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Accents
Arthur Turfa thought about people, passers-by and those who knew him to some extent, places where he spent some time, and dreams that he had. The result is a book, Accents. As a child he noticed accents when people spoke. This fascination carried over somewhat to music, but more successfully to languages. Eventually he discerned leitmotifs from people he knew at different stages and places in his life. Whether they intended to influence him at all or in a particular way, he detected something of value for him and adapted what he experienced into his writing. One poem speaks about meeting a musical idol of his, another is about one he wished he had met. We meet some people who officially taught him, as well as some close friends. There are poems from his native Pennsylvania, Germany, California and is current home in South Carolina. Accents opens and closes with longer poems in which he reflects on these leitmotifs and their significance for him.
Unknown Binding
First published May 19, 2017
About the author
Arthur Turfa
13 books161 followers Placed in the Top Ten of the Pnagolin Review Poetry Prize 2019; https://thepangolinreview.wixsite.com...
About half of my life has been spent in various parts of Pennsylvania. Most of the rest has been spent in New Mexico, California, Virginia, South Carolina, and Germany.
My career path has been bi-vocational; I am a Lutheran pastor and Army chaplain (Retired Reservist with veteran status) and educator on secondary and post-secondary levels.
I wrote a lot of poetry when younger, then I took a 20-year break and resumed around 2002.
eLectio Publishing released my first book of poetry, "Places and Times" in April 2015.
"Accents" is my second poetry book, available on Amazon KDP since February 2018. This is thematically my best work. "Gemini", my third and mystical book, came out the same month from Broad River Books.
"Saluda Reflections" was published by Finishing Line Press in July 2018.
Working with my creative partner, award-winning artist Carol Worthington Levy, I have two books of ekphrastic poetry. "A Village Remembered" is on Amazon KDP since November 2019. "All in the Family is on Blurb as of October 2020.
My first novel, "The Botleys of Beaumont County: came out on Blurb in September 2021. It is a literary fiction novel.https://www.blurb.com/b/10799783-the-...
Currently, I live in the Midlands of South Carolina with or near my family.
About half of my life has been spent in various parts of Pennsylvania. Most of the rest has been spent in New Mexico, California, Virginia, South Carolina, and Germany.
My career path has been bi-vocational; I am a Lutheran pastor and Army chaplain (Retired Reservist with veteran status) and educator on secondary and post-secondary levels.
I wrote a lot of poetry when younger, then I took a 20-year break and resumed around 2002.
eLectio Publishing released my first book of poetry, "Places and Times" in April 2015.
"Accents" is my second poetry book, available on Amazon KDP since February 2018. This is thematically my best work. "Gemini", my third and mystical book, came out the same month from Broad River Books.
"Saluda Reflections" was published by Finishing Line Press in July 2018.
Working with my creative partner, award-winning artist Carol Worthington Levy, I have two books of ekphrastic poetry. "A Village Remembered" is on Amazon KDP since November 2019. "All in the Family is on Blurb as of October 2020.
My first novel, "The Botleys of Beaumont County: came out on Blurb in September 2021. It is a literary fiction novel.https://www.blurb.com/b/10799783-the-...
Currently, I live in the Midlands of South Carolina with or near my family.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 15, 2020
From the influences that shape us, emotions may result that range from love to indifference to hatred. Arthur Turfa's poetry collection Accents includes meditations on music, places, people, and accents, and how they've shaped his life and outlook. A man with a rare gift for understanding foreign languages and cultures, he gazes at life with a charitable eye: "Consensus does not imply betrayal of one's roots but the appreciation of another's."
His poetry is an antidote to much of the bitterness and cynicism that speak with such loud voices in the media. "Fifty Years After" is a reflection on how hard times in the steel industry led to his family's departure from his childhood hometown, but without rancor or "you-shoulda-done-this" negativism.
He brings to life alien landscapes, but in language the average can assimilate without requiring a deep dive into textual criticism. In "Gem of the Bayou," his words sweep the reader into "a reality transcending fields and marshes," from south Louisiana to the homeland of his Hungarian ancestors. At every stop along the roads of life, Turfa brings to life people from different roads, whose paths may cross without in random encounters. He does so with poetic grace.
His poetry is an antidote to much of the bitterness and cynicism that speak with such loud voices in the media. "Fifty Years After" is a reflection on how hard times in the steel industry led to his family's departure from his childhood hometown, but without rancor or "you-shoulda-done-this" negativism.
He brings to life alien landscapes, but in language the average can assimilate without requiring a deep dive into textual criticism. In "Gem of the Bayou," his words sweep the reader into "a reality transcending fields and marshes," from south Louisiana to the homeland of his Hungarian ancestors. At every stop along the roads of life, Turfa brings to life people from different roads, whose paths may cross without in random encounters. He does so with poetic grace.
June 9, 2019
This book was a lovely, soulful, meaningful, and insightful read. Arthur Turfa paints a world that is clothed in sweet nostalgia. The poems in this book made me think and made me smile. The exploration of the encounters with people and places are delivered in a beautiful and enriching style. For example, "A Myriad of Songs" melted my heart when Turfa wrote, "In your smile the light of a thousand suns and in the air a myriad of songs." This is an example of how the poems in this book utilize all of the senses that enable us to see the incredible world Turfa paints with his poetry. My favorite piece in this book is called "The Telos of Time," because that poem is filled with a profound investigation on the nature of time that has left me re-reading every line. I highly recommend this book.
October 28, 2019
Arthur Turfa’s “Accents” is a book filled with wonder and wisdom, telling of music, places, people and events in poetic verse.
In his poem “Das Martinskloster” The opening lines drew me in:
“Our lives are rivers
on which we travel
unaware of our route
determined by riverbanks”
“A Glimpse of Green Ridge in Midlands Sunset” has such a beautiful title, to match the beauty of the poem:
“A glimpse of green ridge Midlands sunset,
rising twenty miles distant straight ahead
on a long rural two-lane blacktop.
The intriguing “Strands Connecting.”
“Around the axis mundi
strands of our lives enlace
in a soft translucent glow.”
One of my favorite poems is “Her Hands Smell Like Sunsets.”
“The silence cannot, will not
stifle the emerging word.
Within you speak voices.
Music resounds throughout you.”
This is a book that has you traveling to places and times in your mind as you read along with the words of the poet.
In his poem “Das Martinskloster” The opening lines drew me in:
“Our lives are rivers
on which we travel
unaware of our route
determined by riverbanks”
“A Glimpse of Green Ridge in Midlands Sunset” has such a beautiful title, to match the beauty of the poem:
“A glimpse of green ridge Midlands sunset,
rising twenty miles distant straight ahead
on a long rural two-lane blacktop.
The intriguing “Strands Connecting.”
“Around the axis mundi
strands of our lives enlace
in a soft translucent glow.”
One of my favorite poems is “Her Hands Smell Like Sunsets.”
“The silence cannot, will not
stifle the emerging word.
Within you speak voices.
Music resounds throughout you.”
This is a book that has you traveling to places and times in your mind as you read along with the words of the poet.
January 25, 2018
The author maintains the sense of conversational familiarity similar to his other volume, Places and Times. Some poems describe familiar situations we all can relate to. Others are more opaque, yet manage to remain universal. I envision his friends and family dissecting the lines, recognizing themselves and situations as they read, nodding, exclaiming Yes! I remember that! And those of us who know him less well may be thinking Yes! I know exactly what you mean!
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July 8, 2018I got a review copy of this book from the publisher. My review appears in the new issue of Stirring: A Literary Collection: https://www.stirringlit.com/summer-20... .
While you're browsing the issue, also check out Khaty Xiong's review of Sokunthary Svay's Apsara in New York!
While you're browsing the issue, also check out Khaty Xiong's review of Sokunthary Svay's Apsara in New York!
September 20, 2017
It was a fun and interesting book about a young mans life. Loved how the sections were broken up between music, places, and accents. I deeply enjoyed it.
October 14, 2020
Got so elevated!!! Thanks for sharing this gem, Arthur.
Each poem amazingly had its own crown & had a special way to the heart.
Highly recommend it 24/forever :)
Each poem amazingly had its own crown & had a special way to the heart.
Highly recommend it 24/forever :)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews