John Madera
@johnmadera.bsky.social
Author of 𝘕𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 (Anti-Oedipus Press, 2024). Editor of @BigOtherMag.bsky.social. Find more at http://johnmadera.com.
“We do not lack communication; on the contrary, we have too much of it. We lack creation. We lack resistance to the present.”
―Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari
(Image: Antonio Casanova y Estorach's AMUSING GOSSIP (1890))
―Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari
(Image: Antonio Casanova y Estorach's AMUSING GOSSIP (1890))
November 13, 2025 at 6:49 PM
“We do not lack communication; on the contrary, we have too much of it. We lack creation. We lack resistance to the present.”
―Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari
(Image: Antonio Casanova y Estorach's AMUSING GOSSIP (1890))
―Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari
(Image: Antonio Casanova y Estorach's AMUSING GOSSIP (1890))
"There is only one way left to escape the alienation of present day society: to retreat ahead of it..."
—Roland Barthes, THE PLEASURE OF THE TEXT
—Roland Barthes, THE PLEASURE OF THE TEXT
November 13, 2025 at 4:09 AM
"There is only one way left to escape the alienation of present day society: to retreat ahead of it..."
—Roland Barthes, THE PLEASURE OF THE TEXT
—Roland Barthes, THE PLEASURE OF THE TEXT
Recently acquired: Current U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze's INTO THE HUSH (Copper Canyon Press), Sze's most recent poetry collection, which includes "Scintillant," which I published in BIG OTHER in 2021!
Cc: @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social and @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social and @bigothermag.bsky.social
November 12, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Recently acquired: Current U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze's INTO THE HUSH (Copper Canyon Press), Sze's most recent poetry collection, which includes "Scintillant," which I published in BIG OTHER in 2021!
Cc: @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social and @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social and @bigothermag.bsky.social
A luta continua!
(Image: Joan Mitchell's Ode to Joy (A Poem by Frank O’Hara) (1970–71))
(Image: Joan Mitchell's Ode to Joy (A Poem by Frank O’Hara) (1970–71))
November 9, 2025 at 3:34 PM
A luta continua!
(Image: Joan Mitchell's Ode to Joy (A Poem by Frank O’Hara) (1970–71))
(Image: Joan Mitchell's Ode to Joy (A Poem by Frank O’Hara) (1970–71))
"Caring for myself is not self-indulgence; it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare."
—Audre Lorde
(Image: Naudline Pierre's TAKE GREAT CARE, 2019)
—Audre Lorde
(Image: Naudline Pierre's TAKE GREAT CARE, 2019)
November 9, 2025 at 3:32 PM
"Caring for myself is not self-indulgence; it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare."
—Audre Lorde
(Image: Naudline Pierre's TAKE GREAT CARE, 2019)
—Audre Lorde
(Image: Naudline Pierre's TAKE GREAT CARE, 2019)
Received today: Stephen Paul Miller's BEAUTIFUL SNACKS, which is forthcoming from Marsh Hawk Press; and about which Marjorie Perloff writes: "BEAUTIFUL SNACKS is a delightful book, full of what Wallace Stevens called 'the pleasures of merely circulating.'"
(Message me for a review copy, etc.)
(Message me for a review copy, etc.)
November 6, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Received today: Stephen Paul Miller's BEAUTIFUL SNACKS, which is forthcoming from Marsh Hawk Press; and about which Marjorie Perloff writes: "BEAUTIFUL SNACKS is a delightful book, full of what Wallace Stevens called 'the pleasures of merely circulating.'"
(Message me for a review copy, etc.)
(Message me for a review copy, etc.)
My manifesto, in seven words:
Study. Practice. Experiment. Share. Acknowledge. Celebrate. Repeat.
(Image: Alex Grey's Seraphic Transport Docking on the Third Eye)
Study. Practice. Experiment. Share. Acknowledge. Celebrate. Repeat.
(Image: Alex Grey's Seraphic Transport Docking on the Third Eye)
October 10, 2025 at 5:54 PM
My manifesto, in seven words:
Study. Practice. Experiment. Share. Acknowledge. Celebrate. Repeat.
(Image: Alex Grey's Seraphic Transport Docking on the Third Eye)
Study. Practice. Experiment. Share. Acknowledge. Celebrate. Repeat.
(Image: Alex Grey's Seraphic Transport Docking on the Third Eye)
Received today: inscribed copies of Heller Levinson's CROSSFALL (Black Widow Press), which includes five Levinson poems I published in Big Other in 2024; and TOWARD A REDUCED PHILANTHROPY (Bodily Press)!
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
October 10, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Received today: inscribed copies of Heller Levinson's CROSSFALL (Black Widow Press), which includes five Levinson poems I published in Big Other in 2024; and TOWARD A REDUCED PHILANTHROPY (Bodily Press)!
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
Here I am in 2016 with this year's Nobel Prize in Literature recipient, László Krasznahorkai! Celebrating today, I made a pile of some of his books, which includes inscribed copies of THE MELANCHOLY OF RESISTANCE, SATANTANGO, and SEIBO THERE BELOW, all superb works of literary art, to say the least.
October 9, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Here I am in 2016 with this year's Nobel Prize in Literature recipient, László Krasznahorkai! Celebrating today, I made a pile of some of his books, which includes inscribed copies of THE MELANCHOLY OF RESISTANCE, SATANTANGO, and SEIBO THERE BELOW, all superb works of literary art, to say the least.
R.I.P., Dan Wickett, small press hero and literary citizen extraordinaire. Founder of the Emerging Writers Network, co-founder of the Dzanc Books, strong supporter of BIG OTHER, Dan supported many artists in innumerable ways. Big thanks to Dan. I will miss him.
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
September 16, 2025 at 6:11 PM
R.I.P., Dan Wickett, small press hero and literary citizen extraordinaire. Founder of the Emerging Writers Network, co-founder of the Dzanc Books, strong supporter of BIG OTHER, Dan supported many artists in innumerable ways. Big thanks to Dan. I will miss him.
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
Acquired today: Michael Martone's TABLE TALK & SECOND THOUGHTS (Cornerstone Press), which features five sections I previously published in BIG OTHER!
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
September 9, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Acquired today: Michael Martone's TABLE TALK & SECOND THOUGHTS (Cornerstone Press), which features five sections I previously published in BIG OTHER!
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
―Charlie Parker
(Image: René Magritte's Le plagiat (1940))
―Charlie Parker
(Image: René Magritte's Le plagiat (1940))
August 29, 2025 at 3:35 PM
"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
―Charlie Parker
(Image: René Magritte's Le plagiat (1940))
―Charlie Parker
(Image: René Magritte's Le plagiat (1940))
Recently received: DEAD CODE AND OTHER DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENTS (Anti-Oedipus Press, 2025), which includes Andrew Joron and Andrew C. Wenaus's "An Aerobatic Alogue: Andrew ± Joron ± Wenaus on the Novum," which I originally published in BIG OTHER in 2023! Thanks, Andrew Joron!
July 16, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Recently received: DEAD CODE AND OTHER DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENTS (Anti-Oedipus Press, 2025), which includes Andrew Joron and Andrew C. Wenaus's "An Aerobatic Alogue: Andrew ± Joron ± Wenaus on the Novum," which I originally published in BIG OTHER in 2023! Thanks, Andrew Joron!
Received today: an inscribed copy of Kim Chinquee's CONTACT WITH THE WILD (Madhat Press), which includes several pieces I originally published in BIG OTHER! Kudos and thanks, Kim!
Cc: @kimchinquee.bsky.social and @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @kimchinquee.bsky.social and @bigothermag.bsky.social
June 24, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Received today: an inscribed copy of Kim Chinquee's CONTACT WITH THE WILD (Madhat Press), which includes several pieces I originally published in BIG OTHER! Kudos and thanks, Kim!
Cc: @kimchinquee.bsky.social and @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @kimchinquee.bsky.social and @bigothermag.bsky.social
"'Communication' only takes place between two people who risk themselves, each lacerated and suspended, perched atop a common nothingness."
—George Bataille
(Image: René Magritte's The Lovers, 1928)
—George Bataille
(Image: René Magritte's The Lovers, 1928)
June 1, 2025 at 5:56 PM
"'Communication' only takes place between two people who risk themselves, each lacerated and suspended, perched atop a common nothingness."
—George Bataille
(Image: René Magritte's The Lovers, 1928)
—George Bataille
(Image: René Magritte's The Lovers, 1928)
Celebrating Lucie Brock-Broido's birthday, today, by paging through my collection of mint hardcover editions of all of her books, two of which—the alpha and omega of her oeuvre—are signed/inscribed. Awed, in other words.
May 22, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Celebrating Lucie Brock-Broido's birthday, today, by paging through my collection of mint hardcover editions of all of her books, two of which—the alpha and omega of her oeuvre—are signed/inscribed. Awed, in other words.
"I think of myself as a complete mystery. To myself."
—Sun Ra
—Sun Ra
May 22, 2025 at 9:17 PM
"I think of myself as a complete mystery. To myself."
—Sun Ra
—Sun Ra
To read: not to write; to write what one is forbidden to read."
—Maurice Blanchot
(Image: Remedios Varo’s Creación de las aves (Creation of the Birds), 1957)
—Maurice Blanchot
(Image: Remedios Varo’s Creación de las aves (Creation of the Birds), 1957)
May 22, 2025 at 9:16 PM
To read: not to write; to write what one is forbidden to read."
—Maurice Blanchot
(Image: Remedios Varo’s Creación de las aves (Creation of the Birds), 1957)
—Maurice Blanchot
(Image: Remedios Varo’s Creación de las aves (Creation of the Birds), 1957)
Received today: Robert Lopez's THE BEST PEOPLE, which includes sections previously published in BIG OTHER! It's received advance praise from Lindsay Hunter, Lance Olsen, and Kimberly King Parsons, with more well-deserved praise to come, I'm sure.
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
May 20, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Received today: Robert Lopez's THE BEST PEOPLE, which includes sections previously published in BIG OTHER! It's received advance praise from Lindsay Hunter, Lance Olsen, and Kimberly King Parsons, with more well-deserved praise to come, I'm sure.
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
Cc: @bigothermag.bsky.social
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
—Mary Oliver
(Image: Alex Grey's Spiritual Energy System, 1981)
—Mary Oliver
(Image: Alex Grey's Spiritual Energy System, 1981)
May 19, 2025 at 4:03 PM
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
—Mary Oliver
(Image: Alex Grey's Spiritual Energy System, 1981)
—Mary Oliver
(Image: Alex Grey's Spiritual Energy System, 1981)
“We must work. The earth of writing. To the point of becoming the earth. Humble work. Without reward. Except joy.”
—Hélène Cixous
(Image: Roberto Matta's S'Enroséer (1956))
—Hélène Cixous
(Image: Roberto Matta's S'Enroséer (1956))
May 17, 2025 at 5:24 PM
“We must work. The earth of writing. To the point of becoming the earth. Humble work. Without reward. Except joy.”
—Hélène Cixous
(Image: Roberto Matta's S'Enroséer (1956))
—Hélène Cixous
(Image: Roberto Matta's S'Enroséer (1956))
"Open your head."
—Erik Satie
(Image: Alex Grey's Aperture, 2013)
—Erik Satie
(Image: Alex Grey's Aperture, 2013)
May 17, 2025 at 3:45 PM
"Open your head."
—Erik Satie
(Image: Alex Grey's Aperture, 2013)
—Erik Satie
(Image: Alex Grey's Aperture, 2013)
"When I opened my eyes and saw the real world, I began to laugh and I haven't stopped since."
—Søren Kierkegaard
(Image: Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen's Laughing Fool (c. 1500))
—Søren Kierkegaard
(Image: Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen's Laughing Fool (c. 1500))
May 14, 2025 at 3:49 PM
"When I opened my eyes and saw the real world, I began to laugh and I haven't stopped since."
—Søren Kierkegaard
(Image: Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen's Laughing Fool (c. 1500))
—Søren Kierkegaard
(Image: Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen's Laughing Fool (c. 1500))
“To be a poet is already a dislocation, out of one's time, in league with the dead, in hopes of a world one might believe in, living in language.”
—Martha Ronk
(Image: Max Ernst's The Triumph of Surrealism, 1937)
—Martha Ronk
(Image: Max Ernst's The Triumph of Surrealism, 1937)
May 5, 2025 at 5:37 PM
“To be a poet is already a dislocation, out of one's time, in league with the dead, in hopes of a world one might believe in, living in language.”
—Martha Ronk
(Image: Max Ernst's The Triumph of Surrealism, 1937)
—Martha Ronk
(Image: Max Ernst's The Triumph of Surrealism, 1937)