machine dreams
by Liam Burke & Natalie Hanna

Liam Burke lives in Ottawa, Canada, on unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe land. His work has appeared in long con magazine, The Malahat Review, battleaxe press, &co, and in/words. He has been the Assistant Director of the Sawdust Reading Series and co-host of Literary Landscapes on CKCU and currently performs in the band Moratorium. He is pursuing a master’s degree in philosophy at Carleton University. It is uncertain if he is a human or a sufficiently complex machine.

Natalie Hanna is a queer, disabled, lawyer of Middle-Eastern descent, working with low income populations. She owes her life to machines. She is the author of eleven chapbooks, including titles with above/ground press and Baseline Press. Between 2016 and 2018, she served as Administrative Director of the Sawdust Reading Series and on the board of Arc Poetry Magazine. Her poem “light conversation” received Honourable Mention for Arc‘s 2019 Diana Brebner Prize. Her poetry, commentary, and interviews have been published in Canada and the U.S. with in/words, Hussy, Phafours, Canthius, Arc, etc. She runs battleaxe press (small press poetry) and lives in Nepean, Ontario, on unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe land.

• Listen to Liam Burke’s companion soundtrack for machine dreams
• Read Natalie Hanna’s reading guide for machine dreams

“machine dreams embodies its title: a blend of sweeping surrealism and sharp-edged device […,] precarious […] between the strict infrastructure of the machine and the soft vulnerability of the body.”
—Olive Andrews in Arc Poetry Magazine