Eleanor Lerman

Thanks for your interest in my work. At this site, you'll find some information about me, a list of my publications, and an e-mail address to get in touch with me: elerman1@​optonline.net

I'm a lifelong New Yorker, born in the Bronx. I grew up in both the Bronx and Rockaway Beach. I lived in Greenwich Village for eighteen years; now I live in Long Beach, in Nassau County. The beach and the Atlantic Ocean are right across the street from where I live. In the winter, the beach is a wonderful place to take my dog for a walk.

Some info: My first book of poetry, "Armed Love," was published when I was 21. It was nominated for a National Book Award, but when it was reviewed in The New York Times, it was called X-Rated. You have to remember that was 30 years ago, and young women weren't supposed to write books about sex, drugs and rock and roll, which was the subject of the poems in that volume. I spent a brief time as a minor cultural icon that year, which I was not prepared for.

Two years later I published a slightly more muted and melancholy book, "Come the Sweet By and By." It would be twenty-five years until I wrote another book of poetry, "The Mystery of Meteors," which was published by Sarabande Books in 2001; in 2005, Sarabande published my fourth book "Our Post-Soviet History Unfolds." In April 2010, Sarabande published my most recent collection of poetry, "The Sensual World Re-Emerges."

My most recent book of short stories, "The Blonde on the Train and Other Stories," was published by Mayapple Press in 2009. You can find it on their web site, www.mayapplepress.com, or order it from Amazon.com.Links to the publishers of both my poetry and short story collections (including an earlier book, "Observers and Other Stories") are on the right and left of this web site.

Hope you enjoy my work. Here's my e-mail address, so if you want to comment on anything I've written or ask a question, feel free to get in touch: elerman1@​optonline.net.

Thanks for stopping by.

Oh--and p.s. Do you know who the Blonde on the Train is? You may know her as Layla. And I've built "The Blonde" her own web site, so please visit it here:

Want to hear Garrison Keillor read my work? The Writer's Almanac has featured my poems several times. Click the link below and search for my name. (You'll hear "Starfish," among other poems.)