Biography
David Jennings Patrick Morice was the oldest of five children, born inThe Idiot and the Oddity
The Writers Workshop
In the Writers Workshop, he studied under Anselm Hollo, Marvin Bell, Donald Justice, Kathy Frasier, and Jack Marshall. He was Beat critic Seymour Krim's research assistant. He took an optional art class, "Life Drawing 2," at the end of which the instructor told him that he should've taken "Life Drawing 1." During his workshop years, he experimented with writing poems of different lengths, styles, and forms, using different sizes, shapes, and colors of paper. His 81-word thesis, Poems, contains 9 small poems, averaging 9 words apiece. It is the shortest thesis in Writers Workshop history. It is his first published book, privately issued in a letterpress edition of 60 copies by Al Buck. The shortest poem in it is two lines long: :at night :the fliesThe Actualist Poetry Movement
In 1973, several Iowa City poets started The Actualist Movement in the Arts. Anselm Hollo had suggested that, because of all their creative activity, they should form a poetry movement. Darrell Gray named it "Actualism." As time went on, other poets joined the movement. They held three celebrations of the arts, called Actualist Conventions. The first took place on March 10, 1973. The Actualists published many literary magazines: Suction (ed. Gray); Toothpaste (ed. Kornblum), Search for Tomorrow (ed. Mattingly); PF Flyer (eds. Steve and Sheila Toth); The Actual Now and Then (ed. Cinda Kornblum); The Spirit That Moves Us (ed. Morty Sklar); Gum (ed. Morice), Matchbook (ed. Joyce Holland), Candy (ed. P.J. Casteel). Kornblum and Buck learned letterpress printing, and Kornblum's Toothpaste Press became the main publisher of Actualist work. Darrell Gray wrote "The Actualist Manifesto," which appeared in Gum No. 9 as a fold-out with Apocastasis, a chapbook of short poems by Gray, stapled to the manifesto page. In 1975, Gray moved to San Francisco, and Actualism flourished there. From the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, there were six Actualist Conventions held in the Bay Area. George Mattingly published Actualist American Poetry Circuit Readings for 1973-74, a promotional booklet that presents a biography, a bibliography, a writing sample, and a photograph of thirteen of the founding Actualists: Darrell Gray, Sheila Heldenbrand (Toth), Anselm Hollo, Steve Toth, George Mattingly, Joyce Holland, John Sjoberg, Josephine Clare, Tim Hildebrand, Morty Sklar, Allan Kornblum, Chuck Miller, Dave Morice. Morty Sklar and Darrell Gray edited and published in 1977, from Sklar's The Spirit That Moves Us Press, The Actualist Anthology, the major collection of Actualist writing, which presents works by fourteen members: Allan Kornblum, Chuck Miller, Anselm Hollo, Cinda Kornblum, Morty Sklar, John Batki, Darrell Gray, Jim Mulac, David Hilton, Sheila Heldenbrand, George Mattingly, John Sjoberg, Steve Toth, Dave Morice. In 1979, Morice created a school of poetry called Cutism. "His Cutist Anthology includes poems by Sally Lunchkins, Tommy Triped, and others, 'Have a nice day' artwork by Roberta Periwinkleshoe, and the requisite defensive polemic by Samuel F. Romular. Morice's send-ups attest to his connection to a school of poetry that began in Iowa City… called Actualism."Weinstein, Jeff, "Poetry in Motion," New York, NY: The Village Voice, Vol. XXVI, No. 31, July 29-August 4, 1981, 31-36.The Joyce Holland Literary Hoax
From 1972 to 1975, Morice perpetrated a literary hoax: "He invented 'Joyce Holland', a minimalist poet and performance artist who had no small effect on the poetry world." She wrote concrete and minimalist poems and sent submissions to literary magazines, 29 of which published her work. James Mechem, editor of Out of Sight, invited her to be a guest editor. She assembled an Actualist Poets issue. To expand the hoax, Joyce Holland (Morice) put out thirteen issues of ''Matchbook'', a magazine of one-word poems, costing five cents a copy. She received a grant of $50 from the National Endowment for the Arts to fund the magazine. Each issue was printed on one-inch square pages stapled inside of matchbooks donated by local businesses. The sixth issue was an "all-women's issue", the seventh was a "do-it-yourself" issue, and the eighth was an "actualist convention issue". About the extremes of poetry, critic Richard Morris writes: "Some styles go so far as to leave the traditional conception of the "poem" behind. We have found poetry, visual poetry, a poetry that is being written in prose forms…, even minimal poetry (see Joyce Holland's magazine of one-word poems, Matchbook.)" In these twelve examples, each poet's name is followed by his or her poem in parentheses. Aram Saroyan is the originator of one-word poetry.Dr. Alphabet and the Poetry Marathons
The World's Largest Book
Starting July 1, 2010 - through October 31, 2010, Dave Morice served as a living exhibition for the Celebration of UNESCO naming Iowa City, Iowa as one of three world-wide cities holding the title of "City of Literature". Within the exhibit of the University of Iowa Libraries, Dave held a place where he wrote a 100-page poem every day for 100 days some chapters inviting guest submissions from businesses, students and other Iowa artists. The marathon was shadowed by an in-live-time website where information about the artist, marathons, a dedication to his sister Michelle, the celebration and "City of Literature" exhibit as well as the history of Actualism was outlined. As each 100 page chapter was completed, a link to a graphic on the website takes the reader to the complete document as written. The final day of the exhibit at the Main Hall of the University of Iowa Libraries, One of the many glass cases featuring Morice's Actualist and Performance poetry history was opened, and Morice put on his original Dr. Alphabet outfit one more time. Dressed as Dr. Alphabet, Morice proceeded to write a five-page epilogue transparent sheets. A reading of the first portion of the 10,000 page marathon was followed by a reading of the epilogue. After the 2010 display was removed, the University Libraries set forth on the task of taking the massive volume of poetry and binding it for their permanent collection. The final text of 10,119, 8 1/2 by 11 inch pages was printed out by Bu Wilson and bound by Bill Voss of the University of Iowa Libraries. The book took over 24 hours to bind and required a special press to bind all the pages together. The preservation staff are considering submitting "Poetry City Marathon" to the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's thickest book. Morice has been quoted as saying, this was the last of his lifetime of poetry marathons.Teaching Methods: The Adventures of Dr. Alphabet
Poetry Gallery
Lin Courchane and Mark Boyd, teachers at Hartford Union High School in Hartford, WI, created a Poetry Gallery inspired by The Adventures of Dr. Alphabet. Their creative writing students made "art object poems" and displayed them in the gallery at school and on the web.Poetry Comics
Hall of Poetry Comics
Nancy Barnhart, a Writers-in-the-Schools teacher in Houston, TX, used the idea in her classroom: "In Poetry Comics, Dave Morice demonstrates how to create a 'hybridization' of poem and comic so that students can 'see what they are saying.'" She displayed their works in a Hall of Poetry Comics.The Wooden Nickel Art Project
In 1985, Morice began The Wooden Nickel Art Project. He ordered 1,000 wooden nickels printed with "Artist's Wooden Nickel" on one side. The other side was left blank. He gave them to friends, relatives, and strangers, and asked them to write or draw whatever they wanted on the blank side and to sign and date the other side. He also sent about 2,000 nickels to well-known people, and 400 responded by decorating their nickels and sending them back. In return, he published a photocopy book titled Catalog of the Wooden Nickel Art Project and sent a copy to each contributor. The collection has been exhibited at The Iowa City Public Library, The Coralville Public Library, and The University of Iowa Credit Union. Here are 50 of the wooden nickel artists: Muhammad Ali, Isaac Asimov, Pearl Bailey, Milton Berle, Larry Bird, Mel Brooks, Barbara Bush, John Cage, Frank Capra, Johnny Cash, Chevy Chase, Julie Christie, Jamie Lee Curtis, Doris Day, Robert De Niro, Federico Fellini, A.J. Foyt, Lillian Gish, Veronica Hamil, Johnny Hart, Jesse Helms, Bob Hope, Ken Kesey, Henry Kissinger, Burt Lancaster, Spike Lee, Jack Lemmon, Ursula K. Le Guin, Madeleine L'Engle, Sol Le Witt, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Willie Nelson, Yoko Ono, George Plimpton, Pete Rozelle, Pete Seeger, Dr. Seuss, William Shatner, Frank Sinatra, Ringo Starr, Lily Tomlin, John Travolta, Garry Trudeau, Lana Turner, Johnny Unitas, Kurt Vonnegut, George Wallace, Henry Winkler, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Charles Manson didn't receive his wooden nickel, so he sent two self-portraits instead, one in black and white, and one in color.The Universal Letter
In 1974, he designed The Universal Letter, a symbol that has all the letters of the alphabet in it. Allan Kornblum named his business publishing imprint after it, and used it as the logo for two years. In 1991, Morice drew up the images for a Dr. Alphabet token. On one side, it had the Alphabet Hat and the words "Dr. Alphabet / Poetry City, U.S.A." On the other side, it had the symbol and the words "Universal Letter / Good for One Poem." He ordered 2,500 aluminum tokens to give to people. Recipients had the choice of keeping the token or cashing it in for an impromptu poem, rhymed or unrhymed, that he would write on the spot.Hyperpoems and Ultranovels
Since 2000, Morice has written book-length works that involve literary constraints. Dante scholar and bibliophile George Peyton won an eBay auction to become Morice's patron: He commissioned Morice to rewrite The Divine Comedy in three different verse forms, one for each canticle. The resulting epics were named Limerick Inferno, Haiku Purgatorio, and Clerihew Paradiso. The Great American Fortune Cookie Novel is a romance made by collaging together more than 2,000 different fortune cookie fortunes to tell the story. Over 500 people donated fortunes to the project, and they are listed in the book as co-authors. Backwords Planet, a sci-fi fantasy novel, is a word-order palindrome in which the words in the first half reverse their order to make the second half. Haloosa Nation, a love story, has four levels of nonsense and uses puns throughout.Wordplay
Artwork
Multimedia Series
Published books
Novels
* The Great American Fortune Cookie Novel (illustrated by Daniel J. Erusha). Iowa City, IA: Sackter House Media, 2009. * Haloosa Nation (illustrated by Danny Morice, introduction by Joyce Holland). Iowa City: JoMo Publishing, 2009.Poetry Books
* Poems. Iowa City, IA: Al Buck Press, 1971. * Tilt (self-illustrated). Iowa City, IA: Toothpaste Press, 1971. * Paper Comet (self-illustrated). Iowa City, IA: Happy Press, 1974. * Snapshots from Europe. Iowa City, IA: Toothpaste Press, 1974. * Jnd-Song of the Golden Gradrti (self-illustrated). Iowa City, IA: Happy Press, 1977. * Children Learn What They Live (self-illustrated). Iowa City, IA: Happy Press, 1979. * The Cutist Anthology (self-illustrated). Iowa City, IA: Happy Press, 1979. * Quicksand Through the Hourglass (self-illustrated). Iowa City, IA: Toothpaste Press, 1979. * Birth of a Brain / La Creacion de un Cerebro (written and illustrated in collaboration with Steve LaVoie). Iowa City, IA: Happy Press; in conjunction with Cedar Rapids, IA: Black Bart Press, 1985.Aguilar, Alicia, "Escritor del Poema Mas Largo del Mundo Visita Nuestro Pais." Caracas, Venezuela: El Mundo, May 10, 1985, 36. * Sacred Clowns, Holy Fools (written in collaboration with Steve Toth). Crescent City, CA: Poetry Vortex Publishing, 2009. * Poetry City: A Literary Remembrance of Iowa City, Iowa (designed, illustrated and edited by Joye Chizek). Iowa City, IA: JoMo Publishing, 2015Children's Books
* Dot Town (self-illustrated). Iowa City, IA. Toothpaste Press, 1982. * The Happy Birthday Handbook (self-illustrated Iowa City, IA: Toothpaste Press, 1982. * A Visit from St. Alphabet (self-illustrated). Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 2005. * The Idiot and the Oddity (self-illustrated) Iowa City, Iowa : JoMo Publishing, 2010Poetry Comics: Magazine, Anthologies, and Related Publications
* Poetry Comics (magazine). No. 1 to No. 17. Iowa City, IA: Happy Press, 1979-1980. * Poetry Comics: A Cartooniverse of Poems (first of three anthologies). New York: Simon & Schuster, 1980. * More Poetry Comics: Abuse the Muse (second anthology). A Cappella/Chicago Review Press, 1994. * Poetry Comics: An Animated Anthology (third anthology). New York: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 2002. * Poetry Comics Postcard Book. New York: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 2002. * How to Make Poetry Comics. New York: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1984.Books by Other Authors, Illustrated by Morice
* Batki, John, The Mad Shoemaker (poems). Iowa City, IA: Toothpaste Press, 1973. * Kornblum, Cinda, Bandwagon (poems). Iowa City, IA: Toothpaste Press, 1976. * Kornblum, Allan, Threshold (poems). Iowa City, IA: Toothpaste Press, 1976. * Hawkins, Bobbie Louise, A Sense of Humor (poems). Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 1983. * Batki, John, Why People Lack Confidence in Chairs (poems). Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 1984. * Finkel, Edwin, Now We'll Make the Rafters Ring: Classic and Contemporary Rounds for Everyone (music). Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press,1993. * Lederer, Richard, Nothing Risque, Nothing Gained: Ribald Riddles, Lascivious Limericks, Carnal Corn, and Other Good, Clean Dirty Fun (humor). Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, 1995. * Lehman, David, The Question of Postmodernism (essay). Spartansburg, SC: Holocene Press, 1995. * Lederer, Richard. Fractured English (humor). New York, NY: Pocket Books, 1996. * Lederer, Richard, Pun and Games: Jokes, Riddles, Rhymes, Daffynitions, Tairy Fales, and More Wordplay for Kids (children's book). Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, 1996. * Disch, Tom, A Child's Garden of Grammar (Disch's poems, cartoonized by Morice). Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1997. * Lederer, Richard, The Word Circus (humor). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1998. * Lederer, Richard, The Circus of Words (humor). Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, 2001. * Nicholson, Stuart, Is Jazz Dead? (music). New York, NY: Routledge, 2005.Teaching Manuals
* A Tourist's Guide to Computers (self-illustrated). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1982. * The Adventures of Dr. Alphabet: 104 Unusual Ways to Write Poetry in the Classroom and the Community (self-illustrated). New York, NY: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1995.Wordplay Books
* Alphabet Avenue: Wordplay in the Fast Lane (self-illustrated). Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, 1997. * The Dictionary of Wordplay (self-illustrated). New York, NY: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 2001. * Teachers & Writers Guide to the Dictionary of Wordplay. New York, NY: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 2001.Catalogs
* The Wooden Nickel Art Project: A Catalog of Artists Wooden Nickels (illustrated by others). Iowa City, IA: Happy Press, 1990. * Catalogue of Poetry Marathons and Other Public Writing Events, Iowa City, IA: IMPA, 1976.Under Pseudonym of Joyce Holland
* The Tenth J (minimal poem). Iowa City, IA: Toothpaste Press, 1972. * Matchbook: Magazine of 1-Word Poetry. Iowa City, IA: X Press, 1973-74. * The Light Switch (minimal play), first produced in Iowa City, IA, at Wesley House Auditorium, 1974. * Alphabet Anthology (one-letter poems). Iowa City, IA: X Press, 1973. * The Final E (concrete and minimal poems): Iowa City, IA: X Press, 1979. * Matchbook Magazine Anthology (one-word poems from Matchbook). Iowa City, IA. X Press, 2009. * Concrete Blocks: An Anagram Love Story (pattern poems): Iowa City, IA: JoMo Publishing, 2010.Under Pseudonym of Dr. Alphabet
* Poetry City, U.S.A. (mile-long poem). Iowa City, IA: Happy Press, 1977.Other works
Comic Books (Periodicals)
* Dada Comix. Iowa City, IA: Happy Press, 1978. * Phooey (with other cartoonists). Iowa City, IA: Iowa City Cartoonists Collective, 1983-84.Stageplays
* The Umbrella That Predicted the Future (three-act play), first produced in Iowa City, IA, at Wesley House Auditorium, 1974. * A Light Draw (one-act puppet play), first produced in Iowa City, IA, at The Mill, 1975. * The Coca-Cola War (one-act mime play), first produced in Iowa City, IA, on Dubuque St., during the Nonesuch Fair, 1977. * Stargazers (one-act play), first produced in Iowa City, at The Wheel Room, 1977. * The Naked Stage (one-act play), first produced in Iowa City, IA, at The Mill, 1982.Publications by Others, with Morice's Work
Anthologies
* Lally, Michael, ed., None of the Above (poetry and fiction). Trumansburg, NY: The Crossing Press, 1976. * Lehman, David, ed., Ecstatic Occasions, Expedient Forms (essays on poetry). New York, NY: Macmillan, 1987. * Kostelanetz, Richard, ed., Scenarios: Scripts to Perform (theater). Brooklyn, NY: Assembling Press, 1980. * The Plowman, Waterfall: The Plowman Anthology (poems). Whitby, Ontario, Canada: The Plowman Printing House, 1990. * Moore, Virginia Blanck, ed., Lyrical Iowa (poems), Des Moines, IA: The Iowa Poetry Association, 1979. * Goldbarth, Albert, ed., The Kenyon Review: Impure Form (poems). Gambier, OH: The Kenyon Review, Vol. 12, No. 2, 1990. * Goldberg, Barbara, ed., The First Yes: Poems about Communicating. Takoma Park, MD: Dryad Press in cooperation with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, 1997. * Gardner, Martin, ed., Martin Gardner's Favorite Poetic Parodies. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2001. * Zavatsky, Bill, ed., Roy Rogers: One-Line Poems. New York, NY: Roy Rogers No. 2, 1974. * Thomas, Sharon, ed., Transformations: The Power in Stories of Positive Change. Iowa City, IA: Iowa City Community School District, 1993. * Chism, Stephen J., ed., From A to Zotamorf (palindromes). Morristown, NJ: Word Ways Monograph Series 4, 1992. * Edgar, Christopher and Ron Padgett, eds., Educating the Imagination, Vol. 2. New York, NY: Teachers & Writers, 1994. * Hanson, Jim, ed., Actual Plays. Chicago, IL: In the Light No. 5-6, 1989. * Sklar, Morty, and Darrell Gray, eds., The Actualist Anthology. Iowa City, IA: The Spirit That Moves Us Press, 1977. * Sklar, Morty, ed., The Spirit That Moves Us READER: Seventh Anniversary Anthology. Iowa City, IA: The Spirit that Moves Us Press, 1982. * Waldman, Anne, ed., Nice to See You: Homage to Ted Berrigan. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 1991.Nonfiction Books
* Wallraff, Barbara, Word Fugitives (neologisms). New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2006. * Eckler, Ross, Making the Alphabet Dance (word games). New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 1996. * Michaelsen, O.V., Never Odd or Even: Palindromes, Anagrams, and Other Tricks Words Can Do (wordplay and humor). New York, NY: Sterling Publishing, 2005. * Padgett, Ron, ed., The Teachers & Writers Guide to Walt Whitman (teaching manual). New York, NY: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1991. * Donner, Michael, I Love Me, Vol. I (palindromes). Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1996.Reference Books
* Kostelanetz, Richard, A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes. New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 2000. * Mitchell, Greg, Cats, Chocolate, Clowns, and Other Amusing, Interesting and Useful Subjects Covered by Newsletters. New York, NY: Dember Books, 1982. * Mattingly, George. Actualist American Poetry Circuit Readings for 1973-74. Iowa City, IA: Blue Wind Press, 1973. * Marshall, Nancy H., The Night Before Christmas: A Descriptive Bibliography of Clement Clarke Moore's Immortal Poem with Editions from 1823 Through 2000. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2002. * Gardner, Martin, The Annotated Night Before Christmas: A Collection of Sequels, Parodies, and Imitations of Clement Moore's Immortal Ballad about Santa Claus, Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Martin Gardner, New York, NY: Summit Books, 1991.Research Resources
Papers of Dave Morice. 36 ft. MsC445. The University of Iowa Special Collections and University Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, IA. The Papers include extensive documentation of the Poetry Marathons and the Joyce Holland Hoax. Dave Morice Archive. Personal Collection of Mark Isham. The Archive includes copies of books, pamphlets, drafts, articles, interviews, postcards, photos, coins, wooden nickels, medallions, poetry pugs, matchbooks, buttons, and documentation of the Longfellow Poetry Day and the Joyce Holland Hoax. mark-isham@uiowa.edu. The Word Ways Dave Morice Collection. The Collection includes correspondence, papers, art, commemorative coins, books, periodicals, essays, the complete Kickshaws run, and all of his articles in ''Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics''. Jeremiah Farrell, editor, 9144 Aintree Dr., Indianapolis, IN. wordways@butler.edu.References
tags which will then appear here automatically -->Works cited
* Hedblad, Alan, ed., Something About the Author, Vol. 93. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1997. * Kostelanetz, Richard, ed., A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes. New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 2000. * Morice, Dave, ed., The Wooden Nickel Art Project: A Catalog of Artists Wooden Nickels, Iowa City, IA: Happy Press, 1990. * Morice, Dave, ed., Catalogue of Poetry Marathons and Other Public Writing Events, Iowa City, IA: IMPA, 1976. * Morris, Richard, "Who Are the Greatest Poets?" In Higgins et al., The Word and Beyond. New York, NY: The Smith, 1982. * Lehman, David, ed., Ecstatic Occasions, Expedient Forms (essays on poetry). New York, NY: Macmillan, 1987. * Edgar, Christopher and Ron Padgett, eds., Educating the Imagination, Vol. 2. New York, NY: Teachers & Writers, 1994. * Morice, Dave, The Adventures of Dr. Alphabet. New York, NY: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1995.External links