EF|GH Statement:
In Expression Follows Grim Harmony, MA|DE continues to explore the alphabetical — a playful & challenging constrained poetic form of their own making. The writing presented in their newest chapbook is economical, efficient and driven by a sense of exuberance. Since their first micro-chapbook of alphabeticals, A Barely Concealed Design (released in 2020 through Puddles of Sky Press), MA|DE has refined their approach to the form, crafting smoother & stranger lines, and, most strikingly, has incorporated alphabet-themed visuals into the mix. The unit of composition here is the page spread: each poem is presented face recto and is importantly paired with an accompanying letter-constrained vispo work, presented face verso, a coupling strategy that emphasizes & complements the aesthetic & dynamic qualities of letter-play within the works. Bringing together 14 poems with accompanying images, EF|GH is a gorgeously produced 32-page publication featuring a lush foil & raised ink cover with eye-bending, two-colour risographic interior printing; it represents MA|DE’s penultimate step towards a book-length collection of alphabeticals that will mark the full realization of this difficult but delightful form!
About MA|DE:
MA|DE (est. 2018) is a collaborative writing entity, a unity of two voices fused into a single, poetic third. It is the name given to the joint authorship of Mark Laliberte and Jade Wallace, artists whose active solo practices differ radically from one another. MA|DE’s writing has appeared in numerous journals and chapbooks, and they have delivered workshops on collaborative writing at several festivals, including VerseFest Ottawa. With the support of the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts, they completed their debut full-length manuscript, ZZOO — which was recently acquired by Palimpsest Press (forthcoming, spring 2025). They are currently working on three new manuscripts: Alphabeticals, Detourism, and Waste Not the Marrow.
ma-de.ca.
