MARCUS SLEASE POETRY
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THE GREEN MONK IN SLOVAK
A selection of my surreal-absurd prose poems from The Green Monk has just been published in Slovak in the magazine Vertigo. Such beautiful book art. Nice to hold in the… Read more.
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STROKING SPADES
An ongoing nomadic surrealist journey. That’s what I’ll call it. Also funk. Nomadic surrealist funk. Here is a sample from the ongoing project: Tangling Llamas on the Tresses of the… Read more.
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Here comes Jerry
Here are “The Leftovers.” From my book The Green Monk. A poem about the wonder bread of Jesus. But really Jerry. His gold chain. His hardness. Read more.
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Moon Pie
Are you the stinky thinker? It is hard to not become the stinky thinker. There are so many games and we forget to play them. Pull my finger. Pull my… Read more.
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NAKED FREEDOM
Here is a low key reading of my prose poem “Sandals” in issue Sprung Formal 18. Perhaps my last publication as Slease. Read more.
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SPRUNG FORMAL 18
Happy as Larry to have prose poems in new issue of Sprung Formal from the Kansas City Art Institute. Beautiful art object too. Maybe my last publication as Slease. Stinky… Read more.
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Anthropocene Poetry
Delighted to have two new prose poems over at Anthropocene poetry magazine. After the Mormon mission, searching for new spiritualities. Fleshy and soulful. One of the poems a part elegy… Read more.
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Fly in the Ointment
Working on new prose poems for Smashing Time manuscript. From Northern Ireland to Mormonism and Utah and beyond. Maybe it will become a novel in prose poems. Or hybrid whatever.… Read more.
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Straw Time
Another working class story. Somewhere America. Another immigrant story. But really, also, a father story. More than one father story. Identity tags, please. Northern Ireland. Belfast. Shankill. Somewhere Utah. Homeless.… Read more.
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Saint Sweat
“The soul delights in the body. When we arrived, we discovered we had never left. When we departed, we discovered we had already arrived. The soul needs a sweaty handjob.… Read more.
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SMILE TIME
A little portfolio of new prose poems at Tupelo Quarterly. Thank you Eva Heisler. It makes me happy to be among such fab company of international writing. Here is a… Read more.
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Tupelo Quarterly
A portfolio of my poetry, from my manuscript Smashing Time, has just landed at Tupelo Quarterly. Mormon missions, pioneer days with armies of bonnets, candid camera as newly arrived immigrants… Read more.
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Follow up to The Green Monk in Progress
On the day between the dead and the living, returning again to the beginner’s mind of creation. On the day between the dead and the living, the spirit of The… Read more.
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Back in the day at The Horse Hospital
Back in the day at the Horse Hospital in London versions of my poems from book Rides . . 2011 . . a different time . . Read more.
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TRAIN TO BRIGHTON
I used to write on trains. I wrote a whole book of train rides. It is called Rides. You can buy it here. It is maybe my favourite book. Here… Read more.
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Hearts Emitting Sparks to Other Hearts in Deep Space
How is your heart. Does it spark. Here is a prose poem from my book Puppy (Beir Bua Press). Available over here. Read more.
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LOST IN SPACE
Here is a poem, recently published in New World Writing, about sex dolls, love, and The Cure. It takes place on a Friday. Read more.
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folio : twenty-eight short takes on the prose poem:
Happy to have my work in this folio of prose poems. It is an interesting one- the prose poem. Sometimes I think I will go back to line breaks, but… Read more.
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NEW WORLD WRITING
Super thrilled, after a long spell of no-gos, to have five prose poems at New World Writing. Sex dolls, rhinestones, squirrels, mojo, and a winter pouch. Read more.
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Legeia
“Are you back in your childhood, says Mandy. Back, says Charlie. There too, says Mandy. I’ve always loved my smurfs, says Mandy. The little blue people. It was hard not… Read more.
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Waking Life
Here is a little alien poem from my book Play Yr Kardz Right (Dostoyevsky Wannabe, 2017). The poem is called “Waking Leif.” Read more.
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LYRIKLINE
Some of my surreal-absurd poems (from 2010-2014) have been translated into Polish and Danish at Lyrikline, from various collections, most especially Rides (Blart Books) and Smashing Time (miPoesias). Read more.
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MEET THE POET
A recording of my reading and discussion from The Green Monk and Hermit Kingdom (my manuscript in progress), along with the fabulous poet Colin Herd, is now up with Home… Read more.
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HOME STAGE LIVE READING
On Wednesday June 9th, I am reading with the fabulous Colin Herd for Home Stage in the U.K. The event will be streamed live via Youtube. I’ll be reading animal… Read more.
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Mercurius Surreal-Absurd Feature
I am just getting started with the surreal-absurd feature for Mercurius Mag. In the coming weeks, we have some stellar poems from Vik Shirley and Chrissy Williams. To join the… Read more.
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Wads
In my youth I ate Jesus body. With Jerry. It was Wonder Bread. Here is the story. A prose poem from The Green Monk (Boiler House Press). It’s called “Leftovers.” Read more.
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Collaborative Reading with Grzegorz Wroblewski
In 2014, I read with Grzegorz Wroblewski at the Rich Mix in East London. My poems, from this collaborative reading in 2014, have now been edited into a new manuscript… Read more.
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BOAAT POETRY MAGAZINE
Do you like shiny? There is a nice shiny issue of BOAAT from BOAAT Press. I have a shiny poem in there. check it out: http://www.boaatpress.com/bathtub-25 Read more.
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Sperm Coffins
I’ve got some horses over at Bear Review. The horses are Leonora Carrington’s horses too. The poem is part of my book The Green Monk (Boiler House Press). Check out… Read more.
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Psychic Marmalade Part Two
Alchemia is a place in the old Jewish area of Krakow. Old world Bohemian. It is also a practice. I wrote “Alchemia” in Alchemia with the aid of the mercurial… Read more.
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PSYCHIC MARMALADE (part one)
A little winter journey through The Green Monk. Written, mostly, while staying in the old Jewish quarter of Kraków (Kazimierz), right before Christmas. The year 2016. Inspired by various surrealisms,… Read more.
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DANCE THERAPY
Here in Spain, nearing the end of the first week of strict lockdown, no walking or exercising outside. Just brief and quick visits to Lidl every few days to buy… Read more.
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Sacred Spring
In 2016, I received a commission from the Austrian Cultural Forum in London to write something in the spirit of the Vienna Secessionists. I was super happy to have one… Read more.
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A BUG IN THE HOUSE
When I moved to Madrid, in the summer of 2016, I learned Spanish expressions. One of them was “a bug in the house.” It was also my first year with… Read more.
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LEFTOVERS
I used to deal with the body and blood of Jesus, on a Sunday, kneeling over it. I was mostly an introverted quiet kid and Jerry was stud muffin. I… Read more.
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AMERICAN HORROR STORY
American Horror Story broke new ground. It is horror, with a timely message. It also plays with genre. Interesting television. When I was living in Madrid, we streamed it on… Read more.
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GREAT EXPECTATIONS
In 2016, I received a commission from the Austrian Cultural Forum in London to write something in the spirit of the Vienna Secessionists. Here is one part of the commission,… Read more.
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BUILT TO SPILL
Here is a prose poem from The Green Monk. Written in a poorly ventilated, black mold infested room in London, reminiscing about the glory days of the late 90s, bleached… Read more.
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The Green Monk Interview
What is The Green Monk? It is many things. Hopefully, a good journey. Here are some questions, and brief answers, about influences, images, nomadic surrealism. The great project of reconciling… Read more.
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Meat from the Stones
Time is moving fast and faster. 3 years in Spain after over 8 years in London, plus many other countries besides. The thrill of new places, like the thrill of… Read more.
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Play Yr Kardz Right Part Two
Collage was invented by the surrealists and Max Ernst took it to another level. Now, of course, collage is a common method, but it is still magical. There are so… Read more.
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The Feast Day Is Fast Approaching
This prose poem/flash fiction, entitled “Feast Day,” from my book The Green Monk (Boiler House Press 2018), is about the anticipation of the feast day. There are many feast days.… Read more.
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Sentient Sun
What is that big ball of energy? Is it alive? What is alive? Here is a prose poem from my book The Green Monk. It is all about the sun. Read more.
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My Heart is Shuffled it is intelligent it is a lot like me
A Sunday flashback. A wee reading, from my book Rides (2014), with cut ups and collages, straight from the heart and shuffled from the surrealist deck of cards called life. Read more.
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Best of the Net Nomination
Super happy to have my surreal prose poem “Horses” (inspired in part by Leonora Carrington) nominated for the Best of the Net. Thank you Bear Review!! Read more.
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BLACK HOLE
A story about cosmic evolution, romance, beards & shaggy carpets. From my book The Green Monk. “Where is your black hole? Only survival of the fittest. Black holes.” Read more.
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REVIEW OF THE GREEN MONK
Terrific review by Tom Jenks of my book The Green Monk. You can read it over at Stride magazine. Lydia Davis, Daniil Kharms. Yes please! The Green Monk is available… Read more.
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Surreal Irish Childhood
This is a song from my Irish childhood called chuck chuck cheese. It has been slightly altered. I sung it three times with different types of altered voices (high, deep,… Read more.
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The Endlus Summur
Image: Trilogy of the Desert, Salvador Dali, 1946. Dali painted The Trilogy of the Desert shortly after moving to the United States in 1946. The desert was new to me,… Read more.
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ORIGINAL PLUS DUB
A collaborative poetry experiment for the anthology Original Plus Dub (Hesterglock Press, 2019) edited by Paul Hawkins and Richard Skinner. The premise: to work with a collaborator (Richard Brammer), each… Read more.
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Luxury Salts
from The Green Monk, Boiler House Press, 2018. Read more.
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Reading of Wild Man
Are you feeling wild. Beepers were wild, especially on studly belts, in the 1990s, in Southern Utah. Here is a studly poem. From my most recent book, The Green Monk… Read more.
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Wild Man
from my latest book, The Green Monk (Boiler House Press 2018). Read more.
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99 Red Balloons
from The Green Monk (Boiler House Press). Read more.
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Ancient Elephants
Ancient elephants and Dalí. From my book The Green Monk. Read more.
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2018 Beachies
Super happy to have my book Play Yr Kardz in terrific list of books from Beach Sloth. Check ’em out over here Read more.
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First Star
A Polish Christmas poem. From The Green Monk. Read more.
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The Street of Lamps
In Madrid there is a street called the street of lamps. It is called the street of lamps because they sell many lamps. It is also a street with cold… Read more.
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Gold Chains and French Kissing
Jerry sported gold chains, even when he broke the bread, the body of Jesus, and passed the little cups of water, the blood of Jesus. It was a thin one,… Read more.
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Swan’s Way
There are so many. Dancers dance them. Lordly swans. Soft swans. Isn’t it time for the swans. Noise rock, post-punk, industrial and post-rock. Temperamental and beautiful. Here is a poem,… Read more.
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The Candle in the Pumpkin
The Candle in the Pumpkin From my new book The Green Monk. Read more.
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Feast Day
Zapiekanka? Yes please!! Here is a flash fiction, written during Christmas 2016 in Krakow Poland, in the historic Jewish quarter of Kazimierz. Frommy book The Green Monk. Available from Boiler House… Read more.
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The Green Monk Out Now!
The Green Monk is out in the world. Collaborations with the paintings of Dali and Leonora Carrington. The green parrots of Garcia Lorca and Paul Celan. The queer erotics of swans.… Read more.
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Bear Review
Super happy to have my horse poem in the new issue of Bear Review. It is from my book The Green Monk. This poem, in the new issue of Bear… Read more.
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Psychic Marmalade
The Green Monk is heavily influenced by Surrealist writers and painters who have lived or passed through Madrid in the first part of the 20th century. It is also influenced by… Read more.
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Dostoyevsky Wannabe Spotlight
A nice spotlight on Dostoyevsky Wannabe over at The London Magazine by Robert Greer. Greer describes the presses radical approach to publishing, in both design, distribution, and content: “With their books retailing… Read more.
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THE GREEN MONK
I am very happy and excited to announce my new book, The Green Monk, is now available for pre-order. The Green Monk is a dreambox or a sweatbox of a sugar… Read more.
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Warrior of Light
As an immigrant in America I was obsessed with ninjas and invisibility. Also pink hot dogs. I was no good with baseball but liked the slap of the leather. My… Read more.
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BRIGHT EYES BURNING LIKE FIRE
Did you watch Watership Down, the cartoon, as a wee lad or lass? Was it scary? I think it is still scary. The theme song, with its chorus of bright… Read more.
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TEN POEMS FROM THE GREEN MONK AT FLULAND
Fluland published 10 of my nomadic surrealist stories/prose poems from my book The Green Monk (forthcoming from Boiler House Press on 5th November 2018). Some Las Vegas immigrant stories. Gold… Read more.
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DALI AND LONDON MUSTARD IN STOCKHOLM REVIEW OF LITERATURE
I have two prose poems in The Stockholm Review of Literature from my book of surrealist prose poems. The book is called The Green Monk. Forthcoming from Boiler House Press… Read more.
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NOMADIC SURREALIST STORIES WITH MUSIC
https://nevermindthebeasts.bandcamp.com/album/never-mind-the-beasts Folk surrealism. Experimental electronic. Magical realism. Immigrant stories. Outsider art. A journey!! A collaboration between UK musician Stephen Emmerson and Madrid-based writer and performer Marcus Slease. Available over at… Read more.
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WHAT IS PLAY YR KARDZ RIGHT?
Las Vegas had a show on the telly, it was exotic and foreign, hard to imagine, and we were going there, as immigrant pioneers, for a better life, like immigrants… Read more.
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HOW TO GIVE BIRTH IN A HOLE
A few years ago The National Poetry Library in London invited me to record a poem. I decided to read my poem”The Fly“. After the death of my brother… Read more.
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WHAT IS INFLUENCE?
Super happy to have my poem “Feedback” in Poetry magazine. It is part of my manuscript The Green Monk, forthcoming from Boiler House Press in November 2018. It was composed while… Read more.
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NOMADIC SURREALIST TRAVEL IN KAZIMIERZ
My partner Ewa and I visit Poland for Christmas every year. My partner Ewa is from Katowice so that is our home base. During our summer visits we explore mountains… Read more.
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POEMS FROM HELLO TINY BIRD BRAIN IN POLISH ANTHOLOGY
Some of my poems from Hello Tiny Bird Brain (a chapbook from Knives, Forks, and Spoon Press in the U.K.) are now available in Polish. Translated by Adam Zdrodowski. These poems… Read more.
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NOMADIC POETICS WITH MARCUS SLEASE AND GRZEGORZ WROBLEWSKI AT DESPERATE LITERATURE
A terrific launch last night of The Spirit of the Bathtub with Grzegorz Wroblewski reading from his latest work (in English) Zero Visibility (translated by Piotr Gwiazda). Super nice folks… Read more.
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Las Vegas, 1985, maybe August. I am a newly arrived immigrant in the United States of America. First Vallejo in a trailer park and then Las Vegas. Also, from… Read more.
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STELLAR LINEUP FOR PAST SIMPLE 13
The new international issue of Past Simple out now. Manchester, New York City, Lisbon, London, Seattle, Krakow, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Liège, Madrid, Cambridge (MA), Worcester (MA), Pittsburgh, Prague, Eindhoven, North Queensland (Australia), and… Read more.
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THE ELEPHANTS
The moon is sometimes bloated. There is so much. Just stop, slow down, take a look at your brain. It is very bloated. Put your thoughts in a balloon, maybe… Read more.
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POETRY MAGAZINE Reading List: November 2017
My poem “Feedback” (part of my manuscript The Green Monk forthcoming from Boiler House Press) was published in the November issue of Poetry magazine. Nice! Folks published in the Nov… Read more.
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Play Yr Kardz Right Book Launch
Nice book launch last night. Lots of folks scattered around the bookshop. Great chats with fab folks afterwards. Thanks for coming! Thank you Desperate Literature and Dostoyevsky Wannabe. Gud Tymz! Read more.
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PLAY YR KARDZ RIGHT
MY NEW BOOK, PLAY YR KARDZ RIGHT, IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM THE RAD DOSTOYEVSKY WANNABE. ALMOST CHEAP AS CHIPS . . . BUY IT HERE: https://dostoyevskywannabe.com/original/play_yr_kardz_right HERE ARE SOME BLURBS… Read more.
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Swimmer’s Club Seven Up
Seven of my current loves over at Swimmer’s Club. It is hard to choose seven. They are only seven. But maybe a good seven. There is the Czech nomadic surrealism… Read more.
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MUSHEE PIEZ & FRIED PINEAPPULZ
AN INTERVIEW WITH POET MARCUS SLEASE IN CELEBRATION OF HIS UPCOMING BOOK FROM DOSTOYEVSKY WANNABE OVER AT ENTROPY https://entropymag.org/mushee-piez-fried-pineappulz-an-interview-with-poet-marcus-slease/ Read more.
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SWIMMER’S CLUB SNEAKY PEEK
Sneaky peek slash preview of some poems from Play Yr Kardz Right coming soon from the fabulous indie press Dostoyevsky Wannabe. Over at Swimmer’s Club: https://www.swimmersclub.co.uk/treadingwater/play_yr_kardz_right Read more.
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SLOW CULTURE
I answered some questions about Why I Write over at Slow Culture. A series that continues what George Orwell started over 80 years ago. A wee promo for my upcoming… Read more.
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DESPERATE LITERATURE READING MADRID
A wee performance at Desperate Literature Bookshop. Madrid. 14th April 2017. Read more.
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UPCOMING PERFORMANCE AT DESPERATE LITERATURE BOOKSHOP IN MADRID
I am performing with London based poet Chris Gutkind at Desperate Literature bookshop in Madrid. April 14th. Tonight two poets (one local, one not) in a wham bam double thankya… Read more.
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GRAMMA POETRY
THREE OF MY POEMS TODAY ON DAILY GRAMMA. THERE IS A NICE SWAN. http://gramma.press/daily/marcus-slease-three-poems/ Read more.
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SAINT TOM
https://soundcloud.com/jjmars/saint-tom Setting: A government housing estate called Coffee Hall in Milton Keynes, UK. Characters: David Bowie, Neil Diamond, the Milton Keynes Bowl, hot air balloon, a mars bar,a rocket ship,… Read more.
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BAPTISM
A LITTLE STORY FROM MADRID. FROM MY ALMOST FINISHED MANUSCRIPT THE GREEN MONK. THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF BAPTISMS. IT BEGINS WITH A CLAY TEAPOT FOR THE NOSE. Read more.
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THE CAKES
It is a saint day in East Madrid. The narrator learns Go Fish and King Alfred and peasants and burning cakes. The barbarians are at the gate. They learn to… Read more.
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FAREWELL NOMADIC SURREALIST PERFORMANCE IN LONDON
Part of the reading from last night at Xing the Line. Poems and stories from ongoing manuscript The Green Monk. Influenced by Mormonism, Lydia Davis, Ivor Cutler, James Tate, and… Read more.
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REVIEW OF RIDES BY LAURA WETHERINGTON
The best review of my work ever. Such a generous and insightful review of Rides. Thank you Laura Wetherington. https://laurawetherington.com/2016/06/17/marcus-sleases-rides/ Read more.
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from Rides
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obmm3xjknAc Blart Books. Available also via Amazon. Read more.
Never Mind the Beasts 