Kelly Madden is a Vancouver Island poet whose work is deeply rooted in place. She speaks for the overlooked: those lost to the overdose crisis, those unhoused, and the ecosystems we continue to erase. Her work has appeared in anthologies, Reckoning 2 & 4,  SAPPzine, Island Writer’s Magazine, CV2, The Poet, Drift, Drunk Monkeys as well as projects supported by the League of Canadian Poets. Unresponsive is her second collection of poetry. (Caitlin Press). Learn more at kellybmadden.com.

Raw, unflinching, and necessary. Unresponsive descends into the alleys, shelters and forgotten corners where the addicted, the lonely and the discarded struggle to survive. Urgent in tone and moral clarity, the collection stands as a call to action in the face of the overdose crisis and the growing catastrophe of unhoused life—issues that have become defining failures of our time.

Unresponsive is not simply a book of poetry; it is a reckoning. Urgent, brave and unsparing, it demands that we look directly at what we have allowed to happen—and insists that we respond. It is a work that will leave its mark.

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“Unresponsive is a call to action, hopefully falling into the hands of people with the power, means and money to save lives, a compassionate cry to seek solutions together, and a catalyst for assistance with a vulnerable population. Brace yourself for emotional impact”.

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“An emotional journey that is both raw and hopeful, illustrating the irony of the darkness that can lay underneath the light. Kelly’s poetry puts a voice to the struggles we see daily and provides a narrative for the pain, loss and confusion of addiction that will challenge what, and how, you think”.

                                      David Kruyt, CEO, The Bloom Group Community Services Society

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