MARCUS SLEASE POETRY
Nomadic surrealist poetry by Marcus Slease
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Celebrating 25 Years of Xing the Line in London
I am heading to London tomorrow. I need to refuel at least once a year in London. It is where I cut my second teeth. Friends and artistic communities. Yes please. One of the most welcoming for many years when I lived in London was Xing the Line run by Jeff Hilson, and now also… Read more
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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 hand. The poet Vik Shirley is also in there. Happy as Larry! 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 Sun. 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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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 thinker alerts in South Korea. Fiestas in Sitges. I am no longer wearing socks with my sandals. 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 for my uncle Billy in Portadown. A painter. 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. Here is one called “Fly in the Ointment.” 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. There are so many fathers. Too many fathers. Not enough fathers. These pyramids of fathers. 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. Pretty souls in sweaty flavours. Perky souls in sweaty colours.” 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 reading of one of my prose poems. It is called “Smile Time.” 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 in America. Fallen fathers, sick fathers, war fathers. Learning from the smiles of dead men, sure of their mission, munching on grass. Lotsa journeys in… 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 Green Monk has returned to me. There are so many countries floating through me. The country of childhood is one of them. That feeling of… 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 is a sample. This one is the train ride to Brighton. Forwards and backwards. It is about my mission. 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 then the prose poem pulls me back in there. The cadence of the new sentence. The space between them. But lately, more and more surreal-absurd… 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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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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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 Stage on Youtube. Some animal prose poems, fables, magic, surrealism, absurdism, and optimism. 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 prose poems from my book The Green Monk, as well as some new work from my manuscript in progress: Hermit Kingdom. Surrealistic, minimalist, and sometimes… 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 conversation, I have featured a few of my own surreal-absurd tales and prose poems. Click HERE to read the selection of surreal absurd tales from… 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 entitled HUNGRY GHOSTS. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right frame for a book. Hopefully someday it will be published. A recording of… 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 the horses here 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 paintings of Leonora Carrington. “Communion” and “First Star” and “Snow Globe” and “Trinkets” in “Psychic Marmalade” (from my book The Green Monk) were written around… 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, especially Leonora Carrington and Salvador Dali. The Green Monk is available from Boiler House Press. They make very fine books! 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 groceries. 80% or so of people in masks on the street. A few people fully covered with only their eyes showing. Everyone on edge, especially… 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 of the poems from the commission in the faith issue of Tin House Magazine. The poem, “Sacred Spring,” was also published in my book The… 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 the famous Spanish lottery. Lower middle class living per always, the lottery was tempting. & we played, like so many millions (or is billions) of… 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 the computer. Sat down with it in the evenings. A kind of purge. One of the seasons has a red moon and people playing the… 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, published in The Green Monk as “Great Expectations.” 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 hair, bar dips for bigger bums. It is called “Built to Spill.” 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 dream and reality. Thank you Boiler House Press. 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 anything, has a short lifespan, but it is still good, overall, here. Madrid was the first city, before here near Barcelona, and it is a… 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 many ways to do it, in language and visual arts etc. Play Yr Kardz Right is almost 3 years old. It came after Rides, which… 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. You can create your own. Leonora Carrington and Salvador Dali liked to mix surrealism and food. It is a good mix. This prose poem is… 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 from Boiler House Press. It has a very nice design. Good to touch. And also read. 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, child’s voice) then combined them into one track and added old Freudian cartoon to go with it. You can listen over here: Chuck chuck cheeze 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, as an immigrant in America, from Northern Ireland to the Vegas desert. Snakes, also new, since St. Patrick chased them out. And also legs, since… 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 producing an ‘original’ (text/poem/artwork, etc.) then swap works and ‘remix’ each other’s original piece. Here is one of our colloborations. It is called “Autechre.” The… 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 (Boiler House Press). (image: Nancy Baker, ‘Wild Man’) 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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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 floor cafe with sawdust and old medieval style damp alleyways with flowerpots on the balconies. I sat there, in the cafe, after wandering the street… 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, there were thicker ones. It was the end of 1980s, North Las Vegas. French kissing was in the air. Here is a gold chain, from… 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, from The Green Monk, about swans, written in London, in a bone cold room, during winter, warmed by swans, and the thought of swans, and… 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. The mysteries of milk in Madrid. Soul suckings. Bazaars and border fluencies. Nomadic surrealist prose poems written in Krakow, Katowice, Madrid, London and more. And… 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 Review, is surrounded by many other magical poems and art, and it is a poem, in part, about the garden of eden. It was written… 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 nomadic surrealist wanderings around Europe. It has four movements: Built to Spill Psychic Marmalade The Green Monk Great Expectations Here is an excerpt from the… 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 at around £5 each, accessibility seems to me an important part of Dostoyevsky Wannabe, and the most obvious comparison for me is the independent record… 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 skull. A black hole full of hairspray and cigarette butts where the deer are twitching. It is the great urn of space dust where yellow… 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 first pair of American sunglasses were made of gold plastic. Every journal entry ended with I am a warrior of light. Here is the poem.… 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 eyes burning like fire, still haunts me. How about Roland Rat? Roland Rat with the floppy doll of my brother before we immigrated to the… 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 chains and french kissing. Aliens and fig leaves. German Edelweiss hidden in bibles. And much more! Thank you Fluland!! Check ’em out over here: http://www.fluland.com/2017/05/10/ten-poems-marcus-slease/… 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 on November 5th 2018. One of the poems is based on Dali painting. The other based on a late night in London. They are called… 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 Bandcamp: https://nevermindthebeasts.bandcamp.com/album/never-mind-the-beasts (album cover by outsider artist Grzegorz Wroblewski) 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 and migrants the world over, changing their languages and also adding to the host languages, the big mixing bowl, maybe. Play Yr Kardz Right, my… 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 Aaron, I began having a series of dreams about flies. Every night the flies came. One night, I tried to speak to one of them.… 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 ingesting everything written by the great Lydia Davis. I can’t help wondering if some of her approach to writing leaked in there, but also other… 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 and villages, but at Christmas it is mostly family. However during Christmas 2016, after 4 months of living in Madrid, our new home base after… 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 in Polish originally appeared in the Polish magazine Helikopter and are now published in Helikopter‘s terrific anthology of Polish poetry – Przewodnik Po Zaminowanym Terenie [A… 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 in the audience. Nice chats during and afterwards. We are not alone 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 a few years previously, a new religion, Mormonism. I was almost 12. On the border of puberty with a funny accent from Northern Ireland. Do… 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 more . . . Edited by Marcus Slease and Grzegorz Wroblewski. The issue is full of wild, electric, strange & wonderful writing. Check it… 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 99 red balloons, and pop them. Over and over. Here are some balloons. From my book The Green Monk, forthcoming from Boiler House Press on… 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 issue of Poetry magazine were asked for readings lists. I’ve added mine. Some Tim Atkins, Jeff Hilson, Colin Herd, bill bissett, Victoria Brown, Isabel Waidner,… 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 “Marcus Slease’s gentle & generous engagements with the ephemera of almost-everyday life, coupled with a variant of bill bissett’s Lunarian English, and a sensuous, curious,… 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 of Lukas Tomin, the Canadian surrealism of Guy Maddin. Sun Araw, The Seventh Seal, Leonora Carrington, Chika Sagawa. So many greats. What a life! Check… 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 book Play Yr Kardz Right from Dostoyevsky Wannabe. Very shot minimalist answers about nomadic travel, surrealism, psychedelics etc. Trying to define yourself is like to… 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 mam. Chris Gutkind mostly started out in Montreal and has lived in London for many years. He worked as a librarian in universities during most… 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, an American mall, a playground, a 10 year old boy. Plot: a ten year old boy has just found out he is immigrating to the… 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 live simply. A true story. Is it Buddhism? Maybe! from my manuscript in progress Play Yr Kardz Right. https://player.vimeo.com/video/187478828 THE CAKES from JJMars on Vimeo.… 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 others. https://player.vimeo.com/video/171918072 Xing the Line Farewell Reading Part Two from JJMars on Vimeo. 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
