Steve Luttrell, former Portland poet laureate, photographed for the 30th year as editor of the Cafe Review in 2019. Staff photo by Derek Davis
Writer and musician Steve Luttrell started Café Review 35 years ago by collecting the poems left behind from open readings at Portland’s Woodfords Café and stapling them together in a booklet. The project has grown into a quarterly journal of art, poetry and reviews with subscribers around the world. Out this week, the latest issue is titled “Lyric Resistance, Ukrainian Poetry of War and Hope” and features the work of eight translators, 17 Ukrainian poets and 19 Ukrainian artists.
This year, the review officially became a nonprofit, which Luttrell hopes will bring in more donations and grants. He also recently started hosting open readings at Henry’s in the Old Port on Monday evenings starting at 7 p.m.
Luttrell is a South Portland native. He has left for stints in San Francisco and New York City, but he always came back to Maine. “There was so much talent, and people didn’t know,” he said. “To a certain extent, people still don’t.” Luttrell served as the Portland’s poet laureate from 2009 to 2011 and has a collection of poetry coming out later this year. Here are some of the stops he would make in a perfect Portland day.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
It would start with a perfect breakfast. I’m Irish, so I’m a porridge fan. So I’d make myself porridge and a cup of coffee and a piece of burnt white toast. It has to be burnt.
A heart in the window at Yes Books on Congress Street. Staff Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette
Usually, my first stop is a bookstore – Yes Books. I love stopping in bookstores. I’m a bibliophile. I mean, I used to be in the rare book business. I didn’t make a lot of money, but I amassed a great library.
Luttrell is a fan of the grilled cheese at Miss Portland Diner. Staff photo by John Ewing
I love Miss Portland Diner. (My lunch order would be) a grilled cheese sandwich and soup.
Sometimes I go to the Western Prom or the Eastern Prom and just walk. It’s nice. I do some of my best thinking when I’m walking. I stand there watching planes come in. I stand there watching boats come in.
A couple watches the sunset on the Western Prom in 2020. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer
Wordsworth said poetry is a spontaneous overflow of strong feeling recollected in tranquility, I think that’s the full quote. I carry a notebook. If I’m doing one of my walks, I usually find the poem, or the poem finds me. By the time I write that line or two or three lines down, it either has the potential to be a poem later, or it doesn’t.
A perfect day is just enjoying Portland. It offers so much that you can plug into, whether you’re talking a restaurant or a museum or a new bookshop.
Zhong dumplings at Sichuan Kitchen in Portland. Staff photo by Derek Davis
Sichuan Kitchen is excellent. Their dumplings are pretty sweet. Two times out of five, I have fried rice. They have wonderful food.
My home base is LFK. The owners of that place are friends. My friend said to me, “You’re kind of becoming a stirrer.” I said, “What’s that?” “The guy that’s always at the end of the bar who stimulates conversation.”
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