David Jennings Patrick Morice (September 10, 1946 – August 21, 2026) was an American writer, visual artist, performance artist and educator. As well as his own name, he wrote and published under the names Joyce Holland, and Dr. Alphabet.Hedblad, p. 140. His works include 60 Poetry Marathons,Hedblad, p. 141. three anthologies of Poetry Comics, The Wooden Nickel Art Project,Hedblad, p. 142. and other art and writing. He was one of the founders of the Actualist Poetry Movement.
In 2013, a biography of Morice was written by Tom Walz, professor emeritus of the University of Iowa and Joye Chizek, artist and writer called "Dr. Alphabet Unmasked: Inside the Creative Mind of David Morice". The biography feature numerous photos and illustrations as well as a complete listing of published works by Morice.
Background David Jennings Patrick Morice was the oldest of five children, born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Gilbert Morice, a Navy pilot, and Lillian Murray Morice, a ballet student. At age 6, he wrote and illustrated rhymed pourquoi poems for his mother. In grade school he drew Billy the Hobo Bee, a comic strip. In high school, he wrote Frankenstein Versus the New York Yankees, an unfinished novel. He also wrote and illustrated his first book-length work, The Idiot and the Oddity: A Children's Epic Poem, a series of about 1,250 rhyming couplets about a leprechaun named Scratch O'Flattery.
In 1969, he received a BA in English with a creative writing minor from St. Louis University, where he studied under John Knoepfle and Al Montesi. Later that year, he moved to Iowa City, Iowa to attend the University of Iowa Writers Workshop. In the Writers Workshop, he studied under Anselm Hollo, Marvin Bell, Donald Justice, Kathy Frasier, and Jack Marshalland was Beat critic Seymour Krim's research assistant. He was among a group of writers who called themselves "Actualist poets." He received an MFA from the Workshop in 1972,Kostelanetz, 428. and an MA in Library Science in 1986. His 81-word thesis, Poems, was the shortest thesis in Iowa Writers Workshop's 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 flies
Morice taught Introduction to Children's Literature, a graduate course in Elementary Education at the University of Iowa, for eight years. He was married to Milagros Quijada, an architect from Caracas, Venezuela, from 1985 to 1991. They have one son, Danny, who taught him "more about children, language, art, wordplay, teaching, and life than words can express."
He served as the Associate Editor of Sackter House Media, which publishes books by and about people with disabilities. He taught writing classes at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Morice died on August 21, 2026, at the age of 79.
The Joyce Holland Literary Hoax From 1972 to 1975, Morice perpetrated a literary hoax:Edgar, 205. "He invented 'Joyce Holland',Kostelanetz, 427-428. a minimalist poet and performance artist who had no small effect on the poetry world."Weinstein, Jeff, "Poetry in Motion," New York, NY: The Village Voice, Vol. XXVI, No. 31, July 29-August 4, 1981, 31-36. 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".Padgett, Ron, "34 Years Ago". New York, NY: The Poetry Project Newsletter, December 2005-January 2006, 15.
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)."Morris, 179.
In these 12 examples, each poet's name is followed by his or her poem in parentheses. Aram Saroyan is the originator of one-word poetry.
Bill Zavatsky (armadildo) Anne Waldman (INCA) Aram Saroyan (puppy) Allen Ginsberg (apocatastasis) Pat Casteel (puppylust) Andrei Codrescu (GASOLINE) Tom Disch (Manna) g.p. skratz (electrizzzzz)Lyn Lifshin (contagious)Gerard Malanga (Monther)Bruce Andrews & Michael Lally (grap)Peter Schjeldahl (shirty)
Holland also published Alphabet Anthology, a collection of one-letter poems by 104 contributors. The index tallied up the letters, showing that "o" was chosen most often, and "c" was chosen by no one.Lehman, 151.
Morice's girlfriend, P.J. Casteel, an actress, played the physical role by giving readings and by meeting visiting writers to whom she was introduced as Joyce Holland. During these visits, the Actualists, who were in on the hoax, called her by that name. In 1974, Morice and Holland (Casteel) appeared on Tom Snyder's TomorrowZollo, Rick, "Morice Creates on 'Tomorrow.'" Iowa City, IA: The Daily Iowan, February 12, 1974, 7. show. During the program, Morice wrote a poem on her dress, and Holland led the audience in a "Poetry Cheer".
Dr. Alphabet and the Poetry Marathons
He has been called the "P.T. Barnum of Poetry"Staff Writer, "Elderly Critic Has His Say." Iowa City, IA: Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 10, 1975, 1A. and a "Muse out of the world of Dr. Seuss".Heth, Jerold, "Halftime Fun—100-yard Poem". Des Moines, IA. Des Moines Register, October 27, 1977, 1A. On March 3, 1973, he wrote his first Poetry MarathonKostelanetz, 427. —1,000 poems in 12 hours— at the Grand Opening of Epstein's Bookstore,Staff writer, "Grand Epsteins Opening". Iowa City, IA: The Daily Iowan, March 5, 1973, 6. the literary gathering place in Iowa City in the early seventies.Patrick, William, "Epstein's Offers Everything but a Degree: Literary Landmark to Move." Iowa City, IA: The Daily Iowan, February 20, 1973, 7.Walljasper, Jay. "Writers Mourn Epsteins Closing." Iowa City, IA: The Daily Iowan, March 8, 1977, 1, 7. He typed the poems on three small sheets of paper at a time. The shortest was a one-word poem; the longest was a fourteen-line sonnet. The marathon, an Actualist event, took place a week before the first Actualist Convention.
In 1974, Muscatine, IA, held its second annual Great River Days Festival. Part of it was the Belle of the Bend Art Fair. Morice was invited to write a poetry marathon at the fair. Referring back to the 19th century traveling entertainers who went from town to town selling cure-alls and nostrums, he named his event "Dr. Alphabet's Medicine Show." He made a costume to wear for the occasion: a white top hat, shirt, pants, shoes, and cane covered with letters of the alphabet in different colors. During the festival, he wrote a poem on adding machine tape while wrapping it around Joyce Holland. He titled the woman-plus-paper sculpture "The Muscatine Mummy." Shortly after completion, he unwound the poem from Holland, tore it into small strips, and put them into amber glass medicine bottles labeled "Poetry Tonic." He and his assistants gave the souvenir bottles away free to fair-goers.
The biggest Poetry Marathon production of all took place in Lone Tree, IA, in 1977. Sponsored by the Iowa Arts Council and coordinated by music director Lynn Grulke, Halftime Poem Across a Football FieldMorice, Dave, The Adventures of Dr. Alphabet, 118-120. involved two high school football teams, more than 300 people in the stands, a sportscaster, a band, cheerleaders, assistants, Dr. Alphabet, and his sister Michele.
The Lone Tree Lions were playing their homecoming game against the Tigers of Morning Sun, IA. During the day, Morice taught poetry to the students and compared it to football, and the students wrote poetry cheers for the game. After school, the cheerleaders practiced their favorite cheers, while Grulke's band rehearsed a jazzy version of "The Alphabet Song".
That night, during half-time, the band played their song as Morice began to spray paint a poem on a roll of paper that stretched from goal post to goal post. One of his assistants, acting as sportscaster, announced the action over a microphone: "Is that a simile? Yes, it is!" The cheerleaders shouted cheers: "Metaphor! Metaphor! Tell 'em what we're yelling for!" and "Hold that line! Make it rhyme!" and "Hey, hey, Dr. A, how many poems did you write today?"
It was a windy night, and the work-in-progress started blowing across the field. Volunteers had to rush from the stands and stand on the edges of the paper so the writing could continue. When it was finished, the football players held up the 100-yard sheet of paper for the fans to see. Morice read the poem over a microphone. Then the game continued. Lone Tree won.
From July 4 through October 31, 2010, in collaboration with the naming of Iowa City, Iowa, as a UNESCO "City of Literature" (one of only three in the world named by this branch of the United Nations - Edinburgh, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia are the other two), Dave Morice challenged himself to write a world breaking poetry feat. Working in the University of Iowa Main Library, Morice produced 100 pages of poetry for 100 days. This poetry marathon was dedicated to Dave's sister Michele who was his literary cheerleader for many years who died aged 52 on February 22, 2010, of a brain tumor. Working from the assistance of poetry patrons, Morice dedicated 4 months toward creating the ultimate record-breaking feat of writing. Dave's son, Danny, wrote the introduction.
As Dr. Alphabet, Dave Morice has written marathons in Iowa, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and London, England. In the partial listing below, the name of the marathon event appears in italics, and the title of the actual writing appears in parentheses.
1,000 Poems in Twelve Hours (individually titled). Iowa City, IA: Epstein's Bookstore, March 3, 1973.Eckholt, Larry, "Poet's World Record Bid: 1,000 Poems in 10 Hours." Des Moines, IA: Des Moines Register, March 4, 1973, 2-BStaff writer, "Grand Epsteins Opening." Iowa City, IA: The Daily Iowan, March 5, 1973, 6. 100-Foot Poem from Dawn to Dusk on the Longest Day of the Year (Centipede). Iowa City, IA: Epstein's Bookstore, June 21, 1973.Jones, Bob, "Longest Day to Spawn Longest Poem." Iowa City, IA: The Daily Iowan, June 21, 1973, 6.Eckholt, Larry, "Iowa City Poet Rests Up After Solstice Marathon." Des Moines, IA: Des Moines Register, June 22, 1973, 6. Mile-long Haiku (The Kohoutek Comet Poetry Marathon) Iowa City, IA: Epstein's Bookstore, January 15, 1974.Zollo, Rick, "Actualist Poet to Write Mile Long Poem Today: Science May Fail but Poetry to Succeed." Iowa City, IA: The Daily Iowan, January 15, 1974, 7. Tomorrow Show Poetry Telethon: Poem Written on Joyce Holland's Dress (Hot Lights). Los Angeles, CA: Tomorrow show with Tom Snyder, February 12, 1974.Zollo, Rick, "Morice Creates on 'Tomorrow.'" Iowa City, IA: The Daily Iowan, February 12, 1974, 7. Poem Wrapping Epstein's Bookstore (Mayday Poetry Panorama). Iowa City, IA: Epstein's Bookstore, May 1, 1974.Craig, Bog, "Surrealism, Automatic Writing, and Morice." Iowa City, IA: The Daily Iowan, May 1, 1974, 7. Poem Wrapping Joyce Holland (The Muscatine Mummy). Muscatine, IA, Dr. Alphabet's Medicine Show, at The Belle of the Bend Art Fair, August 24, 1974.Staff Writer, "Dr. Alphabet and Joyce Holland (photo caption)." Iowa City, IA: The Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 22, 1974, 2-B.