Broken Pencil
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2012}}
{{Infobox magazine
| title = Broken Pencil
| logo =
| logo_size =
| previous_editor = Zack Kotzer
Jonathan Valelly
| staff_writer =
| photographer =
| frequency = Quarterly
| publisher = Hal Niedzviecki
Tara Gordon Flint
| paid_circulation =
| unpaid_circulation =
| circulation_year =
| total_circulation =
| founder = Hal Niedzviecki
| founded = 1995
| firstdate =
| finaldate = Summer 2024
| finalnumber = 103
| country = Canada
| language = English
| website = {{URL|https://brokenpencil.com}}
| issn = 1201-8996
| eissn =
| oclc = 427378454
}}{{Short description|Canadian magazine}}
Broken Pencil was a quarterly Canadian magazine based in Toronto, Canada that profiled zine culture and independent arts and music. It was founded in 1995, and it closed in 2024.
History
Broken Pencil was founded in 1995{{cite book |author1=Benson |first=Eugene |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nGfMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA897 |title=Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English |author2=Conolly |first2=L.W. |date=November 30, 2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-46848-5 |page=897 |accessdate=October 31, 2015}} by Hal Niedzviecki.
In 2009, Broken Pencil published a collection of short stories entitled Can'tLit: Fearless Fiction from Broken Pencil Magazine, featuring Canadian independent writers, with ECW Press.{{cite news |author=Good |first=Alex |date=October 2009 |title=Book Review: Can'tLit: Fearless Fiction from Broken Pencil Magazine |url=http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=6658 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323150716/http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=6658 |archive-date=Mar 23, 2012 |accessdate=June 23, 2011 |newspaper=Quill & Quire}} In 2015, The Toronto Star published an article about the first 20 years of Broken Pencil and its role in zine publishing in Canada.{{Cite news |last=Carvile |first=Olivia |date=July 29, 2015 |title=How zines survive in the Internet age |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/07/29/how-zines-survive-in-the-internet-age.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210224814/https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/how-zines-survive-in-the-internet-age/article_ff54a116-64bb-51dd-902f-868c37dbd3cd.html |archive-date=Feb 10, 2024 |access-date=August 15, 2022 |work=Toronto Star}}
Niedzviecki, who remained the magazine's publisher, shut down Broken Pencil in late 2024, citing criticism of his views on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Niedzviecki had received backlash after he made multiple pro-Israel posts on Twitter, culminating in "a petition signed by nearly 200 people, including former editors and contributors, asking him to resign as publisher" of Broken Pencil.{{Cite news |last=O'Kane |first=Josh |date=December 3, 2024 |title=Broken Pencil magazine to shut down as founder cites pressure over pro-Israel views |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-broken-pencil-magazine-to-shut-down-as-founder-cites-pressure-over-pro/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241205030146/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-broken-pencil-magazine-to-shut-down-as-founder-cites-pressure-over-pro/ |archive-date=December 5, 2024 |access-date=March 15, 2025 |work=The Globe and Mail}}
= Canzine =
Broken Pencil organized Canzine, a Toronto-based festival centred around zines and small press publications, from 1995 until 2024.{{Cite web |date=2022-10-28 |title=CANZINE OTTAWA {{!}} Ottawa Art Gallery |url=https://oaggao.ca/events/canzine-ottawa/ |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=oaggao.ca |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=LaPierre |first=Megan |date=Aug 23, 2022 |title=Canzine Festival Returns to Toronto and Ottawa for 2022 |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/canzine_festival_returns_to_toronto_and_ottawa_for_2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130133907/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/canzine_festival_returns_to_toronto_and_ottawa_for_2022 |archive-date=Nov 30, 2024 |access-date=Nov 30, 2024 |work=Exclaim!}} The planned 2024 Canzine festivals in Toronto and Ottawa were cancelled, potentially due to a boycott by zine makers in protest of Niedzviecki's pro-Israel stance.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://brokenpencil.com/ Official website]
Category:1995 establishments in Ontario
Category:2024 disestablishments in Ontario
Category:Defunct literary magazines published in Canada
Category:Magazines established in 1995
Category:Magazines disestablished in 2024