Memewar is a free, self-funded magazine from Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

.

Categorized as a multidisciplinary magazine (but often labelled as a literary magazine

Literary magazine

A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...

 due its literary edge), Memewar features work from many different genres (including poetry, prose, art, photography, essays, comics, etc.) and disciplines (science, literature, history, etc.)

Memewar's mission statement claims that "Memewar is interdisciplinary. Both a "meme war," a clash of ideas, and a "memoir," a recording of history, Memewar offers an inclusive space where diverse communities come together
and interact. Each issue is intended to promote dialogue through a variety of genres and perspectives." The title for the magazine comes from Kalle Lasn

Kalle Lasn

Kalle Lasn is an Estonian Canadian author, magazine editor and activist. Near the end of World War II his family fled Estonia and Lasn spent his childhood in a German refugee camp. He was then resettled in Australia. In the 1960s, he founded a market research company in Tokyo, and in 1970, moved...

's Culture Jam, which describes the "meme" war ("meme" being a term to describe any particular facet of culture, such as a cultural tradition, institution or idea) as a battle of subconscious writing of brand names to control the mass media. Essentially, a war of ideas.

Due to their concern for environmental sustainability, Memewar prints only on recycled paper and provides each issue online in PDF form.

History

The editorial collective of Memewar first collaborated on a similar magazine, The Liar, which was funded by Capilano College

Capilano College

Capilano University is an undergraduate-focused, public, coeducational, teaching-intensive university located in the District of North Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is enabled by the University Act...

 (in North Vancouver). The issue of The Liar focused on "social tact or lack thereof" and was released in the fall of 2005. During the inception of Memewar, the editors (who, at the time, included Missy Clarkson, AJ Ivings, Christina Gans, Elliott Lummin, Carmen Papalia, Thor Polukoshko, and Aubyn Rader) were influenced by other literary publications such as SubTerrain, Geist

Geist (magazine)

Geist is Canada's most widely read literary magazine. Geist is published four times a year in Vancouver since 1990. The magazine takes its name from the German word geist, meaning "mind" or "spirit."...

, Adbusters

AdBusters

The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, anti-consumerist, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia...

, and TISH

TISH

TISH was a Canadian poetry newsletter, founded by student-poets at the University of British Columbia in 1961 and edited by a number of Vancouver poets until 1969...

.

Memewar is responsible for creating the Short Line Reading Series

Short Line Reading Series

The Short Line Reading Series is a free literary event that takes place at The Railway Club in Vancouver, British Columbia — a venue historical for showcasing local artistic talent....

, a Vancouver literary event which began in January 2007.

In 2008, Memewar was named "Best Free Literary Magazine" in The Georgia Straight

The Georgia Straight

The Georgia Straight is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp...

's "Best of Vancouver" issue.

In 2009, the editors of Memewar formed the Memewar Arts and Publishing Society (MAPS) - an organization devoted to upholding the magazine's focus on creating intellectual and creative dialogue between disciplines and artists. MAPS acts as an umbrella organization

Umbrella organization

An umbrella organization is an association of institutions, who work together formally to coordinate activities or pool resources. In business, political, or other environments, one group, the umbrella organization, provides resources and often an identity to the smaller organizations...

 which supports projects such as Memewar Magazine and the Short Line Reading Series.

On February 9, 2010, The Memewar Arts & Publishing Society launched their new chapbook

Chapbook

A chapbook is a pocket-sized booklet. The term chap-book was formalized by bibliophiles of the 19th century, as a variety of ephemera , popular or folk literature. It includes many kinds of printed material such as pamphlets, political and religious tracts, nursery rhymes, poetry, folk tales,...

 press, MemePress, with chapbooks penned by a number of Memewar founding editors. The launch included a poetry chapbook by Aubyn Rader titled "Benedict," along with a collaboration between Carmen Papalia and AJ Ivings titled "Touch Street." The release also included the first complete volume of Thor Polukoshko's comic book, Cereal Junkies, titled "The Trouble with Tigers," which was previously serialized throughout the first ten issues of Memewar.

Issues

• May 9, 2006 - "Blind Spots" (1)
• October 19, 2006 - "Lip Service" (2)
• February 1, 2007 - "Tendencies" (3)
• July 10, 2007 - "Where is My Flying Car?" (4)
• February 21, 2008 - "Heirlooms" (5)
• July 6, 2008 - "Billable Hours" (6)
• October 9, 2008 - "Parental Advisory" (7)
• February 19, 2009 - "Gods and Idols" (8)
• June 20, 2009 - "Mobilize!" (9)
• November 5, 2009 - "Adaptation" (10)
• February 9, 2010 - "Fun & Games" (11)
• December 9, 2010 - "Children" (12)