SSW Student’s Publication Profiles Powerful Stories of Resilience

Telling her own and other’s stories of survival is the basis for this is madness, this is sense, a new zine published by Mary Lechner (M.S.W.,’10). A zine (pronounced “zeen”) is short for magazine and is a limited self-produced production of a variety of media-specific interests.

this is madness, this is sense is a collection of testimonies and images of the saddest days of peoples’ lives, and their stories of survival and resilience that accompany it. Lechner chose the zine format because of its informal and personal means of reaching its audience.

“Some time ago, I found myself vividly remembering the saddest day of my life,” Lechner said. “So I wrote an essay about it and I felt better. I asked a friend to do it. She was uncertain at first, but then she did it, and she felt better, too.

“I wanted to keep it going, and make something beautiful out of all of our sad stories. this is madness, this is sense is the result—a collaborative, community-based zine.”

Lechner’s experiences in social work played a pivotal role in the zine’s development. Because social workers are often in a position to hear their clients’ stories, their reflection on those experiences and struggles can be both therapeutic and an opportunity to enhance and enrich their social work practicum.

“One of the most important things that we as social workers do is help people make meaning out of their experiences,” Lechner said. “That was really the impetus behind my decision to tell my story and to ask others to do the same. There is such value in acknowledging and honoring our histories, and how the people, places, and events of our past inform who we are today.”

The first issue of the zine was published in the fall, and includes short stories, letters, photographs, poetry, and a comic. Lechner hopes the second issue, for which she now is accepting submissions, will feature even more mixed media—photos, sketches, drawings, as well as short, written pieces.

To read the first issue, contact Lechner for more information, or to make a submission, visit this is madness, this is sense on the web and on Facebook, or contact via email.