Portraits and Places by Steve Turtell offers six intimate, personal views of a time in New York that now, fifty years later, seems as distant as the lost Continent of Atlantis.
From the first Gay Pride March, to Frank Zappa’s thirtieth birthday party, to the fracture of a treasured friendship with the photographer Peter Hujar during a trip to Mardi Gras, these essays depict a life as varied as the scenes and characters encountered. The text is augmented with eleven Peter Hujar portraits of significant characters featured in the essays, including Charles Ludlam, Sheyla Baykal, and performers in the legendary Palm Casino Revue.
Steve Turtell is a native New Yorker. His 2012 poetry collection Heroes and Householders drew praise from critic Marjorie Perloff for its “subtle and charming poems.” He was the director of public programs at the Museum of the City of New York, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the New-York Historical Society where he oversaw the public programming for 18 photography exhibitions.
Peter Hujar, 1934-1987, now recognized as one of the great American photographers of the 20th century, is best known for his black and white portraits of leading figures in the downtown New York cultural scene in the 70s and 80s.
Portraits and Places is available for purchase at the following outlets:Printed Matter (New York)231 11th AvenueNew York, NY 10001212 925 0325https://www.printedmatter.orgYvon Lambert (Paris), 14 Rue des Filles du Calvaire, 75003 Paris, France +33 1 45 66 55 84https://www.yvon-lambert.com/Ivorypress (Madrid), Calle del Aviador Zorita 4828020, Madrid, Spainwww.ivorypress.comT +34 91 449 09 61Leporello (Rome), Via del Pigneto,162/e, 00176 – Rome, Italywww.leporello-books.com+39 06 83976283Public Knowledge (London).90 Hoe Street, London, E17 4QSOpen Saturdays 10 – 6pmhttps://publicknowledgebooks.com
His poems are shaped with an economy, with a supple control, that recalls the lyrics of W.B. Yeats–perfectly solid and down to earth, yet floating with a lyric ease. This is an impressive debut. -Edward Field
Steve Turtell’s poems are refreshingly direct and unpretentious. I’m moved by their generous humanity, their plainspoken, hard-won truths, and the poet’s deep relishing of his experiences, desired or not. His uncommon craft makes it sound almost simple. -Joan Larkin
Steve Turtell’s poetic voice is at once funny, tender, and tough-minded. His verse is lyrical, his subjects both social and sexual. His intelligence is grounded by a frank and warm-heartedly humane vision, and his eye is uncannily perceptive and true. -Kate Christensen
Letter to Frank O’Hara
Number Three in the ReBound Series and winner of the 2010 ReBound Prize. Originally published by P & Q Press in 2000; published in a new second edition with an introduction by Joan Larkin:
“. . . I love Steve Turtell’s poems for their music, their honesty, and their embrace of reality. They are refreshingly direct and unpretentious. I’m moved by their generous humanity, their plainspoken, hard-won truths, and the poet’s deep relishing of his experiences, desired or not. His uncommon craft makes it sound almost simple.”