Marcus Clayton
Lecturer, Ph.D. Candidate Literature and Creative Writing
Pronouns: he/him/his
Areas of Interest
- Contemporary Multi-Ethnic Literature
- African American Studies
- Latinx Studies
- Poetry/Poetics
- Pop Culture Criticism
- Decolonial Studies
Contact Information
- Office: Virtual
- Phone: 805-756-1707
- Email: mclayt03@calpoly.edu
About Marcus Clayton
Marcus Clayton is a multigenre Afrolatino writer from South Gate, CA. He holds an MFA in Poetry from California State University: Long Beach and is currently completing* a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California. There, he focuses creative work on genre-bending lyrical nonfiction and memoir, and scholarly work on the intersections between Latinx literature, Black literature, Decolonization, and Punk Rock. Specifically, he is completing an autotheoretical text on the cultural significance of the term “Afro-Punk” as it relates to racial visibilities among BIPOC communities, anti-blackness within POC spaces in Southeast Los Angeles, intersections between literary theory and countercultural music such as punk rock and Hip-Hop, and multiracial Afrolatinidad in the United States.
Marcus has a book of mixed-genre prose titled ¡PÓNK! released with Nightboat Books, and he has a poetry chapbook, Nurture the Open Wounds, through Glass Poetry Press. A few current publications – oscillating between scholarly work, creative prose, and poetics – include the anthology Black Punk Now!, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Joyland Magazine, Indiana Review, Apogee Journal, Passages North, and The Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock. When not steeped in the writing world, he can also be seen and heard playing guitar and shouting for Los Angeles punk band, tudors., or at home tolerating his hyperactive pug named Darby Crash.
Education
- Ph.D Student, Literature and Creative Writing, University of Southern California (Current)
- M.F.A., Poetry, California State University, Long Beach