Copies of Four Minutes to Midnight are currently available at these fine establishments:

MONTREAL

Drawn & Quarterly Bookstore
211 Bernard Ouest ~ 514 . 279 . 2224

Librairie Formats
2 Sainte-Catherine Est, espace 302 ~ 514 . 842 . 5579

Monastiraki
5478 St-Laurent ~ 514 . 278 . 4879

TORONTO

Type Books
883 Queen W ~ 416 . 366 . 8973

Book City
716 Queen St. West ~ 416 . 964 . 1167

You can also purchase copies online through Paypal on the individual issue pages of this website.

(updated 16 Dec. 2013)

you,
dressed in a formica yellow flower-print skirt
dark eye’d long leg’d, sweet lip’d,
took a pull from the bottle and
blew a line of smoke into the sky,
laughing “fuck them!”
(it didn’t really matter who)
and I fell into it then…

The tenth issue of Four Minutes to Midnight explores the idea of radical beauty (a theme inspired from this year’s Memefest) interpreted through the words and images of over 30 artists. Our ‘anniversary’ issue is the thickest (and prettiest) one yet, clocking in at a tidy 180 pages.

Some of my personal favorites among the diverse work featured in the issue include a selection of poetry from American ‘outsider’ poet F.A. Nettelbeck, two collaborations between myself and Montreal photographer Dita Kubin, a series of beautiful, seductive portraits painted by Kevin Ledo, and the surreal illustrations from my former student Ilinca Balaban.

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For the ninth issue of Four Minutes to Midnight, we sent out a call for submissions with the tentative theme of “conflict and silence” and were happy to receive responses that explored this relationship through personal and autobiographical perspectives. Gathering these together alongside numerous fragments found along the way, the issue was crafted over the course of a year in the margins of our days and nights. It was truly a labour of love to produce and we hope that it shows…

Featuring the work of over 25 contributors, FMTM 9 is filled with 112 pages of radical textual & visual stimulation. Without a doubt, our sexiest issue yet!

The issue will be launched this weekend at lab.synthese, with musical guests Parlovr, Flames! and American Devices.

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Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave. I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I’ve watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die…
Rutger Hauer, as Roy Batty, in Blade Runner

Four Minutes to Midnight is a visceral reaction to the encounters between: typography and language, language and culture, culture and politics, politics and fear, fear and love, love and sex, sex and death. Between death and memory, memory and the printed page. In the wake of our sadness, joy, anger and hope. This issue is dedicated to the birds…

True to the expansive definition that introduces this issue of the zine, Issue 8 features the diverse work of over 20 international writers and artists. Some personal highlights include Ralph Dfouni’s personal account of the war in Lebannon, Vincent Tinguely’s polemical poem Oilers, photography by Brigitte Henry, a graphic interpretation of Nadia Myre’s scar project, and of course Fugue 8. With the Fugue, I think we finally articulated the core concept behind the project; composing all the textual fragments and dialogue we’ve shared into a compelling, 28-page typographic epic.

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It’s time to build a new architecture of resistance…

Issue 7 of FMTM was the first issue published out of Montréal in the new format. Growing out of the concepts developed in my thesis work, but unrestricted by any academic criteria, this issue brings together the work of over 25 artists and writers, remixed, edited and designed by John and myself into a 124 page visual essay on typography, poetry and personal politics.

The issue features a cover design by Abe Burmeister from his Wind Is The Enemy days, and is printed on Strathmore recycled cotton writing paper. Perfect-bound in an edition of 150 hand-numbered copies.

Two years and two issues later, I think it is safe to say our first foray into “radical” self-publishing was quite successful, building a strong community of interest (who knew?) and selling out over the course of the first year. So, if you picked up a copy at some point, thanks!

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Four Minutes to Midnight issues 1 through 5 were created as part of my MA thesis at the London College of Printing in 2004. The ideas behind them and the desire to create a design magazine had been running through my head for many years before (often in frenzied dialogue with John), and the MA provided the perfect opportunity for me to realise them. They were created in a very limited edition (though available for free as printable pdfs) and released over the span of three hectic months.

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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.