ANARKISS at portfolioofhope on 7th January 2025 by LISA FOUWEATHER etc via https://wp.me/pIJl9-Fm9 Telegram https://t.me/thefreeonline
Who Are We? The home for the outcasts, the marginalised and misunderstood misfits amongst us, ANARKISS is an independent punk-inspired, counterculture publication packed full of renegade art and activism.
ANARKISS: The Counterculture Zine
- Anti-capitalist
- Anti-war
- Anti-authority
- Gender-bending
- Tory-hating
- Patriarchy-smashing
- Queer
Providing a creative outlet for people to channel their feelings about social justice issues in a healthy way, ANARKISS is the go-to place for misfits, (a group of like-minded people who are all united in their pursuit of a common goal, change), to convene as they strive to heal a sick society, through art.)…
How It Works
Whether you’re a poet or a photographer, a short story writer or a graphic designer, ANARKISS’ open submission policy, within which all submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis (eligibility determined based on how well they fit the theme), gives all artists with something to say an opportunity to see their work published in print.
Published bi-monthly, (we have one month open for submissions, and the following month is for publication), we have released five volumes so far, with submissions having just reopened for issue 06.
Where Are We?
ANARKISS is stocked in select independent bookstores around the UK, including Housman’s and Freedom Press in London, News from Nowhere in Liverpool, Lighthouse Bookshop in Edinburgh, and Books for Amnesty in Brighton. It is also shipped worldwide via our website, anarkisszine.com.
No marketing costs have been expended on the website, but our reach has meant that we are the top-ranking site on Google under the keyword, ‘ANARKISS’.
In terms of how we reach people without promoting the zine, submissions mainly come from word-of-mouth recommendations (free marketing)! This works well for us because it means that ANARKISS has become a known publication in social justice circles, ‘esoteric’, with this being our target audience of both contributors and readers…
Our Target Audience
Created by and for the marginalised and misunderstood, we are receiving submissions from people who feel like their art isn’t taken seriously in mainstream publications; people of colour, LGBTQ+ people, neurodivergent people, anyone who is made to feel as though they are on the outskirts looking in.
‘The Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, and people who, in many instances, have absolutely no clue what they are doing.’
The potential reach of ANARKISS is increasing day by day, as discussions about politics are becoming more commonplace than they have ever been, and trust and confidence in the British government are at an all-time low.
Official statistics published by the National Centre for Social Research found that 45% of people would ‘almost never’ trust British governments of any party to place the needs of the nation above the interests of their own political party, up from 34% in 2019, with 79% of people believing that the present system of governing Britain could be improved ‘quite a lot’ or ‘a great deal.’
It’s important to note, however, that such attitudes differ significantly based on the economic position that people find themselves in, hence why 72% of those who are struggling financially ‘almost never’ trust politicians, compared with 49% of those living comfortably.
The issue with this is that the voices of the working class are drowned out by the middle class… And when art is the medium that many people turn to for expressing their emotions, yet the art world is predominantly comprised of middle-class people, (a report published by the Sutton Trust, revealed that there are around four times as many individuals from middle-class backgrounds as there are from working-class backgrounds in creative occupations), the views that we see represented through art are not representative of the masses.
ANARKISS, which prides itself on ‘passing the mic’, helps to change such a discrepancy in the art world however, by providing marginalised people with a platform to have their art seen, and, in turn, giving under-represented voices an opportunity to have their opinions heard…
The Inspiration
I set up ANARKISS at the start of 2024, having found myself becoming very disillusioned with the state of British politics.
I would switch on the news, be forced to endure the sound of fumbling politicians tripping over yet more broken promises, and wish that I could do more, yet that’s all it ever extended to, ‘wishing.’
Aside from tweeting about how much we ‘need change’ on the platform that is owned by the same man who is pals with leaders of the West’s radical right, Donald Trump and Nigel Farage, ‘what else can I do?’, was the general attitude that I held.
‘When we are the ants, and they are the boots teasing us about the power they hold over us… What else can we do?’
Alas, having always loved being creative, art has always been my way of making sense of the world around me, I decided to combine the two things that I feel most passionate about, art and activism. This saw the birth of ANARKISS, and the answer to the question above…
‘What else can we do?’
Make art.
What Next?
To be regarded as a staple publication in the literary world, a ‘must read’ in political and social justice discourse, and a go-to place for people to feel empowered, this is the long-term goal of ANARKISS.
The Free 