Steve Turtell

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Steve Turtell’s Followers (49)

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Sigrun ...
2,817 books | 168 friends

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Steve Turtell

Goodreads Author


Born
in Brooklyn, NY, The United States
Website

Twitter

Genre

Influences

Member Since
October 2009

URL


Steve Turtell is a poet from New York City, where he has lived and worked for most of his life. He has been writing, editing and publishing articles, reviews, and poems since 1979. His first feature article, Energy at the Emerald City, about the first gay cable TV show in New York, was published in The Advocate. Since then he has been a staff writer for Gaysweek, LGNY, and Gay City News. He has written reviews for Publishers’ Weekly and contributed articles to the SCRIBNER’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LIVES (Scribner’s, 1998). He recently published a memoir, Portraits and Places from Palermo Publishing. His first collection, HEROES AND HOUSEHOLDERS (Orchard House Press, 2007), drew praise from Marjorie Perloff for his “subtle and charming poe ...more

Her Name Is George

“All that is prearranged is false . . . . . How do I know what I think until I see what I say,”


E.M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel p. 101


In 1995, I was forty-five, in the MFA program in poetry at Brooklyn College, and teaching for the first time in my life. In the single class we had in how to teach basic composition, one of our assignments was a brief autobiographical essay. I wrote about my very

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Published on August 10, 2015 07:09
Average rating: 4.31 · 42 ratings · 6 reviews · 4 distinct works
Peter Hujar: Speed of Life

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4.20 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 2017 — 5 editions
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Heroes and Householders

4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions
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Letter to Frank O'Hara (ReB...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2011
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Portraits and Places

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Kitchen Hymns
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Floaters: Poems
Steve Turtell is currently reading
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Jailbreak of Spar...
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Steve’s Recent Updates

Steve Turtell and 876 other people liked Emily May's review of Audition:
Audition by Katie Kitamura
"A frustrating, high-concept piece of writing. It was beautifully-written and I appreciate it was clever, but it was not my cup of tea.

I was unfamiliar with Kitamura’s work going into this, which was likely an error on my part. Had I known the author " Read more of this review »
Steve Turtell and 484 other people liked Roxane's review of Audition:
Audition by Katie Kitamura
"I'll be honest--I don't know that I understand all that was going on here but this is sublime writing from one word to the next, from the first word to the last. "
Steve Turtell rated a book really liked it
Audition by Katie Kitamura
Audition
by Katie Kitamura (Goodreads Author)
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Steve Turtell rated a book it was amazing
Paul Thek and Peter Hujar by Paul Thek
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Steve Turtell rated a book it was amazing
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
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Steve Turtell rated a book it was amazing
Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson
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I Don't Believe in Atheists by Chris Hedges
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Steve Turtell wants to read
My Husband Would by Benjamin S. Grossberg
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The Spring before Obergefell by Benjamin S. Grossberg
"So much of this novel feels relatable: I moved back to Ohio in my 50s and ended up living for a while in my mother's house, working at a Big Box store and trying to figure out the next chapter of my life while feeling that perhaps there would not be " Read more of this review »
More of Steve's books…
Quotes by Steve Turtell  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“I’ve spent my adult life leaping off cliffs that turn out to be curbs.”
Steve Turtell

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”
Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare

“For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.”
T.S. Eliot

“Just the other day, I was in my neighborhood Starbucks, waiting for the post office to open. I was enjoying a chocolatey cafe mocha when it occurred to me that to drink a mocha is to gulp down the entire history of the New World. From the Spanish exportation of Aztec cacao, and the Dutch invention of the chemical process for making cocoa, on down to the capitalist empire of Hershey, PA, and the lifestyle marketing of Seattle's Starbucks, the modern mocha is a bittersweet concoction of imperialism, genocide, invention, and consumerism served with whipped cream on top.”
Sarah Vowell

“I’ve spent my adult life leaping off cliffs that turn out to be curbs.”
Steve Turtell

“What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore, it knows it’s not foolin’ a soul.”
Neil Gaiman, American Gods

15807 Queereaders — 20857 members — last activity 3 hours, 20 min ago
A group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and supporters interested in fun and stimulating conversation about books, movies, art, ...more
220 Goodreads Librarians Group — 306400 members — last activity 0 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more
106620 Magnus Books — 145 members — last activity Jul 14, 2013 01:39AM
Book discussion group for readers and writers of LGBT literature. Magnus Books is an imprint of Riverdale Avenue Books. We publish widely in both LGBT ...more
31471 THE Group for Authors! — 12953 members — last activity 16 hours, 0 min ago
This is a group for authors to discuss their craft, as well as publishing and book marketing.
64784 My Story Book Club — 103 members — last activity Mar 28, 2013 05:52PM
My Story is a Young Adult online LGBT book club featuring a LGBT author every month. Lambda Literary Foundation’s My Story Book Club, in association w ...more
233 ¡ POETRY ! — 22582 members — last activity Dec 24, 2025 01:37PM
No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read ...more
1225037 LGBTQIAP+ Lit Lovers — 221 members — last activity Jun 27, 2025 04:39PM
For those who appreciate LGBTQIAP+ literature across various genres, we are a welcoming and supportive community that offers a non-judgmental space fo ...more
2083 NYRB Classics — 1430 members — last activity 18 hours, 46 min ago
For friends of NYRB Classics
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Comments (showing 1-4)    post a comment »
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message 4: by Steve

Steve Turtell Thanks, Allen, and thanks for adding me here. Any interest in a book exchange? I can send a copy of Heroes and Householders if you provide a mailing address. You can use my regular email if interested: sturtell@gmail.com

Cheers, Steve

Allen wrote: "How cool that you have gay books and my friend Lynda Mapes' tree book in your list. I met Peter Hujar in the 1970s will look at your book some time soon. You might enjoy my recently published autob..."


message 3: by Allen

Allen Young How cool that you have gay books and my friend Lynda Mapes' tree book in your list. I met Peter Hujar in the 1970s will look at your book some time soon. You might enjoy my recently published autobiography, "Left, Gay & Green; A Writer's Life." Some reviews and other info on Amazon.com about my book, and others I have done. I'm new on Goodreads. Best wishes to you.


message 2: by Steve

Steve Turtell Thanks, Stephanie! My pleasure.


Stephanie Lennox Hi Steve, thanks for accepting my friend request! You have great taste in books.


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