The Surreal-Absurd: An Anthology of Contemporary Surrealist and Absurdist Poetry
Dare to alter your perception...
Discover the world's finest contemporary surrealist and absurdist poets...
Mercurius's ground-breaking Surreal‑Absurd anthology invites you into a realm where the everyday fractures into the uncanny, and the absurd gleams with mind-bending clarity. From fabulist prose‑poems to dream-logic nonsense, each piece is a tiny revolt—a refusal to accept realism's boundaries.
Whether sparking satirical jabs at late-stage capitalism, conjuring flights of fancy, or distilling moments of poignant contemplation, these pieces fuse minimalism, absurdism, James-Tate-inspired concision, biting humour, and the raw immediacy of micro‑fiction.
Born from a flash of invention and years of volunteer devotion, the Surreal–Absurd unites a once-scattered constellation of 80+ voices into a single, vibrant movement. Edited and curated by Thomas Helm, Marcus Silcock, Vik Shirley, and Ben Niespodziany—each a surreal-absurd poet in their own right—this edition celebrates a golden age of surrealism: alive, open‑ended, and insistently popular.
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WORDS OF PRAISE
'A comprehensive and brilliantly edited anthology of the Surreal-Absurd: easily my favourite since Edward B. Germain's English and American Surrealist Poetry, published by Penguin back in 1978.' - Ian Seed
'An incredible showcase of contemporary surrealism — I'm so glad to be part of this eclectic, electrically weird, significant anthology.' - Chrissy Williams
'Spectacularly subversive and darkly potent, The Surreal-Absurd Anthology is an extraordinary manifesto for contemporary surreal-absurdism. In this collection, the editors bring together the finest poets working in the field to create the definitive work on this emerging form, celebrating the growing and uncanny relevance of this “open-ended movement”.' - Cassandra Atherton
'I'm thrilled to be a part of this anthology, which takes the reader on a non-linear journey through the numinous corridors, thin places, and penumbras of linguistic expression.' - Ronan Fenton
'It often feels like I'm the only weirdo at the party. But these authors remind me that while everyone is pretending to be balanced and rational, inside we are plagued by, and delighted by, our weirdness and idiosyncrasy. I get excited every time I sit down with one of these authors, and I'm incredibly proud to be featured alongside them.' - Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi
'After all, surrealism is most potent with its edges left ragged. A pioneering vision underpins this polyvalent anthology.' - Sylee Gore
About Mercurius Magazine and the Surreal-Absurd
Founded in 2020, Mercurius Magazine has evolved to specialise in contemporary surrealism. Editors Thomas Helm and Marcus Silcock coined the phrase “surreal-absurd” to categorise a new kind of surrealist poetry: one that combined surrealism with elements of minimalism, absurdism, and story-telling, with a strong preference for the prose-poem.
Although many authors were writing in this mode, their work seemed scattered across diverse journals without a single centre of gravity. Helm and Silcock felt passionately about this form, not only for its immediacy, inventiveness, and lovely weirdness, but also for its non-elitism and accessibility. They wanted to consolidate a truly popular form that spoke to the times and could be enjoyed by all kinds of readers.
With the critical input of two additional editors–Vik Shirley and Ben Niezpodziany–the Mercurius editorial team spent the next four years archiving the world’s finest poets working in this emerging form. The result is the Surreal-Absurd anthology.