Paterson Poetry Prize Finalist, 2015

Paterson Poetry Prize Finalist, 2015

Featured on NPR's The Writer's Almanac

Ellen Bass's new poetry collection, Like a Beggar, pulses with sex, humor and compassion."The New York Times

Bass tries to convey everyday wonder on contemporary experiences of sex, work, aging, and war. Those who turn to poetry to become confidants for another's stories and secrets will not be disappointed."Publishers Weekly

In her fifth book of poetry, Bass addresses everything from Saturn's rings and Newton's law of gravitation to wasps and Pablo Neruda. Her words are nostalgic, vivid, and visceral. Bass arrives at the truth of human carnality rooted in the extraordinary need and promise of the individual. Bass shows us that we are as radiant as we are ephemeral, that in transience glistens resilient history and the remarkable fluidity of connection. By the collection's endfollowing her musings on suicide and generosity, desire and repetitionit becomes lucidly clear that Bass is not only a poet but also a philosopher and a storyteller.