Introduction and Invitation

“The report of my death was an exaggeration . . .” —Mark Twain

Dear Readers and friends, 

Welcome to our latest catalog! Here in your hands is our New and Forthcoming Books Catalog for Autumn 2026. I hope it finds you well!

Speaking of books . . . this past July 8, the old New England magazine, The Atlantic, which is still read by a few, published an article called “The End of Reading is Here.” For a week or two, this article was the subject of a considerable amount of commentary in the twilight land of the internet, particularly among people who still like to read, as well as writers and publishers, who’ve been talking about this already for a decade at least. I, too, read it, and was glad it was written, and that people were talking about it. But where were they talking about it? On the internet, of course.

It was a decent article, certainly, but it was more the timing and the potency of what it pointed to that lead to surprisingly heartfelt reactions. All this seemed to indicate, to me, that a long-time more or less subterranean trend had reached a kind of measurable culmination, a place with an advantageous view backwards and forwards, and that the time for a long look around us, a deeper consideration of what has happened and where we are headed, is right now. 

It could be that only now is it possible for many people to finally see that “what has happened and where we are headed” is so intimately connected to the activity of “reading.” But it is, and to much else besides. This is because reading itself is connected with what is most human—The Word—and by this I mean our capacity to communicate and create through the word in speech, poetry, prose, drama, song. This, the word, is deeply related to what is most human about us and it really only resounds between us, that is, comes alive, “where two or more are gathered.” Not I or you alone in our rooms; even, I daresay, alone in our rooms on “zoom.”

There are changes happening in human consciousness that are becoming more apparent each year. These changes are partly explained by the rise of screen technology and, in some cases, dependence on it, as indicated in the aforementioned article—but it’s far from the whole story.

So much today separates us from each other. Often our “mediators,” technological middlemen who are not men and not even human, frustrate or entirely replace the possibility of real human encounters. Of course, these mediators—media—are not going away—and there are all kinds. Books, too, are media; so is writing a medium of expression, of communication—and I am far from wishing these away!

But what keeps arising for me, and seemingly for all who think about this, whether or not they accomplish it, is the recognition of the vital need to find the means to meet in person, not just from behind a screen, in order to truly discuss these and other serious spiritual matters, and to find the truth that lies between us.

All this is just to say something of what has led us to the decision to once again organize an in-person SteinerBooks Seminar (it’s been too long), which will take place beginning on William Shakespeare’s birth and death day, the weekend of April 23–25, 2027. It’s called: 

Life, Truth, and The Word (in an Age of Aⁱrtifice).

The details and location will be announced very soon, but even as I am writing this, something good and beautiful is beginning to take shape, because of the human beings who will make it real. (And if you wish to contribute in any way, please contact me.) I do hope that if you are called to come and be there with us, you’ll find a way. I will do what I can to help.

With warm greetings, from all of us at SteinerBooks, 

John-Scott Legg