Mercurius No. 1: Is this the stuff dreams are made of?
Perhaps there's no rule as to where the deity of vitality or transformation resides. It could be a more traditional-looking literary essay with an urgent perspective to impart or a radical visual poem that queries some of the more stagnant norms of literary culture.
Is this the stuff dreams are made of? Jose Castiella. 2015.
Mercurius's Poetry of Life series carefully embodies the magazine's founding mission: to make literature and the arts exciting and relevant but also open-minded, non-elitist, interdisciplinary, well-crafted, and diverse.
There are poems from some of the great contemporary poets of our age, such as Marie Howe and Rafael Cadenas, as well as images from surrealists, such as Jose Castiella and Victor Manzanal, and essays, poems, and experiments from a wide range of emerging and established artists, with a particular preference for the avant-garde.
Contributors include SJ Fowler, Grzegorz Wróblewski, Paul Hawkins, Richard Biddle, Toby Litt, Rie Blake Marsden, Astra Papachristodoulou, Michelle Moloney King, Rowena Hill, Sophie Cabot Black, Sam Coll, Julia Febrer Bausa, Bartomeu Crespi, Pui Ying Wong, Tim Suermondt, Zoe Wood, Mariana Lemos, Andrew Stephens, Louis James, Rob Preece, Annabel Helm, Stephen Nelson, Michael Swatton, Mari Savela, Jessica Sequeira, and Artal Noguerol.
The anthology, which compiles the best of the “printable” work published on the site between May 2020 and May 2021, is edited by the writer, journalist and artist Thomas Helm.
Purchase a copy of the book here:
Sneak preview of Mercurius’s first printed version of the magazine!
The price, £20.00, may seem steep, but this is only because the journal is printed on the highest quality paper and contains many colour images. Our aim was to create an object of beauty that can sit on your shelf for years to come and still feel fresh and vital.
All profits from the book (we make £4.55 per book) will go to paying the running costs of the journal. This well help keep Mercurius ad-free and sustainable going forward! A portion of these profits will also go towards a tree planting charity to make sure the paper used for the production of the book goes back to the trees.
Thank you so much to our readers, contributors and editors for making this dream happen.