben! Grrrl Zines als Ort der Selbstbestimmung. In: Hot Topic: Lebensentwürfe junger Frauen. Sonja Eismann, ed. Ventil Verlag. 2007, 139-148.

Mehr als die Summe der einzelnen Teile: Über Feministische Fanzines, Musiknetzwerke und Ladyfeste (with Christiane Erharter). In: Female Consequences: Momente der Auflehnung in der Popularkultur. Rosa Reitsamer und Rupert Weinzierl, eds. Wien: Löcker Verlag. 2006. 17-30.

To do a magazine is one of our ways - to get what we want! Feministische Comic- und Artcore-(Maga-)Zines. In: Fanzines 2: Noch wissenschaftlichere Betrachtungen zum Medium der Subkulturen. Jens Neumann, ed. Mainz: Ventil-Verlag, 1999. 29-64.

Articles and papers (in journals):

Transnational networks of everyday feminist practices: From Grrrl Zine Network to Grassroots Feminism. Zehar Nr. 64. Arteleku (ed). San Sebastian, Spain, 2008: 90 – 101. http://www.arteleku.net/4.1/blog/zehar/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/zobl_e....

„The Future of Feminism“? Ladyfeste als Plattformen feministisch-queerer Interventionen. AEP-Informationen - Feministische Zeitschrift für Politik und Gesellschaft. Arbeitskreis Emanzipation und Partnerschaft, Innsbruck, 2008. 20-21.

Ladyfest means you: Do-It-yourself queer feminist action! (with Red Chidgey). In: HERE AND NOW! NEW FORMS OF FEMINIST ACTION. Estibaliz Sadaba – Azucena Vieites, Erreakzioa-Reacción (ed.). sala rekalde: Bilbao, Madrid, 2008. n.p.

Von und für Mädchen und junge Frauen: Grrrl Zines in der Schule In: Schulqualität & Gender Mainstreaming. Tagungsbericht vom 23. November 2005, Landesberufsschülerheim Hallein. Eine Veranstaltung des LSR für Salzburg in Kooperation mit BMBWK, PIB Salzburg, Verein EfEU, Wien zur LehrerInnenfortbildung, 2006. 42-44.

Grrrl and Lady Style Revolution, Now! In: Peace Review. A Journal for Social Justice. Special issue: Subcultures and Political Resistance. University of San Francisco: Taylor and Francis Publishing. Vol 16, no. 4, December 2004: 445-452.

The Power of Pen Publishing: International feminist zines and distros. In: Feminist Collections: A Quarterly of Women’s Studies Resources. The University of Wisconsin, USA. Vol. 26, no.1, Fall 2004, 20-24. Available at: http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/WomensStudies/fc/FCZinesZobl.pdf

Persephone is Pissed! Grrrl Zine Reading, Making, and Distributing across the Globe. In: Hecate: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Women’s Liberation. Hecate Press: University of Queensland, Australia. 30.2 2004, 156-174.

Sparking Revolutions in Minds and Hearts. In Conversation with Grrrl Zine Editors from around the World. In: Rain and Thunder: A Radical Feminist Journal of Discussion and Activism. #23, Summer 2004, 12-14. [reprint: Women in Action]

Sparking Revolutions in Minds and Hearts. In Conversation with Grrrl Zine Editors from around the World. In: Women in Action. Special Issue: Young Women. Philippines: ISIS International-Manila (2) October 2003. 36-40. Online available: http://www.isiswomen.org/pub/wia/wia203/zobl.htm.

Let’s Smash Patriarchy! Zine Grrrls and Ladies at Work. In: Off Our Backs. The Feminist Newsjournal. Washington, DC. XXXIII (3-4) 2003. 60-61.

Grrrl Zines (with Sonja Eismann).. In: Gender@Wiki: das Fachwiki der Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung im deutschsprachigen Raum, August 31, 2007. Available:http://www2.gender.hu-berlin.de/gendermediawiki/index.php/Grrrl_Zines

Newspaper and magazine articles:

“Unzine – ein Web-Zine aus Kroatien” and „make/shift: feminisms in motion“. Missy Magazine #2, Germany, 2009,

„Anattitude Magazine: A tribute to all B-Girls, Spinderellas, Grandmistresses, Fly Emcees and Hiphop Queens” and “Fallopian Falafel – Riot Grrrl in Jerusalem”. Missy Magazine #1, Germany, 2008. 89.

Myspace, your space, whose space is it? Web 2.0 im Spannungsfeld von Kapitalismus, Gegenöffentlichkeit und Feminismus (with Sonja Eismann). Kunstfehler, Salzburg. Winter 2007/08, 16.

Grrrl Zines. In: Die Zeit Zünder, Bildergalerien (with Sonja Eismann).. Online website of German Weekly Die Zeit. Hamburg: May 2007. Available: http://php.diezuender.de/gallery/gallery.php?gid=210

Music Fan-Zinesters: Supporting a woman’s right to rock (with Haydeé Jiménez). fiber: werkstoff für feminismus und popkultur. >>Musik<<. Vienna, Heft 10/2006, p. 88-89.

Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go: Taller de zines en el Sur de California. In: bulbo press, Tijuana, Mexico. No. 12, May-June 2005, 8.

Self-publishing in Tijuana: An interview with La Linea and Bulbo Press (with Claudia Lucero, Margarat Nee, and Kim Schwenk). In: media emergenC: A four day independent media convergence. San Diego Independent Media Center (ed.). September 2004. 4.

Let’s DIY! The Empowerment of Grrrls through Zine Making (with Claudia Lucero, Margarat Nee, and Kim Schwenk). Digress Magazine. Riverside, USA. #6, 2004: 6.

Zine Reviews (with Claudia Lucero, Margarat Nee, and Kim Schwenk). In: San Diego Free Press. 4 (1) 2004. 8.

Where the Heck is the Local Zine Scene? (with Claudia Lucero, Margarat Nee, and Kim Schwenk) In: San Diego Free Press. 3 (1) 2004. 8.

Self-Publishing Power for Teen Grrrls (with Claudia Lucero, Margarat Nee, and Kim Schwenk). In: San Diego Free Press. 2 (1) 2004. 8.

Do It Yourself. Lebendig, subversiv und vielfaeltig sind sie, die Anti Musen, Grrrl Rebels und Pink Punkies. In: an.schlaege. Das feministische Magazin. Vienna: CheckArt. 5 (3) May 2003. 22-23.

Eine Reise um den Globus mit Grrrl und Lady Zines. In: Regina: Stillleben. Regina Moeller, ed. Essen: Kokerei Zollverein, Zeitgenössische Kunst und Kritik. (6) September 2002. 94-99.

Grrrl Zine Serie. Sprachrohre des Untergrunds (8.8.2002); Aus reiner Liebe zur Sache (22.8.2002); Girls Need Modems! (5.9.2002); Zines im Protest (19.9.2002); Zines auf Reisen (3.10.2002). In: dieStandard, Vienna. Online Web site. Available: http://www.diestandard.at.

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