diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 8c76946..6d769db 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ executionEnvironments = [
 # off | basic | standard | strict | recommended | all
 typeCheckingMode = "recommended"
 reportExplicitAny = false
+reportAny = false
 reportUnusedCallResult = false
 allowedUntypedLibraries = ["frontmatter"]
 
diff --git a/src/zona/markdown.py b/src/zona/markdown.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b93cedf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/zona/markdown.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+from typing import Any, override
+import marko
+from marko import Markdown
+from marko.block import Document
+from marko.inline import Link, Image
+from marko.html_renderer import HTMLRenderer
+
+
+class ZonaRenderer(HTMLRenderer):
+    # TODO: resolve relative links and replace with url?
+    @override
+    def render_link(self, element: Link):
+        href = element.dest
+        if href.endswith(".md") and not href.startswith("http"):
+            href = href[:-3] + ".html"
+        body: Any = self.render_children(element)
+        return f'<a href="{href}" target="_blank"{body}</a>'
+
+    @override
+    def render_image(self, element: Image):
+        # get alt text from children
+        text = self.render_children(element)
+        title = element.title or ""
+        caption = f"<small>{text}</small>" if text else ""
+        return (
+            f'<div class="image-container">\n'
+            # TODO: convert to plaintext and add as alt attribute
+            f'<img src="{element.dest}" title="{title}">\n'
+            f"{caption}</div>"
+        )
+
+
+def md_to_html(content: str) -> str:
+    md = Markdown(renderer=ZonaRenderer)
+    return md.convert(content)
diff --git a/tests/test_markdown.py b/tests/test_markdown.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0aee85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_markdown.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+from zona.markdown import md_to_html
+
+
+def test_render():
+    content = "# Hello World!"
+    out = md_to_html(content)
+    assert out.strip() == "<h1>Hello World!</h1>"