The inaugural issue of Saint John-based It’s Burning Off was released in August 2024. This analog arts zine employs pre-digital cut-and-paste techniques and typewritten layouts to showcase a range of work by emerging New Brunswick writers and artists. Hundreds are then distributed at small businesses, libraries, parks, and public spaces free of charge. The zine’s resistance to mass-produced digital information sources, serendipitous ultra-local consumption patterns, and how it brings readers into public spaces create a cultural community. This connection between creator and consumer is needed, given the pandemic-driven slide into disuse of former community spaces, and the prohibitive cost of producing/consuming culture. Our presentation will overview the zine’s impetus, the assembly process, and significant barriers. We will also review how reception of It’s Burning Off, now in its fourth issue, underscores the transformative power of DIY means of cultural production on Canada’s east coast.

Dr. Gemma Marr is a writer, researcher, and educator in Saint John (Menagoesq/Menahqesk), New Brunswick. She teaches in the Department of Humanities and Languages at UNBSJ, and is the coordinator of the Lorenzo Society, a non-profit arts and culture organization housed in the Faculty of Arts. Gemma has published academic articles, flash fiction, and book reviews, and she is the co-chair of the Fog Lit Literary Festival, which will run in Saint John each autumn. 

Julia Wright is a writer, teacher, and broadcaster in Saint John, New Brunswick. Her work has appeared in many Canadian and International publications. She holds an MA in English from McGill University in Montreal.