Lucy Sante (pronounced ''Sahnt''; formerly Luc Sante; born May 25, 1954) is a Belgian-born American writer, critic, and artist. She is a frequent contributor to ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

''. Her books include ''Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York'' (1991) and '' I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition'' (2024).

Early life and education

Born in

Verviers Verviers (; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also the cent ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, Sante migrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the early 1960s. She attended Regis High School in Manhattan, and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

from 1972 to 1976. Sante worked in the mailroom and then as assistant to editor Barbara Epstein at ''

''. She became a regular contributor there, writing about film, art, photography, and miscellaneous cultural phenomena, as well as book reviews.

Career

Sante has written and edited books and written lyrics and liner notes. Her books include ''Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York'' (1991), a non-fiction book documenting the life and politics of lower

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century; ''Evidence'' (1992), the autobiographical ''The Factory of Facts'' (1998), ''Walker Evans'' (1999), ''Kill All Your Darlings: Pieces 1990-2005'' (2007), ''Folk Photography'' (2009), ''The Other Paris'' (2015), ''Maybe the People Would Be the Times'' (2022), and ''Nineteen Reservoirs'' (2023). She co-edited ''O. K. You Mugs: Writers on Movie Actors'' with writer Melissa Holbrook Pierson, her former wife. Sante also translated and edited Félix Fénéon's ''Novels in Three Lines'' (2007) for '' New York Review Books''. In the early 1980s, Sante wrote lyrics for the New York City-based band The Del-Byzanteens. She served as historical consultant on Martin Scorsese's 2002 film ''

Gangs of New York ''Gangs of New York'' is a 2002 American-Italian epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1928 book '' The Gangs of New York''. The fil ...

'', and, with Jem Cohen, made the short film ''Le Bled (Buildings in a Field)'' (2009). Sante has exhibited her collages at Picture Theory in Manhattan and elsewhere. After teaching in the Columbia MFA writing program, Sante moved to

Ulster County, New York Ulster County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston, ...

, and taught writing and the history of photography at

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

for 24 years before she retired in 2023.

Personal life

Sante lived as a man until announcing that she was transitioning to being a woman in 2021. She wrote on her Instagram account: "Yes, this is me, and yes, I am transitioning–I have joined the other team. Yes, I've known since at least age 11 but probably earlier and yes, I suppressed and denied it for decades.... I started...

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. Effects of menopause can include symptoms such ...

in early May....You can call me Lucy (but I won't freak out if you misgender me) and my pronoun, thankyouverymuch, is she." In February 2022 she wrote an essay in the magazine ''Vanity Fair'' explaining her transition at almost 70 years old. Her 2024 memoir, '' I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition'', follows her process of coming out; it was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2024 by the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.and was a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Memoir/Autobiography. Sante has been married twice, and has a son.

Publications

Books

* * * Paperback edition: Vintage Books, 1999. ISBN 978-0679746508. * * * New edition: The Visible Spectrum, 2022. ISBN 9781953835185. * * * *

Chapbooks

* * * *

Editor/Translator

Co-editor

*(''with Melissa Holbrook Pierson''):

Exhibitions

* ''Some Recent Collages,'' James Fuentes Gallery, 2020

Awards and honors

*1989: Whiting Award *1992–1993:

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

*1997: Literature Award from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

*1998:

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

for best album notes (Sante was one of the album note writers for the 1997 re-issue of the ''

Anthology of American Folk Music ''Anthology of American Folk Music'' is a three-volume compilation album released in August 1952 by Folkways Records. The album was compiled by experimental filmmaker Harry Smith from his own personal collection of 78 rpm records. It consists ...

'') *2010: Infinity Award for writing, from the

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

, New York City *2012: Cullman Center Fellowship,

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

*2014: MacDowell Fellowship *2023: Order of the Crown, Kingdom of Belgium *2024: MacDowell Fellowship

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sante, Lucy 1954 births Living people 20th-century Belgian LGBTQ people 21st-century Belgian LGBTQ people 21st-century Belgian women writers Bard College faculty Belgian contemporary artists Belgian collage artists Belgian women collage artists Belgian curators Belgian women curators Belgian emigrants to the United States Belgian LGBTQ writers Belgian memoirists Belgian transgender women Columbia College (New York) alumni Grammy Award winners People from Verviers Regis High School (New York City) alumni Transgender academics Transgender women writers Walloon people American transgender women American women non-fiction writers American transgender writers 21st-century American memoirists Transgender memoirists