Red Iron Press

This zine features two segments tied together by a red paper band bearing the publisher’s name and contact info; to say the least, the concept and construction are clever. One part of the zine, Map of Paris, features poems by Hugh Thomas. The poet uses an old copper engraving-the map of Paris referred to in the title-as the point of departure for a series of poems ranging from imaginary travels with famed conquerors to imaginary cigarettes shared with grunge icons. Then again, maybe the cigarettes were real, as were their innocence and youth when the author and his friends fancied themselves rock stars and emperors, taking over the world one country at a time. I can’t help but feel sympathy for Hugh Thomas: I certainly have no memories of walking to Moscow with Napoleon, but I remember the day Kurt Cobain died, and I remember once feeling like the characters encountered in these poems. The second part of the zine houses Graphic Material by Cristian S. Aluas (www.CSA1.ca). The dark, fragmented images-pen and ink drawings scrawled on God knows what and assembled God knows how-made me feel as if I were stealing a quick peek at someone’s private diary: curious, a little naughty, a little dirty. My feelings when looking at the zine were magnified, I am sure, by the fact that Aluas describes himself as “extremely sexy” and “loved by women,” as well as by Thomas’ references to the Marquis de Sade. The images I was looking at and the words I was reading soon became irrelevant, however, as I got caught up in folding and unfolding the paper squares that make up this offering from Red Iron Press. The publisher’s stamp itself is delightful, and this zine is oddly compelling: origami for the starving student’s brain. (Andrée Lachapelle)

Two-part zine: poetry and graphics, Red Iron Press, Toronto, ON, Canada, [email protected], www.interlog.com/~imago