Marlena Chertock

more photos (1)

Marlena Chertock’s Followers (20)

member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
Katie
10,054 books | 65 friends

DivaDia...
6,286 books | 1,158 friends

Carmen ...
622 books | 186 friends

Meg Eden
3,569 books | 321 friends

Dean Es...
161 books | 142 friends

Jenny
792 books | 173 friends

Vipassana
2,336 books | 198 friends

Alex He...
609 books | 131 friends

More friends…

Marlena Chertock

Goodreads Author


Website

Twitter

Genre

Member Since
March 2014

URL


Marlena Chertock has two books of poetry, Crumb-sized (Unnamed Press, 2017) and On that one-way trip to Mars (Bottlecap Press, 2016). She uses her skeletal dysplasia and chronic pain as a bridge to scientific poetry. She regularly moderates panels at literary conferences, participates in podcast interviews, facilitates writing workshops, and performs poetry at open mics and reading series. Find her at marlenachertock.com or @mchertock.

To ask Marlena Chertock questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

Marlena Chertock ON THAT ONE-WAY TRIP TO MARS is a version of the Voyager’s Grand Tour, if the spacecraft had skeletal dysplasia. The zero gravity of space would give …moreON THAT ONE-WAY TRIP TO MARS is a version of the Voyager’s Grand Tour, if the spacecraft had skeletal dysplasia. The zero gravity of space would give my aching bones a break. These poems travel out into the solar system, and down into the genetic letters within us all.

When you're crumb-sized, you're often bullied. You're kept from riding water slides and roller coasters. Everyday tasks like reaching socks in the laundry machine and getting your favorite box of cereal are difficult.

My sister and I were born with Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, a rare skeletal disorder that causes short stature, scoliosis, neck instability, joint pain, early-onset arthritis, and more.

I use this bone disorder and chronic pain as a bridge to scientific poetry. I explore the rich images in science and medicine, threading genetics and nature into my work.(less)
Average rating: 4.35 · 62 ratings · 17 reviews · 6 distinct works
Crumb-sized: Poems

4.36 avg rating — 33 ratings — published 2017 — 2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
On that one-way trip to Mars

4.42 avg rating — 19 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
Queer Space Force

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6 ratings2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Deaf Poets Society, Iss...

by
4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2017
Rate this book
Clear rating
On That One-Way Trip To Mars

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Deaf Poets Society, Iss...

by
0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2016
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by Marlena Chertock…
Little Black Book...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Mostly Dead Things
Marlena Chertock is currently reading
by Kristen Arnett (Goodreads Author)
bookshelves: currently-reading
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
The Scapegracers
Rate this book
Clear rating

 

Marlena’s Recent Updates

Marlena Chertock entered a giveaway
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1)
by Tomi Adeyemi (Goodreads Author)
50 copies available, ends on March 29, 2026 Enter to win »
Marlena Chertock entered a giveaway
A Pair of Aces by Victoria Christopher Murray
A Pair of Aces
by Victoria Christopher Murray (Goodreads Author)
20 copies available, ends on March 30, 2026 Enter to win »
Little Black Book of Stories by A.S. Byatt
Rate this book
Clear rating
Marlena Chertock wants to read
History of the Rain by Niall Williams
History of the Rain
by Niall Williams (Goodreads Author)
Rate this book
Clear rating
Marlena Chertock wants to read
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
This Is Happiness
by Niall Williams (Goodreads Author)
Rate this book
Clear rating
Marlena Chertock wants to read
AI Snake Oil by Arvind Narayanan
Rate this book
Clear rating
Marlena Chertock wants to read
Sugar and Other Stories by A.S. Byatt
Rate this book
Clear rating
Marlena Chertock wants to read
Medusa’s Ankles by A.S. Byatt
Rate this book
Clear rating
Marlena Chertock wants to read
Passions of the Mind by A.S. Byatt
Rate this book
Clear rating
Marlena Chertock wants to read
The Women Writers' Handbook by A.S. Byatt
Rate this book
Clear rating
More of Marlena's books…
You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state
“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.”
Edgar Mitchell

Ray Bradbury
“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Barbara Marciniak
“Everything changes when you start to emit your own frequency rather than absorbing the frequencies around you, when you start imprinting your intent on the universe rather than receiving an imprint from existence.”
Barbara Marciniak

Aldous Huxley
“Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you.”
Aldous Huxley

Thomas Hardy
“Experience is as to intensity and not as to duration.”
Thomas Hardy

15807 Queereaders — 21196 members — last activity 35 minutes ago
A group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and supporters interested in fun and stimulating conversation about books, movies, art, ...more
No comments have been added yet.