Marcus Slease

is a (mostly) absurdist, surrealist, and fabulist writer from Portadown, N. Ireland. He has worked many jobs in many places and comes from a working class background. Some jobs include: construction worker, fast food worker, dishwasher, cleaner, a telemarketer for Burpee Seeds and accidental death insurance, a warehouse shrink wrapper, door to door salesperson, Chevron gas attendant, and many others. Currently, he works as an adjunct professor of English as a Foreign Language at the College for International Studies and instructor of contemporary American short stories at the American International Institute in Madrid.

Marcus has performed his work at various festivals and events, such as The Carrboro Poetry Festival in North Carolina, Soundeye in Cork, Ireland, The Prague Microfestival in Prague, The Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol, U.K. and The Parasol Unit, The British Library, The Southbank Centre, Free Word Centre, The Rich Mix, The Horse Hospital and Hardy Tree Gallery in London, U.K.

His writing has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, featured in Best British Poetry 2015, translated into Polish and Danish, and has appeared in many literary journals and anthologies in the U.K., Ireland, U.S., Norway, and Poland, including: Tin House, Fence, and Poetry. He has made his home in such places as Turkey, Poland, Italy, South Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom – experiences that inform his art and writing.

He is the author of ten books. Most recently The Spirit of the Bathtub, Play Yr Kardz Right, Rides, and Mu(Dream) So (Window). His album, Never Mind the Beasts, in collaboration with UK musician Stephen Emmerson, is available on Bandcamp. His newest book, The Green Monk, is forthcoming from Boiler House Press in November 2018.

Currently, he lives in Madrid, Spain and is working on his first novel,The Autobiography of Don Whiskers. Find out more at: https://marcusslease.weebly.com/