What Readings and Writings Are Featured on Ellen Steinbaum's Site?
Updated
Ellen Steinbaum's site gathers her public readings, an email interview, and a sample poem on one page, with most items offered as links to external recordings or pages. If you want to hear her read, see who she has read with, or get a sense of her work before buying a book, the "Readings and Writings" section is the place to start. The page does not describe the length or format of each linked item, so expect to leave the site to view them.
What the "Readings and Writings" Section Contains
The section lists several events and one interview, each tied to a named series, venue, or host:
- First and Last Word Poetry Series — a reading with Mary Bonina and Mark Pawlak. Steinbaum notes she particularly treasures this one now that her friend Charles Coe is gone.
- Grolier Poetry Bookshop — a reading at what the site calls the historic Grolier Poetry Bookshop, with Charles Coe, Mary Bonina, and Helena Minton.
- Email interview with Doug Holder — presented with thanks to Holder.
- Another First and Last Word reading — with Neil Silberblatt and Elizabeth S. Wolf, given as a link.
- Stockbridge (Massachusetts) Public Library — a reading done during the period when, as the site puts it, "we weren't going anywhere," also given as a link.
The page does not date these events or say whether the links point to audio, video, or written recaps.
The Poem Sample: "The Intervening Day"
The "Poem of the moment" feature presents a full short poem, "The Intervening Day." It describes the single unmarked day between a partner's birthday and the couple's anniversary — a day with "no ritual, just an everyday day," noticed mainly because it sits between two occasions for "cards and cakes, good wishes, celebrations." The poem closes on simple gratitude for "one more ordinary day." Reading it takes under a minute and is the quickest way to sample her style without leaving the site.
How This Connects to Her Books
The site frames these materials around her most recent book, Leavings, which she describes as being about how we live "not only in this moment, but also in the context of public and private moments of our past and of the future." The readings and the poem sample function as entry points to that theme; the Books section then lists Leavings, This Next Tenderness, Brightness Falls, Container Gardening, and Afterwords, each with a price and a "Read more" link.
Practical Notes for Visitors
- Expect to click through. Most readings are external links rather than embedded players, so availability depends on the linked pages still being live.
- Check the Books section for purchases. Prices are listed there; the site shows a PayPal signal, but the page evidence does not spell out checkout steps or shipping terms.
- Use the poem as a preview. If you are deciding whether to buy, "The Intervening Day" is the only complete work shown on the page.
For a reader researching Steinbaum's public appearances, the section works as a compact index of where she has read and with whom; for one deciding what to buy, the poem and the book descriptions carry more weight than the event links.