'A collection of odds and ends': Windsor library publishes first zine

Poems, short stories, even collages: the Windsor Public Library's (WPL) first-ever zine is giving some Windsor residents the opportunity to see their work in print for the first time.

The zine — essentially a small-circulation, self-published literary magazine — is titled Pagination, and includes work from about 30 people. Most of them are from Windsor, but other submissions came from as far as Vancouver, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, said library employee David Konstantino.

"It's kind of in the spirit of old-fashioned zines that were made in like the 70s and 90s," he said. "It's really like a handmade-type thing. Obviously, there was some computers involved, but it's mostly cut-and-paste, like the old style glue, scissors, tape, markers."

Copies of the first run of Pagination can be found at any WPL branch.

"It's just a collection of odds and ends, poems, stories, collages," Konstantino said. "It's a little strange, it's a little funny."

In addition to the submissions, he said the zine includes lists of books that can be borrowed, and questions and answers compiled from different magazines.

"I just wanted something interesting, that was different, from new, emerging writers and artists, and also some that maybe aren't new," he said. "I just wanted to compile it, mix it all up and see what came out."

"I didn't know what to expect, but a lot of great stuff came out of this, and I'm really happy with the contributors that submitted."

One of those contributors is Meg Mooney, a University of Windsor student who had a poem included in Pagination.

Mooney said the poem is her first published piece of writing.

"My whole family wants me to bring home a copy for them, so it is a great chance to get some exposure," she said. "It's hard to get published as a young writer, so this was just an incredible opportunity."

Mooney said getting her work published has been a goal since she was a child.

"it was something I worried I'd never be able to do," she said. "It's so incredible to have already hit that milestone, and it's kind of addicting now that I know I can do it."

"I want to look for more opportunities, and it's really built my confidence and kind of sense of self-worth in my writing," Mooney said. "So it's been amazing."

Alexi Andrei Ungurenasu, Windsor's youth poet laureate, also submitted a poem that was included.

"I just wanted to be part of it," he said. "I always loved zines since I was a child, and it's a piece of ephemera that, maybe it won't be largely distributed, but the few of us who will have it will be able to like look through and say this is our generation in Windsor in 2022, this is our writing."

Fellow contributor Julie Hang said she was also excited to see her poems in print in Pagination.

"I was supposed to be part of another zine that was produced by the university, but then COVID hit, so it never really hit the printers," Hang said. "This is technically my first time being published."

Hang said she found out about the zine through ads asking for submissions. A professor in her UWindsor creative writing course also emailed students encouraging them to submit.

"I thought, especially since it's part of the local culture Windsor, I wanted to at least try my hand in contributing to the zine," she said.

Reading through Pagination is inspiring, as well, Hang said.

"It gives me a sense of Windsor's culture," she said. "This gives me like a little taste of like the local artists and what captures their eyes."

"I think with this, I'll get a little more inspiration of getting an idea of how to capture the city in my writing a little bit more."

The WPL is planning to do another zine, Konstantino said, adding he'll post on the WPL's social media accounts when submissions are open.

In the meantime, copies of Pagination can be found at any Windsor Public Library branch.