About

Marcus Higgs

How did you start writing poetry?

It started in the Bahamas around 1998 while watching HBO (long before Def Poetry Jam).  My jaw dropped as I watched a film called “Slam Nation“. While in awe, I had a clear feeling of, ‘I want to do that’.  Not as a profession, but as an expression.  To see the intensity, the craft, the drive of the poets’ words, to see what they created with their lines, it was a wonder to me.

That same night, I hit the internet on our 52k modem, googled and sifted though everything that had the words ’slam’, ‘poetry’ , ‘performance’, ’spoken word’, and so on.  Early inspiration came from poets such as muMs the Schemer, Taylor Mali, Jessica Care Moore, Mighty Mike McGee, Big Poppa E, Talam Acey, however the most of my drive came from a sea of unnamed poets, with pieces that still stand out in my mind (’Dirty Dimes’, ‘These Lips’).  I would make mixed CDs of poetry and listen to them in the car and at school.

I had a clear feeling of, ‘I want to do that’. Not as a profession, but as an expression.

For two years, I collected and shared my work through email and with friends as school, but there was no ’stage’ or outlet until “the Verse Place”.  This venue was where I grew and developed my craft. Although it has discontinued, still to this day, this is the only venue I considered home.

In college I continued writing with two creative collectives, Art n’ Soul, and M’kono-Nia.  All the while, traveling and performing at every opportunity on every open mic and stage.

To this day, this is still my persona, ‘a performance poet without a stage’.  Along the way, I’ve shared the stage with Nikki Giovanni, Shihan the Poet, Will ‘Da Real One’ Bell, Mike McGee, just to name a few.

What is this website about?

This site is my passions colliding: communication, poetry, and technology.  It’s an experiment in ‘mobile creativity’.  It’s my ’stage’, my ‘home’, a common and consistent place to meet an audience.  It’s my contact with you.  It’s your connection to me.  It’s a place for our exchange.

Where are you from?

I embrace my diversity, because it adds to insight and helps me see our collective commonality.

This is always a fun question.  I was born in Riverside, California.  Then I moved between Alabama and California before settling at 12 in Nassau, Bahamas.  I attended college in the Bahamas and Huntsville, Alabama, and right after college worked for 3 and half years in South Korea.  My mother is Filipino and my father is Bahamian.  But it’s not about where your from, it’s about where you’re going.

Because of this consistent change, I’ve learned to ‘get in where you fit in’.  And with no ‘identifying group’, I quickly learned to always stand as an individual sure of who I am.

I embrace my diversity (or ‘muttness’), because it adds to insight and helps me see our collective commonality.

You’re that guy they called ‘Aurelius’ right?

Yup, that’s me. From my middle name. Other names I’ve heard: Aureli (only the ladies), ‘How Real He Is’ (from the creative An Ku), ‘the Mic’, ‘Mr. Skillz’, and Mucus (Gotta love high school).

Call me what you want. Even call me collect. Just make sure to connect.

What do you use to record and edit the videos?

I shoot with a Canon Powershot A80 and Macbook Pro built in iSight. I edited wih iMovie HD and Garage Band. If you’re a serious creative, you HAVE to get a Mac. And once you go Mac, you don’t go back.

Boxers or Briefs?

Boxer briefs! Style AND support!

That’s it for now. If you have more question, post them over here.

Thank again for dropping by, now enjoy the articles and poetry, and remember…

“the Word is Love, Spread the Word”

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