Marvin is as Marvin does ...or does not. Go to the blog, Zippy.
Marvin Scott Marvin is the host of Poetry, Fuck Yeah! each Tuesday at Cafe Hookah and provides technical support and the sound system for the Radical Thinkers Artistic Coven (aka RTAC ) each Wednesday at The Olive Mediterranean Grill and Hookah Bar.
Marvin Scott Marvin began writing poetry in 1982, and was first published in 1987 in the 'zine Subterannean. In 1993, he moved to Las Vegas and began attending poetry readings. He was published in a Las Vegas poetry journal in 1994, but never submitted another poem for publication until 2006. In 1994, Marvin was also invited to participate in his first poetry slam and read poems on KUNV radio and on the third stage at Lollapalooza's first show of the tour in Las Vegas. In the summer of 1996, Marvin disappeared from the open mic poetry reading scene and did not reappear for over eight years.
In January of 2005, Marvin resurfaced and began reading in public again. Later that year, he became a founding member of the Radical Thinkers Artistic Coven. In December of 2006, Marvin became host of Poetry, Fuck Yeah! and since then has done his damnedest to keep it interesting.
Marvin Scott Marvin has self-published two chapbooks (Swarming Buzzwords for the Honeyblood (selected poems from 1989-2006, published in August, 2006); Fourteen Poems About Fucking (selected poems 1993-2007, published in May, 2007) with a third due to be completed as soon as he gets off his ass and edits it (The Owl In Daylight). One of his poems appears in the poetry 'zine Neon Geyser, Porcelain Sky (pdf download) from Zeitgeist Press He also recently got his first profile article in the Las Vegas Weekly during National Poetry Month.
Here is a sampling of what people (who have been fortunate enough to hear him read in public) have written about Marvin Scott Marvin and his poetry:
"...he looks like a regular unassuming dude. Until he steps up to the mic to read his poetry. ... in a spotlight he’s expressive and charming, with a swagger he lacks otherwise. It’s like he comes alive when he has something to recite." - Liz Armstrong, Las Vegas Weekly, April 12, 2007
"At the slams, which have strict time limits of three minutes per reading, he’ll read a 14-minute-long poem, reap a score of -22.9, and the next round he’ll read for 20 seconds, just to be an ass. He’s also been known to put a chair onstage just to fall over it, break tables by leaping on them and tackle the microphone stand and chairs." - Liz Armstrong
"At Radical Thinkers Artistic Coven, Marvin is not the leader, but as the sound guy he is the keeper, and he is one cagey dude. Talking to him is often an exercise in excruciation; extrapolating information is extremely complicated and long-winded, or else willfully vague. In fact, during our interview I’m so exasperated I’m a few words short of flat-out verbal abuse." - Liz Armstrong
"He’s one of those people you either love or hate." - Liz Armstrong
"This guy [Marvin Scott Marvin] is high as a kite, but he's one of the best hosts I've ever seen." - Jamie Kilstein
"[Marvin]...is a particularly intimidating presence whom I can understand anyone's hesitancy to confront." - Anton Marco
"Our community certainly doesn't want to drive this gifted person out; most often the poet reads good quality work that in itself offends no one. But the person does have an (I think) artificially self-jacked-up mean streak the person fields compelled to wield like a weapon from time to time." - Anton Marco
"...the guy who writes about the Devil in positive terms." - Marcus Crowe
"To you Marvin: You are a welcome particpant at THE BEAN. You often push the envelope with your work which is often enjoyable and thought provoking and as long as you keep within the time rules (which you've done for many months now) we are more than happy to have you." - Mark Snyder
"I'm also impressed by you Marvin, you're cutting deep into the human condition without any sentimentality; almost Zen-like." - Robert Meyer
"He may show anger in his writing, but he hasn't directed it at anyone at the reading, or anyone I've ever seen him around." - Marcus Crowe
"I would characterize [...] Marvin's work as`cutting edge performance'." - Ken Wanamaker
"There are probably poets somewhere in the world who wouldn't consider Marvin's work poetry either. I am not one of them but I could scrape up a few at more than one work shopping site." - Ken Wanamaker
"My favorite pieces of Marvin's are the abstract work that he rarely or never reads in public, I would rather hear him read those than what he does read, but he wants to be accessible to the masses and I respect that. My point is that I don't support Marvin because of the style of poetry he reads, but because he is an artist who was trying to express himself in his own manner and wasn't oppressing anyone while doing it." - Marcus Crowe
"This 'Storyteller'(my nickname for his style) hits hard with his words, delivering an array of poetry/spoken word, from charged political precision, brutal human tragedy, to twisted humor he is a veteran of the Las VEgas Spoken Word arena you'll want to check out on this occasion, and any where else he's at." - Jeffrey Bennington Grindley
Wow! Now, don't you want Marvin to come and read in your town?
IMPORTANT NOTE:
I've been receiving so many invitations to read blogs. The best way to get me to read yours is to subscribe to mine. I will only subscribe to your blog on this profile if you post poetry exclusively. I have another blog for my personal life (bonus points if you figure this one out on your own), this one is strictly for poetry.
