School of Creative
Industries
Bryce W. Merkl Sasaki

Bryce W. Merkl Sasaki

MA Creative Writing
2021 — 2023

Bryce is a writer, editor and wizard-errant [citation needed] currently wandering through Southeast Asia. His poetry has been featured in Promethia, North Central Review and the Singapore Writers Festival. His creative non-fiction has been published in the USA Today National Gallery of Writing as well as SAMPAN, and his fiction has been read at two editions of the Science & Science Fiction conference in the US.

His writing explores the tension between familiarity and estrangement, particularly through travel writing and science fiction. He is currently working on two collections of poetry as well as a science fiction novel, Lucky Prime V. When he’s not busy running his copywriting agency, Merkl’s Service, he can usually be found snuggling with the nearest cat.

Click here to add in Fav

Thesis work

Lucky Prime V is a science fiction novel about the advent of a new form of alien consciousness, known as the xoatl, to an already fraught and complex interstellar civilisation. Facing this new threat, the main characters each undergo a unique journey of faith that redefines them as a person, a hnau.

Lajjita Rajbhandari goes into politics to fulfil a religious vow taken on her mothers’ graves. Torben Sarel winds through the dark underbelly of the sport industry to investigate the mysterious murder of his girlfriend and to find a deeper peace. Drako Varga works to expose the corrupt cover-up of a newly discovered planet. Proteus wants to escape vis life of digital slavery and finds other escapees revere ver as a new messiah. Finally, Shiv Therek taps deep into her species’ genetic memories seeking a way to defeat the xoatl invasion but learns more about the nature of consciousness than she bargained for. Lucky Prime V is the first instalment of the planned 都灵五 trilogy.

Published work and readings

Published works

Merkl Sasaki, Bryce W. (2022). A Passage through the Pasar. SAMPAN, 2022.
Merkl Sasaki, Bryce W. (2011). A Sonnet for the Winter. North Central Review, 2011.
Merkl Sasaki, Bryce W. (2011). The Summer’s Tale. Promethia, 2011.
Merkl Sasaki, Bryce W. (2010). The Shared Governance Model: A Closer Look. USA Today Voices, National Gallery of Writing.
Merkl Sasaki, Bryce W. (2010). The White Rose. Promethia, 2010.
Merkl Sasaki, Bryce W. (2010). St. Aldate’s. Promethia, 2010.
Merkl Sasaki, Bryce W. (2010). Another Group Project. Art Burns Red.
Merkl Sasaki, Bryce W. (2010). Under Heaven. Art Burns Red.
Merkl Sasaki, Bryce W. (2010). Shades of Grey. Art Burns Red.
Merkl Sasaki, Bryce W. (2009). The Fireflies. Promethia, 2009.
Merkl Sasaki, Bryce W. (2009). The Sapphire. Promethia, 2009.

Conferences and events

Nov 2022. Read a selection of poetry at Singapore Writers Festival.
http://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/programme-details/conversations/no-one-is-an-island
Apr 2015. Read a fiction excerpt “Lucky Prime V” at Science & Science Fiction Conference 2015.
Apr 2012. Read a short fiction piece “The Dry Bones Report” and an academic paper at Science & Science Fiction Conference 2012.
Apr 2011. Read academic paper “The Fantasy School of Witchcraft Wonder & Writing Wizardry” at Faculty Development Luncheon.
Apr 2011. Play “Romeo and Prejudice (and Vampires)” was staged for the Sigma Tau Delta playwriting competition, 2011.
Feb 2011. Read academic paper “Echoes of a Messianic King” at C.S. Lewis and Inklings Conference.
Apr 2010. Play “College Weekend: The SAGA Begins” was staged for the Sigma Tau Delta playwriting competition, 2010.
Oct 2010. Read academic paper “From Camelot to the Leaky Cauldron: A Hero for Post-Modern Britain” at the Southwest Conference on Christianity & Literature 2010.
May 2009. Play “Good Knight Roudoliphüs” was staged at Sapulpa Community Playhouse.
Oct 2009. Read epistolary piece “Dear Anonymous” at Annual Cultural Event.
Oct 2008. Read academic paper “Controlling Death & the Quest for Immortality” at the Southwest Conference on Christianity & Literature 2008.