Look and Listen

Biography

Ruth Steinberg is the author of A Certain Frame of Reference, a collection of poems that deal with her experiences as a child refugee from Hitler's Vienna, her development as an American teen, and the implications and consequences of her history. She is a co-author of Counting the Stones; and a co-author of The Poets' Roundtable. Recently she published Word Play, a chapbook of her humorous verse. Her Intimations of Mortality was a semifinalist in the chapbook contest of The Center for Book Arts. Her poems have appeared in the Fauquier Poetry Journal, Conscious Living, Jewish Women's Literary Annual, Paterson Literary Review, and Medicinal Purposes. A Step in Time continues her exploration of her past, and broadens her outlook to include considerations of aging, politics, travel, and observations of New Yorkers from her vantage point in a Manhattan delicatessen. She is a former editor of two semi-technical monthly magazines, and before her retirement was the Director of Technical Publications at a large telecommunications R&D company. She is an active member of the International Women's Writing Guild. As a single mom she raised a son and a daughter, who are now well established in their lives. Ruth writes and lives in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.

Inspiration

Even as a child I always knew I was a writer. But with bringing up a family and a demanding job involving writing, it wasn't until I retired that I became a poet. Writing the poems that became A Certain Frame of Reference was an act of catharsis that enabled me to understand the events of a painful childhood. The inspiration and motivation to polish my craft and broaden my focus comes from the International Women's Writing Guild, and in particular from the classes and workshops of June Gould, an extraordinary writing teacher.