Marlena Chertock

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Marlena Chertock

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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.

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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
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On that one-way trip to Mars

4.42 avg rating — 19 ratings
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Queer Space Force

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6 ratings2 editions
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The Deaf Poets Society, Iss...

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4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2017
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On That One-Way Trip To Mars

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The Deaf Poets Society, Iss...

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More books by Marlena Chertock…
Little Black Book...
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Mostly Dead Things
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by Kristen Arnett (Goodreads Author)
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The Scapegracers
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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.”
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Aldous Huxley
“Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you.”
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Thomas Hardy
“Experience is as to intensity and not as to duration.”
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