Interview | Imarni Boyer-Nugent | Robina Nguyen
Femicide Zine's 6th issue.
Imarni Boyer-Nugent, a UK-based Fine Art student and the creator of Femicide, is bringing back the glossy posters and fanzines that flooded the ‘90s punk scene. “Just because the zine is pretty and pink doesn’t mean it has to be soft,” Imarni told Disobedient.
Sophisticated and subversive graphics, bold hand lettering and collaged confessions: These are the signatures of Femicide Zine, a fierce scrapbook-like zine filled with riot grrrl-inspired art and writing.
Femicide Zine told the world that Imarni Boyer-Nugent was pissed, and she wasn’t going to stay quiet about it. She created Femicide Zine in her second year of college at Nottingham Trent University for her final project, when she was studying fashion design.
When Imarni was 16, a man in his late twenties offered to buy her a pint at a local punk gig. At that moment, she realized that the punk scene—along with all the other spaces she occupied—was an old boys’ club “filled with dickheads who thought they ruled the world.” Punk is all about self-expression and radical dissent — but for one of the most diverse subcultures out there, it’s plagued with gatekeeping and elitism.
And usually, it’s the girls who get shut out.
“My biggest piece of advice to teenage girls is to do whatever you want — literally,” said Imarni. “The world doesn’t like disruptive women who make waves, but they love it when men do.”
Two years later, she’s still finding her footing in the zine-making industry. “My art style is constantly changing because I’m still learning,” said Imarni, “but I will always love a scrappy, cut-and-stick approach to the zine.”
For Imarni, the DIY element is the most important aspect of zine-making. Femicide Zine isn’t an “ultra-sleek, professional publication” — it’s a form of self expression with roots in the punk movement and counterculture.
You might find Imarni splurging on glossy paper and spines, but Femicide will never be a carbon copy of a big-budget magazine. Instead, the zine draws inspiration from independent artists like Barbara Kruger and Hannah Hoch. Imarni is a huge fan of Linder Sterling, a British artist known for her radical feminist photomontages performances — she says that Sterling’s feminist collages and her work with the punk band Buzzcocks are always creeping into her collages.
It doesn’t end there. Imarni could go on about her favorite Riot Grrrl artists for hours — L7, Suffrajet, Sex Stains and X-Ray Spex are just a few. “But Bikini Kill’s Pussy Whipped and Revolution Girl Style Now albums were my first introduction to Riot Grrrl, so they’ll always be special to me,” Imarni told Disobedient.
She carves out inspiration from her surroundings, from the zine archive at Nottingham Trent to her collection of 90’s gig posters. “Femicide is almost an extension of myself,” says Imarni. “What would you look like if you were a zine?” During the zine-making process, she uses Photoshop and InDesign for physical collages and digital submissions. “It’s all very spur of the moment,” Imarni said.
A few weeks ago, she released her favorite zine yet: Femicide’s sixth issue. “I wanted this issue to be the mark of a new ‘era’ in a way,” the zinemaker told me. “I’m not f**king around anymore — I’m serious about what I’m making and it’s not something to sniff at.” The paper size moved up from A5 to A4 — nearly twice the dimensions of her older zines. Femicide’s sixth zine had bolder colors and featured the most external submissions Imarni had ever received.
“My biggest piece of advice to teenage girls is to do whatever you want — literally,” said Imarni. “The world doesn’t like disruptive women who make waves, but they love it when men do.”
Femicide Zine’s Instagram: @femicidezine
Words by Robina Nguyen
