Author Event: UnRavel by Marjorie Stein

Join us for a special event with Marjorie Stein, author of UnRavel, in conversation with Jessica Guerrieri. This event is free, but we appreciate your RSVP below so we can plan for your attendance.

In an age when we get lost in the particulars, UnRavel boldly embraces a cosmic perspective. It spans vast stretches of time and space with precise, elegant language and quick, playful intelligence, reveling in the uncertainty of knowing where we are and where we’re headed. Finally, it conjures in us a sense of adventure and awe in our lostness.

A mind-expanding poetry collection for readers who crave big ideas and bold imagination. UnRavel zooms out to the cosmic scale—time, space, uncertainty—while staying razor sharp in language and wit. It’s the book writers reach for when they want to think differently, dream bigger, and rediscover awe.

“In an age when we get lost in the particulars, unRavel boldly embraces a cosmic perspective. I marvel at the ability of this work to span vast stretches of time and space with precise, elegant language and a quick, playful intelligence. UnRavel is a book that revels in the uncertainty of knowing where we are and where we’re headed collectively and, closer to home, personally. One poem describes “cartographic failures,” while another cooly states “The mirage arrives/twice daily/telling us we’re/using the wrong maps.” Trusting the tools of sound and intuition, these poems take a human measure of the universe. This writing is filled with somber misgivings and stunning beauty. Even when we are lost, there is a sense of adventure and awe in our lostness.” — Elaine Equi

“Marjorie Stein gives us the world simultaneously unraveling and raveling, its components swirling in a way that has them both glittering and questioning. Her love of all the detail that surrounds us is evident through an acute attention that creates surprising connections—birds appear where we don’t expect them; language arrives “haiku-cloaked”—and all is delivered in a gorgeous wash of sound. Every page brings a surprise that is both frank and reaffirming.” — Cole Swensen

“In these dark will-they-ever-pass days when one wants to savor the sky, the sun, and the plants that keep delivering oxygen against all odds, there’s no place I’d rather be than with Marjorie Stein’s unRavel. These lyrics are unparalleled in their sonorous yet deftly plain-spoken commitment to cosmic wonder. Stein is a steady journeyer whose exquisite, multifaceted maps are as inventive as they are impossible to not follow. Plus, Stein is egoless! “[Her Name erased from the Poem].” Stein knows “the cold metal of being the last one,” but nevertheless “begins the hero’s journey/wearing one shoe, dragging/along her opinions in a cart.” A gem, companionable, essential reading for our times. Carry unRavel with whatever you have left to carry.” — Gillian Conoley

“Marjorie Stein’s excellent book, unRavel, tells no stories but rather revels in the language itself, a dramatic storm of words. In “Blooming in Thermal Drafts,” for instance: “blister-hinged witherings / scar the seam between / erased mothers, children, / stuffed animal, mitten, tuneless hum / shivering in the naught.” The excitement is in the naming and surprising turns of phrase. It reminds me of Penelope’s own odyssey of weaving by day and unweaving by night. But the same poem also contains a cradlesong, the calm after the storm.” — Paul Hoover

Marjorie Stein is the author of unRavel, which was selected by Elaine Equi for the 2025 Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize.

An Atlas of Lost Causes, Marjorie’s first book, was published by Kelsey Street Press in 2011. Another poetry project, In the Hinges of the World, was shortlisted for the Lost Horse Press 2020 Idaho Prize for Poetry. Her work has also appeared, or is forthcoming, in American Poetry Journal, Blood Orange Review, The Denver Quarterly, Interim, Marsh Hawk Press Chapter One Series, Mary, New American Writing, VOLT, and other publications.

Marjorie lives in Northern California with her wife, where she is privileged to spend time playing with words.