Never Mind the Beasts

Website of surreal-absurd writer Marcus Silcock

about

Born in Portadown, Northern Ireland, Marcus Silcock has made his home in such places as Turkey, Poland, Italy, South Korea, the United States, Spain, and the United Kingdom – experiences that inform his surreal-absurd stories.

Author: Marcus Silcock

  • ELEPHANCHE

    Elephanche is a limited edition pamphlet of 12 poemplays written by Marcus Slease and SJ Fowler, and published by Department press in March 2013. It was launched at the Cornerhouse Gallery in Manchester. Cover collage by Tom Raworth. Check it out: www.stevenjfowler.com/elephanche  

  • TRIESTE

    DOG WALKING IN TRIESTE WITH JAMES JOYCE ITALIAN PIZZA AND THE BORA. “THE LONGEST WAY ROUND IS THE SHORTEST WAY HOME” https://vimeo.com/136311567

  • THE POETRY ACROSS THE POND

     Matthew Dickman in Tin House magazine on exciting times in contemporary British poetry: http://www.tinhouse.com/blog/25564/the-poetry-across-the-pond.html

  • HORSES

     HORSES ARE REALLY SOMETHING ELSE! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZQPvdHsAow&feature=youtu.be

  • No Surrender

    Another excerpt from my recently completed novel Never Mind the Beasts. This time as a child in Portadown, N. Ireland at the height of the troubles. PTSD, the bomb, satanic rituals, graveyards, granny’s, lucid dreaming, witches. https://soundcloud.com/marcus-slease/no-surrender

  • Edible Ghosts

    Terrific poem by Bobby Parker over at Morning Star. Gives me hope. Generally. And for British poetry. http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-da46-Bobby-Parker-Edible-Ghosts#.VcL8XOhVg2i

  • BLUE LIGHT SPECIALS AND PLACENTAS

    A short excerpt From my recently finished novel NEVER MIND THE BEASTS. Will be sending it out to publishers/agents soon. Fingers crossed. Never Mind the Beasts is a 1985 coming-of-age story of Henry, a recent immigrant from Portadown, N. Ireland. Told in the style of vignettes, we move inside the mind of Henry as he…

  • BUBBLE MAKER

    https://vimeo.com/134944360 Homeless beach dwellers. Summer 2014. Almeria, Spain.

  • SUNSHINE SUPERMAN

    WRITTEN IN GENOA. PART OF NEW MANUSCRIPT. CHECK IT OUT HERE: https://vimeo.com/134836919

  • Mahu: an exhibition by SJ Fowler

    Terrific exhibit and month of performances at Hardy Tree Gallery. Happy to be involved. Communities. Art. Poetry. Yes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=175&v=LAK8oXyN2_M

  • SPACESHIPS ISSUE 1

    Collaborating (as JJ Mars) with the artist David Kelly-Mancaux (as Erkembode). Spaceships have landed in London, Katowice, Da Nang, Singapore, Leeds & Bologna.  Words: JJ Mars, Visuals: ErkembodeDeadwood Press vs Bear Press. Here is issue 1: http://www.erkembode.com/blog/spaceships-1

  • LONDON HEAT WAVE

    POEM FROM NEW MANUSCRIPT: MY HEART SWIMS IN BLOOD

  • JESS FELDMAN

    ONE OF MY VERY FAVOURITE CHAPBOOKS EVER!!! JESS FELDMAN IS VERY VERY GOOD!! YES!!!! https://nevermindthebeasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/f4343-call_it_a_premonition_final.pdf

  • GINA KEICHER

    TERRIFIC POEM FROM GINA KEICHER OVER AT BOAAT PRESS. IT IS CALLED “DATE NIGHT IN HIGH HUMIDITY”. “EQUAL PARTS / LAUNDRY AND VINEGAR” YES! http://www.boaatpress.com/date-night-in-high-humidity

  • DEALING WITH PERFECTIONISM AND TRAUMA

    THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A WINNER.

  • erkembode relaunched

    the outsider artist ERKEMBODE has relaunched. Good works. Enjoying on an overcast Saturday morning. http://www.erkembode.com/ (Erkembode in Da Nang, Vietnam.)

  • Mahu: celebrating Tom Raworth

    Great night of readings in celebration of the work of Tom Raworth. For Mahu at Hardy Tree Gallery. London 9th June 2015. Thank you SJ Fowler. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frW3NoBCBP0

  • Mahu: celebrating Blart books – Marcus Slease

    READING FROM RIDES (BLART BOOKS 2014) AT HARDY TREE GALLERY NEAR KINGS CROSS IN LONDON.RIDES WAS CUT UP SLASH WRITTEN ON TRAINS FORWARDS AND BACKWARDS ALL AROUND THE U.K.AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON IF YOU FANCYhttp://www.amazon.com/Rides-Marcus-Slease/dp/1291923381/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433789534&sr=8-1&keywords=rides+marcus+slease

  • hardy tree gallery reading

    FANTASTIC NIGHT OF READINGS WITH BLART PRESS AND HOME BAKED BOOKS AT HARDY TREE GALLERY FOR MAHU!!! SUNDAY 7TH JUNE 2015

  • MOTH CITY

    IN THE GIANT PARK OF KATOWICE IT IS DIFFICULT TO BREATHE WITHOUT INHALING A GIANT MOTH!https://soundcloud.com/marcus-slease/mothcity (image: moth city comic published by Flying Whities)

  • LUNA MIGUEL

    More fab poems over at The Quietus. From Barcelona-based poet Luna Miguel. Beastly & beautiful. http://thequietus.com/articles/14611-two-poems-by-luna-miguel (painting: “naked mole rat dreams” by Ursulav)

  • ALEX MACDONALD

    Two fab poems over at The Quietus. Sometimes good poetry happens on this island. The Quietus has the pulse. Yeah! Viking of 6th Avenue! http://thequietus.com/articles/13419-two-poems-alex-macdonald

  • PLAYHOUSE64

    Bathtub poems. Written in a bathtub in Katowice, Poland. Published at Playhouse64. Thank you Playhouse64. https://soundcloud.com/marcus-slease/bathtubs-for-playhouse64 http://www.playhouse64.co.uk/tagged/selectedwork/chrono  

  • The 60’s

  • BELLEVILLE PARK PAGES 36

  • REVIEW OF DMT

    Brief review of DMT. Over here at Sandpaper Review. Written by one of my performance characters: JJ Mars. It is nomadic surrealism par excellence! https://sandpaperreview.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/dmt-review-by-jj-mars/    

  • Zane Rubin

    ZANE RUBIN is a 17-year-old high school dropout currently residing in Los Angeles. In the two and a half years following her withdrawal from school, she has written, directed, and acted in four short films and a feature. Her target demographic is Jewish men age 35-70. Zane has an aversion to “the system,” debilitating anxiety,…

  • CHRISTIE ANN REYNOLDS

    Christie Ann Reynolds terrific poem “From Halo in Retrograde” is over at glitterMOB. glitterMOB is one of fav places for poetry. Maybe my very favourite. Fresh fresh exciting. http://www.glittermobmag.com/christie-ann-reynolds.html

  • SHOEBURYNESS

    “it was called shoeburyness it was very English the signs said  don’t walk on beach you might blow up  or die we didn’t die”

  • sharon mesmer

    What If Everything Is Really Okay? http://www.glittermobmag.com/sharon-mesmer.html

  • PLACEBO FOR PAIN

    POEM FOR THURSDAY 30 APRIL 2015. THE SUN. THE CLOUDS. THE ZOLOFT LAMICTAL PROZAC COCKTAIL. THEY COME. THEY GO. 

  • BATHTUB 28

    THE POLISH DONUT SPECIAL. WRITTEN ON POLISH NATIONAL DONUT DAY. IN THE BATHTUB. THEY ARE CALLED Pączki. THEY ARE VERY GOOD.

  • BATHTUB 63

    BATHTUB 63. THE MARGHERITA SPECIAL.    

  • THE BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL

    New work written in The Old Blue Last. Shoreditch, East London Also The Book Club in Shoreditch. My new writing spots. The blue light special is bad for your dreams . .

  • Bathtub 8 in Greenwich

  • after dinner in catania, Italy

  • BATHTUB 42

    More stories from the bathtub. This is about a man in a cow field, and cud, and balloons. But really it is about your thoughts.  

  • Wu-Wei Fashion Mag

    Super HAPPY to have poems in the new issue of Wu-Wei Fashion Mag. Really terrific issue with fab poets and rad design! Hope restored in poetry (on and off the internet). http://wuweifashion.com/

  • The Enemies project: Marcus Slease & Tomas Mielcarek

    Collaborative reading with the Polish British poet Tomas Mielcarek. We are both nomads. And also immigrants. Many times over. Maybe someday I will be classified as an Irish writer (since that is my citizenship and birthplace). But who knows. No one has classified me as Irish unless I classify myself as Irish. But I am…

  • circus on ice

    Catania Sicily beach of debris. A frozen circus. Working on a prose poem for my manuscript The Green Monk about dolls from Saturn.        

  • BATHTUB POEMS IN THE HORSE HOSPITAL

  • OK CUPID

    Poem OK CUPID (written in Spanish Fork, Utah 2012) over at Prelude Magazine: https://preludemag.com/posts/ok-cupid/

  • THE HORSE HOSPITAL 19 Feb 2015

    Off to Russell Square to warm up for performance at the Horse Hospital tonight. Reading some poems from my Bathtub poems. Bathtubs 62-69. Connecting in various ways to the spirit of Max Kurzweil’s Woman in a Yellow Dress. Come check it out. The Horse Hospital​ is one of those rare places that still exist in…

  • TOAD SUCK REVIEW

    Super happy to in the new TOAD SUCK REVIEW. With Linda King on Bukowski, Diane di Prima, Jack Kerouac, Ed Dorn, Henri Michaux, Cass Cross, Stacy Kidd, Ken Waldman and lotsa other goodness. Feels good in the hands!!  http://www.toadsuckreview.org/

  • Rumour Cubes – The Gove Curve (Live @ Surya, London, 10.03.13)

    The space in which The Gove Curve was written and performed was a space in which Conservative MP Michael Gove was proposing and initiating a series of education reforms. He was doing this in the context of economic cuts to Britain’s state and welfare institutions. London based poet Steve Willey on vocals. 

  • BATHTUB 68

    MORE STORIES FROM THE BATHTUB. THIS IS BATHTUB 68. I AM ALMOST AT 100 PAGES. THIS MIGHT BE MY LIFE EPIC.

  • (dis) Connect

    “Well, we’d spent that summer burying boys who drove 8 cylinders of steel into familiar trees like folding into the fat arms of big breasted waitresses going nowhere soon. We buried sisters, brothers, would-be lovers. Unraveled bones from grain threshers. Swamped stalls and popped cherry in river banks where we rose like angels stinking of…

  • QUEEN MOB’S TEAHOUSE

    Some of my poems over at Queen Mob’s Teahouse today. Chevron erotics and graveyard aliens. http://queenmobs.com/2015/01/poems-marcus-slease/

  • THE BIG EGG

    THE BIG EGG “on the streets / of Spanish Fork / women/ come sailing / for the Chinese/ buffet”

  • BATHTUB 25

    MORE BATHTUB POEMS FROM POLAND. THIS IS THE NEW BATHTUB 25. IT IS THE NEW AND IMPROVED BATHTUB 25. IT IS START OVER. IT IS IS NEW YEARS DAY 2015.

  • REVIEW OF GRZEGORZ WROBLEWSKI IN ENGLISH

    Nice review over here of Grzegorz Wroblewski’s collection LET’S GO BACK TO THE MAINLAND: http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/gallery.php?item=23672

  • Tomaž Šalamun

    Really sad news on the death of Tomaž Šalamun yesterday. A short piece in memorial up on 3am magazine now http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/tomazsalamun1941-2014/

  • GLITTERMOB XMAS SPECIAL

    NEW ISSUE OF GLITTERMOB. GOT SOME  LEGS< ONIONSHONKY TONKS>  IN THE NEW ISSUE . . CHECK IT: http://www.glittermobmag.com/marcus-slease.html

  • MARGHERITA POETRY

    //player.vimeo.com/video/115163175 BATHTUB 11 from marcus slease on Vimeo. MORE STORIES FROM THE BATHTUB IN POLAND . .

  • for Aaron Slease 15 December 2014

    A tribute to my brother Aaron Slease it is very hard to not have him around. We were very close. We are still close.  

  • THE BIG EGG

    SOME POEMS FROM THE BIG EGG //player.vimeo.com/video/114644063 THE BIG EGG from marcus slease on Vimeo.

  • Animal Bodies at Sunset and Sunrise (remix 1)

    Some nomadic surrealism using an overlay of Allen Ginsberg as guide. It is animal bodies at sunrise and sunset. Some Diane di Prima. Also psychedelics. Please stop sharpening your knives! //player.vimeo.com/video/114598604 Seville Sunset 3 and Seville Sunset 5 from marcus slease on Vimeo.  

  • Grzegorz Wróblewski with Sebastian Pypłacz

    Performance zarejestrowany podczas spotkania SławaSłowa w KATO zorganizowanego przez redakcje Kwartalnika Literackiego FA-art, 13 listopada 2014 roku w Katowicach.Grzegorz Wróblewski, poeta, malarz i dramaturg związany z Wydawnictwem FA-art, którego nakładem ukazały się książki „Hologramy” (zbiór dramatów, 2006) oraz „Pan Roku, Trawy i Turkusów” (wiersze, 2009). Jego twórczość pojawiła się również na łamach kwartalnika literackiego „FA-art”.Plastyczna…

  • TEST ON MONKEYS

    Grzegorz Wroblewski’s TEST ON MONKEYS ( Translated from the Polish by Piotr Gwiazda) at Brooklyn Rail Nominated for a Pushcart. Much deserved. check it out: http://intranslation.brooklynrail.org/polish/poetry-by-grzegorz-wroblewski  

  • SMALL SELECTION OF ANIMAL ART POEMS FROM 2001-2014

    SOME ANIMAL ART POEMS  WITH WALT WHITMAN AND PSYCHEDELIC ART. IT IS SHAMANISTIC AND TRANS. CROSSING BORDERS AND BOUNDARIES. THERE ARE MANY ANIMALS, ESPECIALLY BEAVERS, MY SPIRIT GUIDE.  

  • Kakania Trailer

    Happy to be a part of this!!!

  • Kakania – Diane Silverthorne & Ariadne Radi Cor on Alma Mahler

  • Kakania – Sharon Gal on Anton Webern

  • Kakania – Dylan Nyoukis on Raoul Hausmann

  • Kakania – Stephen Emmerson on Rainer Maria Rilke

  • Kakania – Maja Jantar on Lou Andreas Salome

  • Kakania – Marcus Slease on Max Kurzweil

  • Chemical Reactions

    Piotr Gwiazda translating the Polish of Grzegorz Wróblewski . Terrific!!! http://www.anomalouspress.org/13/4.gwiazda.chemical.php

  • Small Press Publishing

    A selection of some of my books from small presses in last couple of years. Sometimes it is good to stop and take a glance back. Thanks Blazevox, Poor Claudia, Deadwood Press, Blart Books, miPOeasias, and Deathless Press.

  • Enemies project: Slovakian poetry – Marcus Slease & Erik Simsik

    THIS IS NOT A NOVEL!!!

  • CHOIR OF YOUNG BELEIVERS

    From my manuscript New Foam. Over at Right Hand Pointing: http://www.righthandpointing.net/#!80-marcus-slease/c1svv

  • MAP LITERARY

    Some poems from my ms MILK TOP MAGIC HAT over at Map Literary: http://www.mapliterary.org/marcus-slease.html little men in my bathtub, rainy Bukowski southwest train to Reading, E.T. and rocket ships in Milton Keynes. Some fantastic poetry and fiction over there. Like Anne Gorrick’s measurements to the sun for example. Stellar! It is part of my book…

  • POSTCARD POEMS FROM KATOWICE AND HELSINKI

  • Paddy’s Cure

    My collaboration with Pascal O’Loughlin. Published in limited edition by Deadwood Press (October 2014). Nomadic Surrealism. A boundary hopping collection. Limited edition, but they have a copy in British Poetry Library.

  • Wróblewski – Program Merkury – Impresja

    GRAND FINALE OF GRZEGORZ WROBLEWKI EXHIBITION IN WARSAW. TERRIFIC PAINTER, POET, THINKER, ARTIST, HUMAN BEING! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-7mcxYkcb8    

  • RIDES LAUNCH

    AT XING THE LINE. LONDON. 8TH OCTOBER 2014. A bit of flarf poetry. Of course part of the larger nomadic surrealist project as well. RIDES IS AVAILABLE FROM BLART BOOKS AND AMAZON: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rides-Marcus-Slease/dp/1291923381/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412958522&sr=8-1&keywords=rides+marcus+slease  

  • KATOWICE POSTCARDS

    NEW WRITING OVER AT theNewerYork from my manuscript NEW FOAM. KATOWICE POSTCARDS: http://theneweryork.com/katowice-postcards-marcus-slease/ WILD BOARS, Katowice, Słonecznik, uber Russians,  samalot, tenniscoat records, the sun, the lack of sun, happiness in yellow.

  • SWISS

    https://soundcloud.com/marcus-slease/swisswav I sold Burpie seeds & accidental death on the phones

  • TOOTSIE ROLLS

    I got TOOTSIE ROLLS in the supplemental issue of Lighthouse Magazine. TOOTSIE ROLLS are world war two. I got them from Mormon missionaries. Read TOOTSIE ROLLS and other poems over here for free: http://www.gatehousepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Lighthouse-6-Autumn-2014-Online-Supplement.pdf the full meal of Lighthouse mag (with more poems) coming soon. A launch in South London too! Mighty good. Thanks Angus…

  • THIS IS NOT A PIPE

  • HOVERCRAFT

  • DIRTY BURGER

  • CRUSTED

    FROM MANUSCRIPT NEW FOAM:

  • BOMB

    short piece about bombs bombs bombs. And not wanting to be sad anymore. From new revised manuscript written in Poland.

  • Cabaret Hrabal – Marcus Slease

      Someone took a picture of me reading at Cabaret Hrabal at the Horse Hospital. I am probably saying something about the trash compactors of Hrabal and my life as an endless train of nomadic travel (in body and spirit). Part of my ongoing manuscript Play Yr Kardz Right.  

  • A DARK DREAMBOX OF ANOTHER KIND

    https://soundcloud.com/marcus-slease/alfred-starr-hamilton-poemswav

  • The Papermill Playhouse

        Alfred Starr Hamilton. One of my favourite American surrealists!!!    

  • The passenger syndrome

    An interview with my close friend and fellow traveler Grzegorz Wróblewski at JACKET 2. IT IS VERY GOOD!!! KOPENHAGA IS VERY VERY GOOD!!! http://jacket2.org/interviews/passenger-syndrome (painting by Grzegorz Wroblewski: “Don’t Tread on Me”)

  • short poems by Ben Stainton

    THEY ARE VERY GOOD. THEY SOMETIMES REMIND OF RICHARD BRAUTIGAN AND EVEN MORE MIKE TOPP. BUT THEY ARE NOT. THEY ARE BEN STAINTON PLUS WHO KNOWS WHAT. LOTS OF THINGS. THESE POEMS MAKE ME FEEL MORE FLUID. I LIKE FEELING FLUID. IT IS BETTER THAN FEELING SOLID. FLUIDS RULE. SOLIDS THINK THEY RULE. THEY DO…

  • Tiny Creatures

    TINY CREATURES From a novella in progress called Tiny Creatures. Lots of flash fictions moving into novela. Katowice, Poland 23rd August 2014.

  • My Reading at Cabaret Hrabal in London

    It was an absolutely terrific night! SOOOOOOOOO happy to have my poem commissioned for Hrabal night at Horse Hospital in London and to perform with awesome poets, actors, and artists. I love Hrabal.  So many great performers/readers, including: Eva Danickova, Josh Alexander, Lucinka Eisler, Stephen Emmerson, Tom Jenks, Zoe Skoulding, and more! Organised by SJ Fowler…

  • Grzegorz Wroblewski in Museum of Literature in Warsaw

    1. Amager with Wojtek Wilczyk2. About Pawel Kelner Rozwadowski3. Asemic writing. Red

  • MY SPECIAL MISSION

    MY SPECIAL MISSION. BASED ON A TRUE STORY. (from Rides. Blart Books 2014) http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/marcus-slease/rides/paperback/product-21702070.html //player.vimeo.com/video/103632337 MY SPECIAL MISSION from marcus slease on Vimeo.

  • DARK AMBIENT

    A DARK AMBIENT VERSION OF RIDES. AVAILABLE NOW FROM BLART BOOKS

  • OLD ANGEL MIDNIGHT WITH COOLIDGE AND GIZZI

    LOVE OLD ANGEL MIDNIGHT. LOVE JACK KEROUAC, MICHAEL GIZZI AND CLARK COOLIDGE TOO. LISTEN TO THIS EVERY FEW MONTHS . JAMES JOYCE WAS MY FIRST LITERARY CRUSH. THIS IS AMERICAN FINNEGAN’S WAKE. IT IS VERY GOOD AND MAKES ME HAPPY. BIG THUNDER IN HEAVENS OF LONDON TODAY. THIS IS HEAVEN!http://ubu.com/sound/kerouac_midnight.html

  • Pawel Kelner Rozwadowski and Grzegorz Wroblewski

    Opening night of Grzegorz’s exhibition at Muzeum Literatury w WarszawieA legend of Polish alternative music Pawel Kelner Rozwadowski playing a number with Grzegorz Wroblewski’s text “Matrix”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxlH_-iUsgU&feature=youtu.be

  • THE CRANIUM IS A SPACE TRAVELER’S HELMET

    READING FROM NEW BOOK RIDES IN MY FLAT IN EAST LONDON DOCKLANDS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obmm3xjknAc “There is only seeing and, in order to go to see, one must be a pirate” There are mashups with train rides forwards and backwards all around the U.K. Rides is part of my nomadic surrealist project. AVAILABLE OVER HERE: RIDES  …

  • RIDES

    My new book is just out! YIPPPIEEE!! Started this in 2008 when I first came to London. Picked it up again in 2012 after coming back from living in Poland and Turkey. It was poems written at tube stops around London. Then poems written on the circle line in London. Finally it became poems written…

  • Deers | Trippy Gum

     This duo from Madrid makes me happy. Like The Raincoats. I love The Raincoats!

  • The Making of an Underground Film