#nottransenough

Stoked to have made this list alongside some other great zines.

A review by Women Write About Comics! For the full review, click the link!

“Not Trans Enough: A Compilation on the Erasure of Non Passing and Non Conforming Trans Identified People challenges the idea that there is a clear, static definition of trans identity. Collected by Eddie Jude, the publisher and creator behind Late Bloom Zines, this anthology zine boasts over fifty pages of content from 31 contributors, all questioning the concept of trans authenticity by sharing their individual experiences.

Dictionary definitions of “enough” contradict how we sometimes use the word. Merriam-Webster defines it as “equal to what is needed.”The Free Dictionary identifies it as meaning, “sufficient to meet a need or satisfy a desire; adequate,” and the listing in the Oxford English Dictionary similarly states, “sufficient in quantity or number.” If reaching “enough” means one’s needs are all met, how can anyone determine what is enough, except for the person in need?

Each contributor plays with, or refutes, the idea of outside parties creating a strict definition of “enough.” The uniqueness of each creator is reflected in the diversity of media in the zine: there are essays, free verse poems, sketches, portraits, and lots of spoken word poetry. Many of these pieces utilize styles that are deliberately unconventional. For example, “on femmes, fags, and the impossibility of recognition” by tasha tristan is the first essay in the zine, and, despite its formal nature, is written in all lowercase letters. The following essay, “Big, Burly and Beautiful” by Rhiannon Robear, again disrupts the traditionally formal format when Robear declares, “…fuck off with your gendered policing.” Reading this zine is an exercise in breaking all the rules of both gender norms and form, and it is incredibly satisfying.