Lewis Turco
Encyclopedia
Lewis P. Turco is an American
poet
, teacher, and writer of fiction and non-fiction. Turco is an advocate for Formalist
poetry (or New Formalism
) in the United States
.
, he had work published in various little magazines and quarterlies. He graduated from the University of Connecticut
in 1959, published his First Poems in 1960, and completed an MA at the University of Iowa
in 1962 (at the Iowa Writers' Workshop
). It was there that he cultivated an interest in formal verse and began, to use his words, "collecting forms." Turco collected these forms in the Book of Forms, published in the 1960s, a time when it would seem odd to do so since most poets were writing free verse
.
Turco taught at Fenn College in Cleveland (now Cleveland State University) where he founded the Cleveland Poetry Center and at the State University of New York at Oswego
where he was founding Director of the Program in Writing Arts.
In 1986 Lewis Turco won the Melville Cane Award of the Poetry Society of America for his book of criticism "Visions and Revisions of American Poetry" and in 1992 he received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Alumni Association of the University of Connecticut. He was inducted into the Meriden, Connecticut, Hall of Fame in 1993, and in 1999 he received the John Ciardi Award for lifetime achievement in poetry sponsored by the National Italian American Foundation. In May 2000 he received an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Ashland University
in Ohio and a second from the University of Maine at Fort Kent
in 2009. His book Satan's Scourge: A Narrative of the Age of Witchcraft in England and New England 1580-1697 won the Wild Card category of the New England Book Festival in the same year.
Turco also published work under the pseudonym Wesli Court, which is an anagram of his name.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, teacher, and writer of fiction and non-fiction. Turco is an advocate for Formalist
Formalism (literature)
Formalism is a school of literary criticism and literary theory having mainly to do with structural purposes of a particular text.In literary theory, formalism refers to critical approaches that analyze, interpret, or evaluate the inherent features of a text. These features include not only grammar...
poetry (or New Formalism
New Formalism
New Formalism is a late-20th and early 21st century movement in American poetry that has promoted a return to metrical and rhymed verse.-Origins and intentions:...
) in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Life and work
Turco took a keen interest in poetry as a teenager and after high school, while serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS HornetUSS Hornet
Eight ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Hornet, after the stinging insect., was a ten-gun sloop commissioned in 1775, and served in the American Revolutionary War, was also a ten-gun sloop and took part in the First Barbary War, was a brig-rigged sloop of war launched on 28 July...
, he had work published in various little magazines and quarterlies. He graduated from the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
in 1959, published his First Poems in 1960, and completed an MA at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
in 1962 (at the Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...
). It was there that he cultivated an interest in formal verse and began, to use his words, "collecting forms." Turco collected these forms in the Book of Forms, published in the 1960s, a time when it would seem odd to do so since most poets were writing free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
.
Turco taught at Fenn College in Cleveland (now Cleveland State University) where he founded the Cleveland Poetry Center and at the State University of New York at Oswego
State University of New York at Oswego
State University of New York at Oswego, also known as SUNY Oswego and Oswego State, is a public university in the City of Oswego and Town of Oswego, New York, on the shore of Lake Ontario...
where he was founding Director of the Program in Writing Arts.
In 1986 Lewis Turco won the Melville Cane Award of the Poetry Society of America for his book of criticism "Visions and Revisions of American Poetry" and in 1992 he received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Alumni Association of the University of Connecticut. He was inducted into the Meriden, Connecticut, Hall of Fame in 1993, and in 1999 he received the John Ciardi Award for lifetime achievement in poetry sponsored by the National Italian American Foundation. In May 2000 he received an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Ashland University
Ashland University
Ashland University is a mid-sized, private, non-profit university that is located in Ashland, Ohio.The University offers 73 undergraduate majors and nine pre-professional programs. The majors include toxicology/environmental science and entrepreneurship, which are unusual for an institution of its...
in Ohio and a second from the University of Maine at Fort Kent
University of Maine at Fort Kent
The University of Maine at Fort Kent is a public liberal arts university in the U.S. state of Maine.Located in Fort Kent in the St. John Valley region of northern Maine, the university is part of the seven-member University of Maine System. It currently has an enrollment of 1,072 students. The...
in 2009. His book Satan's Scourge: A Narrative of the Age of Witchcraft in England and New England 1580-1697 won the Wild Card category of the New England Book Festival in the same year.
Turco also published work under the pseudonym Wesli Court, which is an anagram of his name.
Recent work
Recent books are Satan's Scourge, a Narrative of the Age of Witchcraft in England and New England 1580-1697; La Famiglia / the Family, Memoirs, and a free on-line e-chapbook of poems titled Attic, Shed, and Barn, all published in 2009. In the same year he started a new venture to collect more forms at a blog called The Book of Odd and Invented Forms.Awards and honors
- First Poems was a selection of The Book Club for Poetry In 1960.
- The Compleat Melancholick, supported by a National Endowment for the Arts grant, was published in 1985, received a Chicago Book Clinic Exhibit Certificate of Award in 1986, and was selected for inclusion in the National Endowment for the Arts' New American Writing Exhibits at the International Book Fairs of Frankfurt and Liber.
- Chapbook prizes include The Sketches, a 1962 American Weave Award volume; A Family Album, the Silverfish Review Chapbook Award for 1990, and Murmurs in the Walls, winner of the Cooper House Chapbook Competition in 1992.
- In 1998 A Book of Fears: Poems won the first Bordighera Bi-Lingual Poetry Prize.
- A second edition of The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics, originally published in 1968 and known to The New Formalists as “The poet’s Bible,” was published as The New Book of Forms in 1986, and a Third Edition appeared in 2000.
- A companion to The Book of Forms, The Book of Literary Terms, was a 1999 Choice “Outstanding Academic Book” in 2000; and a third, the 2004 The Book of Dialogue, was chosen in 2005 as a “University Press Book Selected for Public and Secondary School Libraries.”
- In 1986 Turco’s book of criticism, Visions and Revisions of American Poetry, won the Poetry Society of America’s Melville Cane Award.
External links
- Poetics and Ruminations Lewis Turco's Blog
- The Book of Odd and Invented Forms A new venture to collect more forms of poetry.