Four Minutes to Midnight (23:56) is an experimental literary arts zine edited, designed and published by Kevin Lo and John W. Stuart. The zine began with an open question posed to friends and acquaintances, “what’s wrong?” and has since developed into an annual showcase of experimental writing, design and visual art.

Based in the firm belief that the personal is political, the zine explores the possibility for small stories, bad poetry, vast dreams and private pains as a means of advancing social change. We aim to shed some beauty onto our individual struggles, drawing the connections between them and fostering more honest expressions of love and dissent. Though realistically, we know one little booklet isn’t really going to “change things”, we do hope it’s something that people will carry around with them, flip through, and find a little encouragement and energy when needed.

The zine is also a space for radical typographic experimentation, blurring the line between form and content. We see typography (and graphic design more generally) as a critical and contested area of cultural engagement. We fuck with typography because typography fucks with you…

We’re always looking for new contributors and collaborators, so please feel free to get in touch.