ZZOO

ZZOO is a bestiary for the modern world!

At a time when binaristic and hierarchical relations are being readily interrogated, MA|DE — a unity of two voices fused into a single, poetic third — takes up a critique of the human-animal divide in their full-length debut, ZZOO.

From the depths of the oceans to the outer reaches of the sky, a menagerie of species trade off time in the limelight, none of them solely occupying the central space on the global stage. MA|DE’s collaborative practice foregrounds interdependence, outward focus, shared spaces and non-hierarchical thinking, all of which emerge allegorically in interzonal poems that are as richly realized as they are formally eclectic. This wild-blooded collection turns conventional exhibitionism on its head, treating humans and animals as equal subjects of art, science and selfhood.

A massive expansion of the bpNichol Award-shortlisted chapbook 'A Trip to the ZZOO' (Collusion, 2020), this full-length collection is a book in four parts: Land, Air, Sea and Elsewhere. The poems explore the boundaries between human and animal life within these four spheres, and the ways that humans and animals relate to one another in various, sometimes surprising, contexts.

The title’s variant spelling is a deliberate gesture, signalling to the reader that the poems only share a partial resemblance to the spectacle of animal exhibition at a traditional zoo. These poems venture into the territory of ecopoetics, with environmentally-conscious through-lines frequently appearing in the work.