Electric Windmill

Electric Windmill is a monthly collaborative zine started by Brian Le Lay and Jess Dykstra.

Electric Windmill is released 12 issues per year, both online and in print. The print issue is $3 plus postage and available internationally, and the online issue is available online for free as a PDF. They want to get their contributors' work to as many people as possible regardless of potential readers' financial status, which is why they distribute their content online for free.

The types of submissions they take are: "poems, drawings, essays, stories, schematics, rants, recipes, manifestos, and everything in between, so long as it tells us something about your life." They have mentioned on WeMakeZines that they can publish full-color artwork submissions, and that you needn't have a scanner to submit artwork to them.

Some people who inspire them are: "Henry Rollins, Yoni Wolf, Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, Gregory Corso, Charles Bukowski, George Carlin, Frank O'Hara, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jim Carroll, Richard Pryor, Gary Snyder, Henry Miller, Kahlil Gibran, Bill Hicks, Richard Brautigan, Brian Ellis, Marc Maron, Charles Baudelaire, Adam Carolla, Michael Dickman, Matthew Dickman, Russel Edson."

The first issue was released in July 2011 and the second issue was released in August. They are releasing a double issue for September/October on October 31st. Submission deadline is 10/24 for that issue.

Issue No. 001 includes 30 pieces from 20 different contributors in the following categories: poems, stories/fiction, cartoons/comics, photography. Future issues will also include reviews, interviews, and overall a greater variety in content.

Issue No. 002 includes 20 pieces from 12 contributors in the following categories: stories/fiction, articles, poems, visual art, photography.

Issue No. 006 is an all poetry issue, which features work by Bree, A. P. Carlson, Kanchan Chatterjee, Kelly Creighton. Jeffrey Graessley, Kay Kinghammer, Tracey Lander-Garrett, Owen Lucas, Catfish McDaris, Kevin Ridgeway, Ryan Swofford, and Gerald Yelle. The cover art is by Jess Dykstra.

Contributors have included Chris Bird, Fiona Bratherton, Peter Dunifon, Chris Flynn, Keith Landrum (editor of Every Reason, and co-editor of Sorrow Pants), Misti Rainwater-Lites, Kevin Ridgeway, Alan Scally, Peter Schwartz, and Kate Whitman.

They have tabled at Portland Zine Symposium (August 2011) and attended San Francisco Zine Fest (September 2011) where they handed out free zines. They will be present at numerous events in Spring 2012.

This zine is published and distributed by: Electric Windmill Press, which also puts out full-length books, chapbooks, and perzines.