Writing about my nomadic surrealist poetry.
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 my new book, The Green Monk.
Gold chains and French Kissing
“The Street of Lamps.” Written in Madrid. From my book The Green Monk.
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 also sleep, swans are the best sleep.
From my new book The Green Monk. Available from Boiler House Press.
Do you love zapiekanka? Me too!! Here is a poem, written during Christmas 2016 in Krakow Poland. More specifically the historic jewish quarter of Kazimierz.
It is from my book The Green Monk. Available from Boiler House Press.
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 not to forget the paper, the paper and design of Boiler House Press is succulent and rich and very textured. A good addition to your collections.
Available over here for ordering:
https://www.boilerhouse.press/product-page/the-green-monk …
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 after immersing myself in the art and writing of Leonora Carrington. Carrington is one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, and into the 21st.
Is it also part hobby horse, from Tristam Shandy? There might be some hobby horse in there, but really it is asking for more wild horse, not the domesticated horse, although that is just one possibility. It is also whatever else you want to assign a horse.
One thing for sure. It is definitely a poem about a horse.
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:
Here is an excerpt from the second movement: Psychic Marmalade. Written in Alchemia (Kazimierz, Krakow, Poland). A few days before Christmas 2016.
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 label K Records in 1980s Olympia, Washington. Similarly to Dostoyevsky Wannabe, K Records ideology was based around using the technology of the day to democratise the process of making lots of art, by capitalising on the cheapness and malleability of cassette tape technology. For Dostoyevsky Wannabe, the 2018 version of this vision is to capitalise on the tools of late capitalism.”
The books are so beautifully designed. I feel very fortunate to have my book Play Yr Kardz Right with them. A terrific press with so much creative energy. One of the centres of the literary renaissance of small presses and record labels. As Greer says, “The common strand between all them is a DIY spirit and an experimental ethic which makes Dostoyevsky Wannabe feel less like a traditional publishing house and more a platform for innovative artists and innovative literature.”
“There are so many that it is difficult to keep up, but it is worth keeping up with them on social media to see what they have going on. Their books are good, and cheap. Buy them, read them.”
Indeed!
The counter culture is alive and well. Cheap and beautiful and mind altering. Long may they live!
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 yolk drips down the wall. These poems are migration and immigration across various physical and imaginary, spatial and temporal, fields. Journeys, healings, and transformations. The illusions of self that each new self is born into.
Written between London, Madrid, and Krakow, it engages thrillingly with various surrealist visions of artists and poets, including Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dali, García Lorca, James Tate, and Chika Sagawa. It concerns, variously, erotics, animism & magic, food, death & sublime nature, fairy tales & alchemy, & the wonders of everyday life. It is simultaneously contemporary and ancient, built on visual images and techniques of juxtaposition and collage, accompanied by entertainingly absurd narratives.
“When I read a Marcus Slease poem I am reminded that the world is made up of billions of parts, each with their own soul, each with a great ability to illuminate the sacred while also misbehaving. Slease is a poet who reminds us the wildness of life is not something we can control or even fight against but rather something we should witness and honour.”
– Matthew Dickman, author of Wonderland
Publication date is bonfire night. The 5th of November.
Boiler House Press is the best of what is happening in UK based poetry right now. I am super happy to be included with some stellar poets. And the design is absolutely brilliant. Tactile to say the least. You are gonna love these pages!
The Green Monk is part of a set of five books set to be released on the 5th November.
You can get all five beautifully designed books for £35. Or they are available for £10 individually from Boiler House Press.
THE GREEN MONK by Marcus Slease
RABBIT by Sophie Robinson
OF SIRENS, BODY & FAULTLINES by Nat Raha
SELF HEAL by Samantha Walton
SUB ROSA: THE BOOK OF METAPHYSICS by Francesca Lisette
REMEMBER REMEMBER THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER!!
