Telegram: A Collection of 27 Issues

by Maranda Elizabeth

In 'Telegram: A Collection of 27 Issues', Maranda tells tales of daily adventures, friendship, gender identity, falling in love with bicycles, getting tattoos, moving out, going crazy, and their experiences with inpatient hospitalizations. They also write about their relationship with their twin sister, and learning how to take care of their mental health within and without conventional institutions, identifying as genderqueer, getting sober, living a creative and meaningful life, and finding reasons to keep on going.

At the heart and in its guts, 'Telegram' is about seeking magic in the smallest things, staying crazy in a world that wants us to fake sanity or die, and learning how to take good care of ourselves and each other.

Genres: Nonfiction, Queer, Memoir, Mental Health, Canada, Feminism

438 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of Maranda's zines basically makes me feel better about life whenever I pick it up to read: less alone, more inspired. <3 <3 <3

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maranda's zine was the second zine (after Doris) that I started keeping an eye out and wanting to get every single copy. This anthology is great because I'm new to zines and would never be able track down all of these issues. The newest issue is also included, which was great, since I haven't seen it around yet. If you care about mental health, self care, gender stuff, or navigated spaces in/between those, you'll probably like this book. If you're nervous, pick up a copy of Maranda's zine, Telegram, and test it out.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forever grateful that texts like this exist. The last issue included is my favorite.

[anna marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3-4 stars!! but its weird rating zines!!
especially perzines focused on mental health - i am gonna write a full review maybe tomorrow so like... watch this space

[Charleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was proudly displayed at my local library as "Local Author!" and I have to laugh, given that Maranda thoroughly dishes the dirt on how Lindsay is small and suffocatingly boring. The last zine in this anthology is published 2012, which now seems like so long ago. I kept comparing what I was doing in that time frame to the stories in the zines.
I think reading these zines could help people better understand and empathize with people with Borderline Personality Disorder. Through the issues, you're taken on a journey through navigating the mental health system in Ontario, and the frustration of finding a diagnosis that fits.

[Henry B · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I wrote on instagram:

"Over the last few days I have been reading and adoring Telegram: A Collection Of 27 Issues by Maranda Elizabeth. I discovered the author through their essay in Becoming Dangerous, which was my favorite in the collection, and this book is an anthology of their zine Telegram, which ran from 2004 to 2012. They write about their experiences with mental illness, gender, disability, poverty, the concept of home, and everyday magic. The journey the author goes on with themself from the opening issue to the last is moving and inspiring, and this book has claimed a big spot in my heart"

[Emory Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this collection of zines comforting and familiar, but also sometimes a little dark as they reminded me of some of my own feelings and thoughts. As such, be aware that the author is going to be talking about their mental health so take care of yourself if you need to.

5 stars! Like I said, a lot of what Maranda talks about is familiar. A lot is also unfamiliar. I've left feeling less alone, and more capable of writing my own zines. Please treat yourself to this book and then head to their Etsy to buy more! (that's what I'm doing when I have the money!)

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love zines and I loved Telegram, a compilation of the zine Telegram (formerly called Telegram Ma'am) by zinester and writer Maranda Elizabeth.

A lot of Telegram is very confessional and documentary and Maranda's writing shines. It's a treat to see their writing and storytelling develop over the years that these issues of Telegram were produced.

If you're into zines, independent publishing, indie writers, coming of age stories, and punks growing up in rural Canada, give this a read.

[Abby Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this collection mostly because it inspired me to create my own little zine. Haha. I got this book because I read Maranda Elizabeth's essay in Becoming Dangerous.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHERE HAS MARANDA ELIZABETH BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE? #borderlinewitches5ever

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Telegram is a perzine in the tradition of mid-nineties perzines, focusing a lot on depression and mental illness, but also on writing and creativity. I had already read a few issues of the zine, so I knew there would be some repeated material for me, but that's certainly ok.

In reading this book, I was most interested to see the evolution of Maranda's zine over time, and I'm always interested to see how a collection of zines will be treated. I was a little taken aback to find that not all of the zines were included in their entirety-- I get why this decision would be made, and I might have made the same decision if it were a collection of my own zines, but it made the experience of reading the whole set of zines from the very beginning a little bit different than I expected. I really like that the aesthetics of the zines are preserved, with minimal intervention from the design of the book's pages, and the shape of the book is true to the shape of the zines. My review of this book is a bit strange, in that I'm mostly talking about form and treatment of content rather than the content itself, which is not a reflection on the content (it's a perzine! which is great), but rather of my approach to reading it.

[Hannah W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, inspiring, absorbing book. It isn't a traditional novel, nonfiction tome or memoir but instead a collection of self-published zines (if you’re unsure what a zine is, then google is your friend) which were handcrafted by the author themself. As a result, the look of the book’s pages are much prettier than that of an “ordinary” book, with text written on typewriters, computer and by hand and cute hand-drawn illustrations and embellishments, as well as cut-and-paste images. The text is the collection’s main focus though: Maranda Elizabeth puts a lot of time and effort into crafting their words – and it shows. As an established reader of personal zines (or perzines, as they are commonly known) I know that Maranda’s are among the most popular of the genre, and reading this it is easy to understand why – there is thought and depth in every sentence. Maranda Elizabeth’s style is clever yet easy to read, and I hope their novel is also published soon as I cannot wait to devour it!

[For my complete review, please click here to read it on my blog].

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This starts out and feels disingenuous. Their writing style improved over the course of the compilation. As I read it I couldn't help but sense that I was missing massive parts that really impacted the authour's life in because of that I wasn't able to understand any personal revelations that they had. The organization of the plot was confusing but there is definitely content that is interesting. I found the parts that she added which critiqued social conventions very good at introducing different perspectives, I wish that they had added more details from their introspective moments and revelations into their zines. A massive plus about this zine is that the zinester is open to having people write to them, I think that is a very interactive and cool way to allow readers to reach out to the authour.

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, insightful, poetically beautiful read. Maranda Elizabeth has a way with words and she is clear and honest when explaining and/or giving insight into complex issues such as identity, gender and mental health. The only reason why it took me this long to finish is because I didn't want to: I will most definitely re-read this book until it falls apart. 5/5

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection was inspiring/heart-breaking/enraging/beautiful. I had not read any of Maranda's zines before this (I found their writing online) and it was such an indulgence to be able to carry this book around with me and read on buses and trains and especially in my bed. I might need to read it every winter. Thank you, Maranda.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed in full here.

http://sambetweenthelines.blogspot.co...