Crystal Flowers: Poems and a Libretto - Paperback

by Florine Stettheimer (Author), Irene Gammel (Editor), Suzanne Zelazo (Editor)

Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944) was an American modernist of German-Jewish heritage living in New York. She was a painter, designer, and poet. Together with her sisters Ettie and Carrie, Stettheimer hosted a legendary salon on the Upper West Side, where they entertained the likes of Marcel Duchamp, Carl Van Vechten, Henri McBride, and Georgia O'Keeffe. In 1934 Stettheimer designed the set and costumes for Gertrude Stein's opera Four Saints in Three Acts to much acclaim. In 1949, Ettie collected Florine's poems in Crystal Flowers, a privately printed, elegant edition of 250. In addition to these rare poems, this new volume offers formerly unpublished material culled from archives, including three new poems and Stettheimer's libretto for her ballet "Orphée of the Quat-z-arts." Gammel and Zelazo have re-situated this overlooked poet among her modernist sisters, presenting her as an important practitioner of a modernism that integrates multiple art forms. Sixty years after it first appeared for a select few, her poetry shines for a new generation of readers ready to appreciate her irreverent camp aesthetic and her exuberant painterly style.

Author Biography

FLORINE STETTHEIMER (1871-1944) was an American modernist of German-Jewish heritage living in New York. She was a painter, designer, and poet. Together with her sisters Ettie and Carrie, Stettheimer hosted a legendary salon on the Upper West Side, where they entertained the likes of Marcel Duchamp, Carl Van Vechten, Henri McBride, and Georgia O'Keeffe. In 1934 Stettheimer designed the set and costumes for Gertrude Stein's opera Four Saints in Three Acts to much acclaim.

IRENE GAMMEL holds a Canada Research Chair in Modern Literature and Culture at Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, where she is also the Director of the Modern Literature and Culture Research Center dedicated to the study of modern women writers. The author and editor of 13 books, Gammel is the curator of the exhibit Anne of Green Gables: A Literary Icon at 100. Together with Suzanne Zelazo she has co-edited Body Sweats: The Uncensored Writings of Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven and Crystal Flowers: Poems and a Libretto by Florine Stettheimer. Gammel divides her time between Toronto and Sackville, New Brunswick.

SUZANNE ZELAZO is a writer, editor, educator, and former professional triathlete who continues to coach cycling, running and triathlon. She holds a PhD in English with a specialty in female modernism and avant-garde poetry and performance. She has worked in commercial sport publishing, founded and ran the literary magazine Queen Street Quarterly, and has taught literature and writing courses at York University and Ontario College of Art and Design University. The author of two books of poetry, her projects seek to integrate creative expression and the body. Zelazo lives in Toronto.