Broken Pencil
| Title: | Broken Pencil |
| Publisher: | Hal Niedzviecki |
| Editor: | Zack Kotzer (2022 - 2024) |
| Type: | |
| Date(s): | 1995 - 2024 |
| Medium: | print, online |
| Fandom: | Zine Fandom |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | brokenpencil.com |
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Broken Pencil was a Canadian magazine (or "mega-zine"[1]) focused on zines, DIY culture, and indie arts. It was founded in 1995. Each of its quarterly issues featured hundreds of zine reviews alongside commentary, interviews, original fiction, comics, and more.[1] Broken Pencil reviewed all kinds of zines, including fanzines, often providing the only press coverage those zines ever received.[2]
Broken Pencil also hosted the annual BP Zine Awards and sells zines on its website. From its inception in 1995 to its closure in 2024, it organized Canzine, a festival of zines and indie culture that took place annually in Toronto and (since 2018) Ottawa.
Closure
In late 2024, Broken Pencil was closed by its founder and publisher, Hal Niedzviecki, following an open letter demanding that Niedzviecki step down as publisher of Broken Pencil due to his support of Israel and repeated denial of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Canadian zinesters and other members of the radical subculture Broken Pencil helped cultivate mourned its loss.[3]
References
- ^ a b About Broken Pencil. Broken Pencil. Accessed February 10, 2024. (archive link)
- ^ How zines survive in the Internet age by Olivia Carville (Jul 29, 2015). Toronto Star. Accessed February 10, 2024. (archive link)
- ^ Broken Pencil Is Done (Nov 30, 2024). The Grind Magazine. Retrieved Dec 3, 2024. Archived from the original on Nov 30, 2024.