Mark DeCarteret was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. On “The Road Ride” at the Jack Kerouac Theme Park. And studied with Sam Cornish, Bill Knott, Tom Lux, Mekeel McBride, Charles Simic, and Franz Wright. (See: Representative at the Greater Boston Poetry Festival, Thomas Williams Memorial Prize.) He’s worked a third of his life in bookstores. Going on 14 years at Water Street in Exeter. And hosted and organized two reading series. Co-edited an earlier anthology of NH poets. He was the 7th Poet Laureate of Portsmouth NH. Where he dreamed up a Postcard Project which inspired 67 poets and 132 artists. And twice, a finalist for NH Poet Laureate. He’s been in the same poetry workshop–City Hall Poets–for 30 years. Mark DeCarteret’s poems have appeared in over 500 magazines including AGNI (where he interned while living in Boston…), The American Poetry Review, Asheville Poetry Review, BlazeVOX (which published the first chapter of his novel Off Season…), Boston Review, Caliban, Chicago Review, Fence, Gargoyle, Hole in the Head (which chose him as a finalist for Charles Simic Poetry Prize…),Map Literary, New American Writing, Nixes Mate (which published his seventh book of poetry lesser case…) On the Seawall, Plume, andTouchstone (which selected him the co-winner of Charles Simic Poetry Contest…). As well as 30 anthologies. Among them, American Poetry: The Next Generation (Carnegie Mellon Press), Places of Passage: Contemporary Catholic Poetry (Story Line Press), and Thus Spake the Corpse: An Exquisite Corpse Reader 1988-1998 (Black Sparrow Press). A chap(ter) book Spirit Board was published in Ten Piscataqua Writers 2023. And he performs with the Dadaist troupe Carteret Voltaire. And, when not shaking too badly, plays drums and sings with Codpiece.

You can find Stop Motion Poets and Live Action Lit Figures at Water street books in Exeter. Or on the Water street website. Or on Amazon

Eight books in, and Mark DeCarteret is still taking great pains, to making good poetic gains. So subtle, as to be, nearly invincible, to any eye untrained, in the far less than impartial arts. Whitman-maned. Dickinson, in-sonic-kinship. DeCarteret drops more proper names than a faculty meet-n-greet or a space opera. And cops to more spoken word strides than an unsteady diet of optically disillusioned manuals. Poked fun at by unfocused groups of Surrealists. At the same time, managing, to not take too many sides, with the overly psyched and/or miked–the perpetually maze-like, and instead, try to half-solve the dire riddle of all that’s lacking in vulnerability, love. Compose all those who’ve been put upon, spoken ill of. And given upmost to figurative panting, grief. And while Stop Motion Poets and Live Action Lit-Figures is mired in off rhymes, near misfiring. Phrases fiber optically raised from the pyre. Like these trip wires gone trippier. And these strip malls gone prettier. So that no whiz kidding pun will be left unattended. Unless it by an adult. Too young to have rendered it genius. So, you must sing with me now, all you wing-persons of note. Post-posting optimistically speaking. And let’s show these most stock of options, how to top of the un-toppable, pop. And put the art, back before the shopping cart, where it still, or will shortly be long, not just saved for later.

Purchase Props on Amazon in paperback and kindle

“If you’re in the market for another faint-of-heart, asthmatic, candy-assed anthology, then it probably best that you shirk this circular. Because Props: Poetic Intros, Praises, Co-Conspiracies, Pairings is a high-amped sampler of 50 or so New Hampshire poets, that DeCarteret bonds and corresponds with, via the semi-found and fun-filled, the nonstop fluid and deafeningly unsound that even Jerseyite Whitman might write up a promo, stomp his boot-soles. And an asbestos-lined maze that even Massachusettsan Dickinson, might rub two bones the wrong way, tip the top of her head, tap her toes. A map for the apathetic poet. A spell for lapsed rhapsodists. A musical score for those whose sum is part whole and part holy mess. Props is also a playlist and prayer. A workbook and simple. Pitted against the stupidly phoned-in and the artificially decimated, the binge-hungover and the serially unhinged.” -from the author

Check out the list of poets represented in Props!

John-Michael Albert, Sarah Anderson, Wayne Atherton, Michael Brosnan, Carand Burnet, Bill Burtis, Noah Burton, W. E. Butts, Ewa Chrusciel, Kathleen Clancy, Hildy Crill, Samantha DeFlitch, William Doreski, Robert Dunn, John Ferguson, Alice Fogel, Jeff Friedman, Shelley Girdner, Donald Hall, Sidney Hall Jr., Marie Harris, Ali Harville, Nancy Jean Hill, Tim Horvath, Matt Jasper, Michael Johnston, Don Kimball, Lesley Kimball, Erine Leigh, Chris Locke, Mekeel McBride, Andrew Merton, Matt W. Miller, Jennifer Militello, Phil Montenegro, Bob Moore, Mike Nelson, Pat Parnell, Alexandria Peary, Willie Perdomo, Andrew Periale, John Perrault, Kyle Potvin, Charles Pratt, Jessica Purdy, Jim Rioux, Charles Simic, Ralph Sneeden, S Stephanie, Katherine Towler, Tammi Truax, Bill Varner, Lauren WB Vermette, Henry Walters, Mimi White, Gary Widger, Andy Woolf