Join Leigh Stein for a discussion of her new book, What to Miss When, a poetry collection modeled after The Decameron. Leigh will talk about some of the literary texts that influenced her as she wrote the entire poetry collection during the first six months of the pandemic. 

She will also lead the audience through a writing exercise (no previous experience required!) Whether you love poetry or love to hate it, this event will tap into the universal instinct to document hard times.

Stein is a writer, millennial poet, novelist, memoirist, and cultural critic interested in the internet’s effects on our identities, relationships, and politics.  She is the author of five books, including the critically acclaimed satirical novel Self Care (Penguin, 2020) and the poetry collection What to Miss When (Soft Skull Press, 2021). Her non-fiction writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The New Yorker online, Allure, ELLE, Poets & Writers, BuzzFeed, The Cut, Salon, and Slate. 

She has taught writing to students in the New York City public schools through Community Word-Project and to adults through Catapult, The 92nd Street Y, and Brooklyn Poets. Originally from Chicago, she now lives in Connecticut.

This program is funded in part by Humanities North Dakota, a nonprofit, independent state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities North Dakota or the National Endowment for the Humanities.