Rick Black- Artistic Director & Founder
A book artist, poet and photographer, Rick has a hand in every aspect of Turtle Light Press.
Born and brought up in Bergenfield, New Jersey, Rick equally loves the book arts, poetry and photography. He has studied various facets of bookbinding with Maria Pisano, Susan Mills, Carolyn Chadwick, Yukari Hayashida, and Carol Barton, among others.
In 2019, he was named the Isaac Anolic Jewish Book Arts winner. His poetry collection, Star of David, won Poetica Magazine‘s contest for contemporary Jewish writing and was named one of the best poetry books in 2013 by Split This Rock. You can listen to a recording of Rick’s reading of Star of David in the Hebraic section of the Library of Congress.
Rick has garnered several other awards for his poetry, including first prize in the James W. Hackett Award and third prize in the Betty Drevniok Competition. His haiku have appeared in The Heron’s Nest, Frogpond, Cricket, RawNervz, Blithe Spirit, Still, and other journals. Longer works and Hebrew translations have appeared Atlanta Review, US 1 Worksheets, Midstream and other publications.
For more than twenty years, he was a professional journalist, including a three-year stint in the Jerusalem bureau of The New York Times. He also freelanced for numerous national newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune and many others.
He offers virtual talks and workshops for university libraries and classes, synagogues and JCCs. He has participated in national book arts and fine art exhibitions.
When he’s not working at TLP, he spends time with his wife, Laura, and their daughter, gardening and reading in their home in Arlington, Virginia. He is a member of the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Hyattsville, MD, the College Book Arts Association and the Washington Rare Books Group.
Interview with Rick Black, turtle light press publisher
TLP founder Rick Black discusses the connection between poetry and art, beauty and solace in an interview on Charlotte DiGregorio’s Writer’s Blog.
