It's finally here
It's finally here
The print version of Mercurius’s iconic Surreal-Absurd series is now available!
An anthology like no other.
Five Visual Asemic Poems
At the beginning of lock down last year, I started working on a series of asemic-inspired, abstract, A4 pieces. See below five of my more successful and, to my mind 'beautiful', efforts.
What It Means to Be a Rebel in the 21st Century
An essay that explores the difficulties of rebellion in the 21st century from a wide range of perspectives. Of particular concern are the shortcomings of “us and them” narratives and the absence of a single cohesive alternative to neoliberalism in the fragmented terrain of postmodernity.
Ticks from Hareskov: A Selection of Grzegorz Wróblewski’s poetry
Written at different points in Grzegorz Wróblewski’s life, these poems connect with each other in unexpected ways.
Reflections on Editing
AGNI and Arrowsmith Press’s founder, Askold Melnyczuk, reflects on a life-time as an editor, revisiting the friendships and experiences that helped shaped his literary awareness.
The Man Who Smells of Lemons
“The Man Who Smells of Lemons” depicts a nonbinary figure who is never named, and who explores crumbling streets and buildings as an outsider; a ghost, almost; or a watcher who cannot connect. It comes from Jude Marr’s debut collection of poems We Know Each Other by Our Wounds (Animal Heart Press).
Aletta Ocean Alphabet Empire
Aletta Ocean’s Alphabet Empire (Hesterglock Press) is a collection of art poems, hand wrought in black, grey, silver and white, fashioned with Indian ink, paint and pen, worked with techniques that edge around writing, vying with abstraction, constantly harrying semantic meaning and legibility. My concerns are sex, poetry and pornography and the disconnect between the former and the latter.
Spiritual Pathology
Ever encountered a guru who used his so-called “wisdom” for darker, more selfish needs? Practicing Buddhist and Jungian scholar Rob Preece speaks candidly about the psychological pitfalls of spirituality, explaining why seekers of spiritual truth can sometimes get caught in webs of self-delusion.
A Long Illness
A long illness. Graphite on paper. 2021.
The Future of the Oracle
Georgieva’s practice ranges from film to performance to installation, often incorporating herself as a character, pop icon, and/or feminine trope. Her work utilizes lo-fi materials and production to merge traditional, mythological, and historical themes with contemporary popular culture.
A Cry of Desire, A Cry of Goodbye
Autumn light makes the crayfish eggs hatch.
The last nymphs recently fell from the trees. Many have made their way into the darkness. The first ones that came out already know what the sap tastes like.
They sing silence underground.
About a Lover from Tunisia
My dear Mercurial friends, today I present the work of Arturo Desimone, whom I first met through his translations of the poetry of Blanca Varela.
The Uncertain Geography of Lightning: Poems of Bartomeu Crespí
Everyday language has its limits. Poetic language multiplies the number of ways I can communicate with the world.
Never Mind the Beasts
Written with tremendous energy, Never Mind The Beasts (Dostoyevsky Wannabe) is Marcus Slease's debut novel. Beginning in Portadown, Northern Ireland during the Troubles, the book details the author's move with his family, as a small boy, first to Milton Keynes and then to Las Vegas before documenting his further solo travels trying to survive on the meagre pickings of a writer whilst teaching English as a second language in everywhere from South Korea, Poland to Turkey and, latterly, Spain (Madrid and Barcelona). Read an excerpt here.
Sea-Creatures
We lie within the deep flow
feeding constantly. We
seep slowly beneath ice-packs
green like peppermint tea.
Don't They Know It's the End of the World?
World-ending has long been a popular scenario for the future even before capitalism, with the apocalypse for example. However, the hopelessness that things will never change is what this is about—as we fall dependent on crisis capitalism, our awareness could make way for an apathetic witnessing of the end of the world.
Are we Living in Disneyland?
A shallow interpretation of our consumerism today maintains that we are all given an ‘illusion of choice’. Coca-Cola is Republican, and Pepsi is Democrat, with this key conceptualisation of politics as soft drinks pertaining that either choice is bad for you. However, it’s precisely that choice of substituting one product for another that, in turn, develops our identity from the culture of significance that holds us captive.
Coincidence
Coincidences transform reality. They are the touchstones of fate, places where narratives begin or break down, symptoms of pre-destination or randomness, depending on your intellect.
Scavenger Love
In this age of unprecedented pet ownership, Deborah Thompson reflects on the mysterious origins of humanity’s oldest friend. This charming essay comes from her book Pretzel, Houdini & Olive (Red Hen Press).
Poets of Pennsylvania
I present a lyrical compendium from Pennsylvania, a state of poets. Wallace Stevens and Gertrude Stein both hail from Pennsylvania, and today we are going to listen to some contemporary poets that bring this region to life: Grosholz, Shara McCallum, Katie Hays, Meg Day, Robin Becker, Todd Davis, Sara Grossman, Lisa Mangini, and Katie Bode-Lang.
Should we Meet at the Crossroads, Keep Walking
They call me the Perambulator. Everything must have a name, and it fits, I can’t deny it, for each new dawn finds me trudging the cobbles, working the streams and pools. Nothing makes sense without movement; I’m cast and reconstructed in every hard-won step.
The never-ending quest…
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