Oral history interview with Morty Sklar, 2014

Biographical Note

Morty Sklar is a poet, Queens native, and former Phoenix House resident. He was inspired by the natural-voice aesthetics of the Iowa City Actualists (of which he was a seminal writer and editor)

Scope and Contents

Morty Sklar describes formative years serving in the US Army during the Korean War and, subsequently, on the poetry scene in New York City. He describes various stages of drug use and bouts of shock therapy. He narrates the creation of Phoenix House at Morris Bernstein Institute, the move to 85th Street, and eventually his own to Hart Island. He details some of the methods involved in therapeutic communities. Finally, Sklar discusses his writing career in Iowa City and beyond after "graduating" from Phoenix House

Subjects

• Addicts--Rehabilitation.
• American poetry--Iowa.
• American poetry--New York (State)--New York.
• Bertin-Mahieux, Caitlin, interviewer.
• Interviews.
• Korean War, 1950-1953.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Phoenix House (Organization)
• Poets--Interviews.
• Shock therapy.
• Sklar, Morty, 1935---Interviews.
• Substance abuse--Treatment.
• Therapeutic communities.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2014