MA|DE

Thanks also to @arcpoetry.bsky.social for the 11th hour grant! It was a fun surprise! 😀

The latest addition to the "In the Third Sleep" ekphrastic project is by Mark Laliberte of @madeprojects.bsky.social!

Get it all here: inthethirdsleep.blogspot.com

Had a lot of fun writing this poem, even though it's a bit of a downer: "In the Third Sleep We Will Converge. After the Next Revolution We Will Stop Screaming." inthethirdsleep.blogspot.com/2026/02/in-t...

Jade's poem is "In the Third Sleep, We Will Converge. After the Next Revolution, We Will Stop Screaming.": inthethirdsleep.blogspot.com/2026/02/in-t...

Mark's poem is "In the Third Sleep (Beep Beep): inthethirdsleep.blogspot.com/2026/02/in-t...

Poet @paulvermeersch.bsky.social kindly invited us to participate in his latest ekphrastic curatorial project. Each participant is writing a response to Kay Sage's painting "In the Third Sleep." We intended to collaborate as MA|DE, but found that the painting spoke to both of us in different ways.

New solo work by Mark!

Thank you also to the wonderful small presses #brickbooks @guernicaeditions.bsky.social & @latitude46pub.bsky.social who recommended us & to the libraries that hold our books!

A million thank yous to the @ontarioarts.bsky.social & the #canadacouncilforthearts for recently supporting our work(s) through the Recommender Grants for Writers & Literary Creation Projects for Publication programs (OAC) and the Public Lending Right (CCA).

Been a minute since we've been at a literary festival, so very much looking forward to this one coming up next weekend!! Join us online?!

Looking forward to reading as part of the SEEDS festival put on by Draft Reading Series - Saturday is all online and Sunday is in person for folks who are in Toronto!

Make sure to register at the link above!

Full event and festival details here: draftreadings.com/draft-is-bac...

Coming this Saturday: SEEDS FESTIVAL!

MA|DE is very happy to be reading at this literary extravaganza put on by Draft Reading Series!

We'll be reading on Saturday February 21 from 11am-12:30pm EST on Zoom with writers @fmolavi.bsky.social @ehjchang.bsky.social @storiedselves.bsky.social & more!

Also lovely to catch up with some friends and colleagues while we were there, including authors Koom Kankesan, Anne Baldo & @lynnhutchinsonlee.bsky.social, and staff reps from @bookhugpress.bsky.social @pressassembly.bsky.social @coachhousebooks.bsky.social & @mawenzihouse.bsky.social!

And many thanks to our editor Jim Johnstone for the company, moral support and the shepherding of people over to our table.

We had a great time at our first @onlibraryassoc.bsky.social SUPER CONFERENCE this past Friday in TO! It's fun to give away free copies of your books to librarian-strangers in a 20-minute frenzy of chatting & signing. Many thanks to our publisher @palimpsestpress.bsky.social for sending us.

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rob has done it again! 😃 lovely to see ZZOO included here too. 🐭

Short & sweet reviews of a great set of books (and not just because it includes ZZOO)! 🐒🌿

It will also give you a sense of what to expect from future newsletters: "ideas, obsessions, reviews & recommendations" from MA|DE and its members Mark + Jade.

We're looking to become mutuals with more friends & writers on Substack, so let us know if you're there too!

MA|DE has now started our monthly newsletter, TWO-HEADED PARROT, over on Substack! 🦜🦜

This first iteration is a hello, recapping 2025 & offering a sneak peek at 2026 (incl. book news, dogs & a glimpse at the limited edition holiday card we mailed).

madecollaboration.substack.com/p/mades-very...

🐦Last week, The League of Canadian Poets @canadianpoets.bsky.social featured "Sky Bird," a poem from our debut collection ZZOO from @palimpsestpress.bsky.social (2025), in their Poetry Pause feature. You can read the full poem for free on The League's website: poets.ca/sky-bird-by-...

(Mark is also secretly on this list twice, as he has a couple of pieces in The Anstruther Reader.)

Thanks to Conor McDonnell for including ZZOO on a list of books that inspired his work for @49thshelf.bsky.social! And congrats to Conor on his latest poetry collection, What We Know So Far Is, out yesterday from @wolsakandwynn.bsky.social!

Read the full list here: 49thshelf.com/Lists/Member...

and whether and how to engage with social issues in art without moralizing.

Many thanks to Hollay and Valentino Assenza for their tireless engagement with literature. ☺️

www.podbean.com/media/share/...

Feels very appropriate for our book of animal poetry to appear on HOWL - CIUT 89.5FM! MA|DE recently chatted with @hollay.bsky.social about: what makes a ZZOO different from a zoo; writing for depth rather than clarity; what it's like to work with an editor as a two-person collaborative ...

Matt Boylan - Review — The Ampersand Review

Special thanks to Tali Voron-Leiderman for sending us a copy of the issue with some fancy Ampersand swag. 📘🖊

Read the review: theampersandreview.ca/new-page-99
Read the issue: theampersandreview.ca/issue-no-8-toc
Buy the issue: theampersandreview.ca/purchase/the...

"richly intertextual contemporary poetry full of allusion & shrewd wordplay;" "an ontological exploration of the nature of being;" "shirks notions of anthropocentrism & deconstructs the duality between human and animal;" & "beautifully crafted language and masterful symbolism" among other laurels.

🐶🐼There's particular delight in print review & MA|DE was lucky enough to experience that this week thanks to reviewer Matt Boylan, writing for @theampersandreview.bsky.social. Boylan has many insightful & laudatory things to say about ZZOO @palimpsestpress.bsky.social, including: