Moments Without Names: New & Selected Prose Poems
AUTHOR
Morton Marcus
A selection of one-hundred and ten poems, sixty-three of which are new, from the man Alan Cheuse called "a marvelous godfather" to the prose poem. Employing and many times parodying the structures of discourse by which we have communicated our sense of the world through the ages, Marcus re-examines the notions on which the human species has understood its place in the universe. In the process, he has created his own cosmology, a cosmology by turns humorous, satirical, poignant, and always compassionate in revealing our beliefs, foibles, hopes, and contradictory actions.
Reviews
Mort Marcus one of America’s hidden literary treasures, has become a superb master of the prose poem…Often, it’s the situation, the little storyline that captivates…At other times its is language…that sends a shiver up the spine. I couldn’t get enough of this delectable stuff, and there is nothing else like it anywhere.
— Al Young
Marcus’s new collection of prose poems is a sensuous feast, shimmering with playfulness and hope. Marcus is a master of the form, a poet whose splendidly imaginative work has helped define the genre.… Sage, shaman, storyteller—Marcus through his unerring craft and voracious, eclectic imagination rewards his reader with rich new visions of the ‘ordinary’ world.
— Nancy Henry, The Cafe Review
Morton Marcus was a poet, author, teacher, film critic, as well as an activist for the arts. Born in New York City, Morton spent most of his professional life in Santa Cruz, California, and he is strongly associated with its poetry and art community. He published 11 volumes of poetry, a book of translations, a novel, and a memoir.
Morton hosted KUSP’s The Poetry Show, facilitated film discussion groups at the Nickelodeon Theater, and was the co-host of a television show about film called Cinema Scene. He taught literature, creative writing, and film history at Cabrillo College, California, for 30 years. More than 500 of his poems have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies.