In January 2025, I published an article called ‘Gently Mad‘: The Literary Magazine Making Waves in 2025. Now, a year later, we are checking in to see how they’ve done for themselves. In brief: very well.
What was Gently Mad? And what is Mad Persona now?
Co-founded in 2024 by university students Serafina Piasentin and Julie Allan, Gently Mad was a not-for-profit (NFP) literary magazine created to platform skilled writers and artists looking to get a foot in the door to the publishing world. But perhaps more importantly, they were looking to build a healthy and creatively wealthy community of like-minded writers, poets, and artists.
As explained in my previous article for those of you who haven’t read it:
“The Mad Persona Literary Magazine was first conceived in the Summer of 2024, in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the two entrepreneurial kindred spirits met during the SUISS exchange Creative Writing course. After bonding over their shared [musical and creative interests] Julie brought up the idea of founding a magazine, to which Serafina readily agreed. And so the Mad Persona was born.”
J. Doe/Trill
Of course, they would not offically change their name from Gently Mad to Mad Persona until the latter half of 2025.
Who do they platform?
The short answer is anyone who produces work that make them think or feel something they want to share with the rest of us.
High schoolers looking to get their work published for the first time. Mothers who’ve had to put their creative pursuits on the back burner. Anyone with a passion who hasn’t yet received a formal education in it. And anyone looking to make a living off of their artistic work who would love to join an ever-evolving community of fellow creatives.
The magazine isn’t afraid to platform a single person multiple times, since they base their judgments solely on the quality of the work they receive. And they always strive to provide feedback, regardless of whether they plan to publish the submission or not.
Mad Persona is constantly on the lookout for short stories, poetry, and visual art submissions to include in their next issue. Though they would love to see more Gen Z creatives, all are encouraged to submit their original work.
What they will not platform
Notably, the magazine is limited exclusively to human creatives. Quoting Mad Persona directly:
“At the Mad Persona Magazine, we value art for sanity’s sake. The magazine is a platform for those who feel the need to create because it is what keeps them sane; therefore, any use of Artificial Intelligence completely negates our mission and community. Just as the magazine introduces our mad personas for each issue, we require that all work submitted to us be a reflection of each and every creative’s ‘human persona.’
The creative process of writing a submission is what will help each writer and artist grow. Part of creating is the process; the idea and the result must be connected by human trial and error. Art has no soul if you don’t pour yours into it, slowly, intentionally, and madly. More than being published, submitting to the Mad Persona Magazine is joining a community of like-minded personas who also want to take part in the process of creation.
We also value, as a company and as people, the environment and the welfare of others, which is why we at the Mad Persona Magazine do not use AI in any way, doing our best to reduce the footprint our magazine has on the environment. We encourage our community to be mindful of the impact that AI has on the human brain, our critical thinking and creative skills, our agency, and our world.”
Mad Persona, via Julie Allan
A reintroduction: Issue One
In December 2024, the then Gently Mad Literary Magazine released their first issue: “The Nervous Navigator” (with a bad sense of direction). The updated cover for which is featured below.
This first issue, initially launched at the University of Windsor, was a resounding success. A successful maiden voyage, if you will. It was met with positive feedback from across the thriving Windsor literary scene. And it was what initially led me to discover them. True to their mission statement, this issue iwas, as I put it last January:
“A magazine for creatives and consumers alike worldwide who are unsure about their place in the world today, as well as the place of their creative output. [I]t is for those willing to look to the future and try something new; it is for the mad.”
J. Doe/Trill Mag
After writing that article, I looked forward to seeing whether the magazine would survive its first year at sea, and I can say with a resounding confidence that it has more than done so. Mad Persona has truly come into its own, having released three new issues in 2025 and taken on several wonderful new team members. Two of them were kind enough to sit down for an interview with me. I’d like to introduce to you, Ms. Strgar and Mr. Wiant!
Meet Caprice Strgar
Caprice Strgar is an undergraduate student with plenty of experience working with not-for-profit magazines. Something of a poet and creative writer herself, Strgar was immediately drawn to Mad Persona‘s mission. She loves being able to connect artists, network, and involve herself in local literary communities, a skill set honed by her time at Mad Persona.
What she does for Mad Persona
Caprice Strgar joined the team in March of 2025 as their Publicist. This means that she is responsible for getting advertisements out, hosting the in-person launches of each issue, and arranging live events. She’s the glue that holds the magazine and its contributors together. Her focus is on building and supporting the Mad Persona creative community and making the connections needed to eventually get the books on shelves near you. For now, she’s had to satisfy herself with shelves in the Canadian cities of Windsor and Halifax.
Who she is
Caprice Strgar is a creative writer with a history of community work involving the arts. She has worked in various not-for-profit literary groups and internship positions, including The Pink Stairs, Poetry In Voice, and Cherry Venus. She greatly enjoys her work with Mad Persona, relishing the opportunity to develop her managerial skills.
Through her position, Strgar has become more familiar with businesses, art galleries, bookstores, and restaurants, as well as the owners, entrepreneurs, and customers that make up their whole. She is looking forward to the planned in-person launch for the fifth issue, which is set to be released this spring, even as she continues her own creative endeavours.
Strgar is always looking to learn new skills and inspire people to create in new ways. She’s a firm believer in the idea that “an artist’s job isn’t just to be an artist, it’s to contribute to art.” I agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly. We can’t wait to see where she will go with Mad Persona.
Meet Jacob Wiant
Jacob Wiant is a young designer and a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to creative expression. He strongly believes that to create is to be human, even quoting a line from Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven: “survival is insufficient.” That is to say that a life without art is not really living.
Wiant is ecstatic to see people around the world meaningfully engaging with the fruits of their team’s labor, especially given how easy it is for creative passion and art to wither if not properly cultivated. If Strgar is what’s holding Mad Persona‘s extended community together, then Wiant is the one upholding the magazine label.
What he does for Mad Persona
Wiant joined the team in September 2025, officially as their production coordinator and unofficially as the man behind the madness who makes everything flow smoothly. He keeps the ship afloat while Strgar sits at the wheel, steering them to success.
He’s responsible for managing their sales and budget, in addition to handling the layout and actual production of each new issue. He ensures that all profits are invested back into the magazine, with the ultimate goal of paying all contributors moving forward.
Who he is
Wiant has given the following description of himself:
“[T]he founder of WIANT WORKS…and an interdisciplinary storyteller…[I hold] a BFA in Production Design with a focus on costuming and textiles. In [my] career [I have] worked across different event management teams, published multiple books, and worked with organizations like the Welman Project and Mozaik Philanthropy. While [my] background is in fine art, [I work] in nearly every creative medium to create impactful stories.
Jacob Wiant/LinkedIn
Whether in events and experiences or in design and fine art, [I dedicate my] work to telling meaningful stories that connect and inspire others.”
And having met him, I’d say that statement is entirely accurate. Just take a look at his four published works!
Of the above books, only Beasts from Before is presently available for purchase. Here is a link to the audiobook listing, and here is a link to some of the book illustrations. Other works listed on his personal site include the graphic novel 24/7 Super, as well as the following stories and poetry collections, which are soon to be released: Calendar of Somedays, Red Domino, and The Lavender Playbook.
Below is a short film adaptation of one of the stories from Beasts from Before, directed by Wiant himself .
However, we are only just scratching the surface here. Wiant has accomplished all this on top of his not-for-profit work with Mad Persona and his full-time job as the Costume Shop Manager for Radford University, where his responsibilities include:
“Supervision and management of shop staff, costume budget, and all spaces and equipment related to costume construction for the department of Theater and Cinema. [In addition to] the fabrication and procurement of wardrobe for each theatrical performance. [And the c]reation and execution of learning opportunities for shop staff to compliment class curriculum with topics ranging from textile construction and manipulation to draping, tailoring, and stitching.”
Jacob Wiant/LinkedIn
Wiant is always on the go, working to develop his skills as a creative and a producer and helping others do the same. He’s put in the effort to live every creative’s dream, and I’m excited to see what the next few issues of Mad Persona will look like under his management.
Who is Mad Persona: revisited
Mad Persona is a small team of five people with a dream. Today, I’ve introduced you to two of them. Mad Persona is not only made up of its staff but its contributors as well, and, by extension, the physical issues containing their work. That said, I thought it would be pertinent to briefly introduce the three issues released in 2025. I highly recommend checking each of them out.
Issues Two through Four
Like the first issue, which was centered around the “nervous navigator,” the subsequent issues have their own personas. These “personas” serve as the theme of their respective issues. In no particular order, as you can see below, we have: The Gracious Ghost (who wants to be seen); The Gentle Giant (who was a bit too small); and The Mad Muse (who was late for work).
The use of personas is undoubtedly the most unique aspect of the magazine. Each persona proves to be delightfully entertaining in its own way. The fourth issue, The Gracious Ghost, is currently available for free on their website and for physical copy purchase. An ebook edition will be made available as well. Issues One through Three are currently being edited and reprinted with the new magazine name, so they are not currently accessible. However, they will be available via the same sites.
What success looks like
There is no single way to define success. ButMad Persona has undeniably had a very successful year.
Why is that?
The magazine has seen tremendous progress in the last year. They have doubled their staff, and their profits are on a steady upward incline. And more people in more places than ever are reading, writing, and creating for Mad Persona.
The staff has consistently demonstrated their ability to publish the work of their many contributors. Their hard work over the last year conveys their dedication to advancing the magazine. Each and every staff member and contributor are prepared to dig their heels in for the long run, and their readers are equally invested.
Value of the physical medium
Another reason for their success is that they understand their readers, who clearly still appreciate the value of physical books. In other words, art in visual and text-based forms that you can touch. Stories that you can mark up with your own pencil, dog-ear, or bookmark. Books that you can leave sitting open. Pages that will weather over years of ownership and rereading. Stories like the ones our parents read to us as children, which never illuminated our faces in the dark or buzzed beneath our hands with warm, sticky electricity.
While electronic copies are certainly selling, the hard copies have proven more popular. Mad Persona is in large part successful because they know what their audience wants. That, and they have found a comfortable, sustainable niche for themselves. Print isn’t dead, because we aren’t going to let it die!
Going into 2026
Personally, I cannot wait to read the fifth, sixth, and seventh issues of the Mad Persona Literary Magazine. I am sure that their spines will look wonderful alongside first four on my bookshelf. (And hopefully yours too, if you take my advice!) That said, let’s take a look at what we know about the fifth issue, which is currently in production!
Issue Five
Submissions for Mad Persona‘s fifth issue are being collected from January first to the first of February. The persona this time will be “The Giving Gardener (who wishes to grow).” And I guarantee that the team behind the madness would like nothing more than for you to submit your work to them for consideration. Below is the thematic narrative:
“Her thumb is green, yet her garden is bare. The Giving Gardener offers her seeds, tools, and time to those in need, and as a result, her own garden falls into disarray. The weeds grow wild and the flowers falter and fail, but when she asks for help, no one returns her kindness. Unaccompanied and untamed, the Giving Gardener learns to first give to herself and cultivate her own garden before sharing the fruits of her labour with others. Only then does her garden begin to grow.”
Mad Persona
Short stories under 2,000 words, poems, and even visual art are all welcome in the ship’s mad crew. The hope is that one day, there will be just as many art pieces as short stories and poems, but for that to happen, you’ll have to pitch in a little. If you enjoy writing, drawing, painting, or any other form of visually creative self-expression, pick up your tools and take to the sea! Send your work to Mad Persona and everywhere else you can! Fortune favors the bold, after all.
Remember, read Madly!
If creation isn’t for you, or you prefer more tactile or musical mediums, you can still spread the message. Tell your writer and artist friends about Mad Persona. Their acceptance rates are higher than those of stuffy old publishers at other, more “established” magazines. And the people behind Mad Persona will actually care about your work. They want to uplift artists and support human creativity, errors and all.
Finally, pick up their books, if you get the chance. You won’t regret it.
