MHC Center for Steinbeck Studies

08/20/2026

Go and watch Woody Guthrie and the Ghost of Tom Joad.
This documentary is both hopeful and reminiscent of the resilience of the people who created a moment for impassioned justice, creative voice, and momentum towards change.

Woody Guthrie and the Ghost of Tom Joad is airing on PBS, and will continue to be available to stream through the PBS app and online.

https://www.pbs.org/show/woody-guthrie-and-the-ghost-of-tom-joad-today/

Read more about the documentary on SteinbeckNow!

https://www.steinbecknow.com/2026/08/13/woody-guthrie-and-the-ghost-of-tom-joad/

Woody Guthrie and The Ghost of Tom Joad is a documentary worth watching. Not only because there’s a good amount of Steinbeck in it, but because it reminds us of the past while asking us to pay attention to the present.

07/23/2026

Make sure to take advantage of this great opportunity if you can!

07/23/2026

“We spend our lives pursuing distant horizons, convinced that fulfillment waits somewhere ahead. Yet when we finally arrive, we often discover that the horizon itself was the source of meaning. The journey gave purpose to our lives; the destination reveals their limits.”
-Rajat Kanti Satpati

Rajat Kanti Satpati’s article “At the End of the West: Emptiness, Conquest, and Memory in Steinbeck’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘰𝘯𝘺” is a poetic exploration into the psychological undertones of Jody Tiflin’s grandfather’s final speech.

Reflecting on the grandfather’s feelings of both conquest and emptiness, Satpati uncovers a thematic connection to the history of America’s western expansion. In the process, he also reveals Steinbeck’s ability to condense the human condition into a single monologue.

Full article available on Steinbeck Now:

Many readers approach John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony as a simple coming of age novella. Yet hidden within its quiet pages is one of the most profound reflections on the mythology of the American West in twentieth century literature. The final monologue of Jody Tiflin’s grandfather is not merely a...

07/17/2026

What is John Steinbeck’s connection to film director Fred Zinnemann, and who is the phantom “John L” that they both knew?

Intrigued by the mystery of a letter that Steinbeck wrote, and the even bigger mystery of its context, playwright Steve Hauk ponders these questions in his recently published article “Fred and John L”.

Hauk finds that truth is stranger than fiction, but fiction can be used to imagine the gaps in truth that have been lost to time.

The full article is currently available on Steinbeck Now: https://www.steinbecknow.com/2026/07/08/fred-and-john-l/.

06/22/2026

Peter Van Coutren, archivist at the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies gave a captivating presentation at the New Museum Los Gatos titled 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘯. His talk explored John and Carol Steinbeck’s time in Los Gatos, California from 1936 to 1942. It was during this period in which Steinbeck completed two of his most popular works, 𝘖𝘧 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘦𝘯 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩. As Van Coutren explained, these years marked the beginning of Steinbeck's “Dust Bowl trilogy” and his deep engagement with the lives of migrant workers.

The Steinbeck’s first Los Gatos residence was on Greenwood Lane, a property chosen by Carol Steinbeck. She designed the home and grounds with the goal of creating a space that complimented rather than disrupted the natural landscape. Their close friend Ed Ricketts, marine biologist, even provided advice on the property’s ecological-friendly design.

Surrounded by vineyards and orchards, the home offered beauty as well as frequent encounters with local wildlife. Carol appeared to be handling the work quite well judging by the photo. They had an impressive music system installed and both shared a love of jazz, classical music, and blues. Carol once remarked that jazz music “let her forget,” while John said that classical music helped him “slow down when he was writing.”

They had visitors such as actor Charlie Chaplin, who knew of John, but John didn’t recognize him right away. Their home turned out to be just fine, but John and Carol felt that it was a little too out in the open for their liking and wanted somewhere a little more private. The Steinbeck’s moved into the Brush Road home, which overlooked the Santa Cruz mountains. In this home, John finishes 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩 with support from Carol as typist and editor.

While living in Los Gatos, Steinbeck immersed himself in researching California’s migrant labor camps and agricultural communities. Troubled by the hardships he witnessed, he spent time speaking directly with workers and their families. This research became a series of seven pieces called 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘎𝘺𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘴, which then became the foundation for 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩. Through Steinbeck’s observations and storytelling, he wrote about people who were overlooked and ignored, in a way that portrayed them as individuals deserving of a voice, compassion, and understanding.

Peter Van Coutren said it best in his closing reflection:

“We need to do what Steinbeck did, treat people with human dignity. Apply all people with human rights. We’re all humans and equal here, if we take that away from someone else- we lose it for ourselves.”

Presentation is found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXU15Hr6d1o&authuser=0

For more information on NUMU, please visit the New Museum Los Gatos website: https://www.numulosgatos.org/

And follow The Steinbeck Center on SteinbeckNow: https://www.steinbecknow.com/

Learn about Los Gatos local John Steinbeck, author of Of Mice & Men...

06/19/2026

Straight from the Steinbeck archives! Take a look at John Steinbeck's High school yearbook!

06/03/2026

Kiyoshi Yamauchi is both a professor at Niimi University and the Editor in Chief of the John Steinbeck Society of Japan.

As an exchange student in San Jose, California, Kiyoshi was originally interested in Mark Twain and was going to write an undergraduate thesis on him. But on a trip to Monterey with his host family, Kiyoshi discovered a local author who had left a profound impact on the area–John Steinbeck. This experience sparked the inspiration for his graduate thesis and led him on a trajectory to become the 10th president of the John Steinbeck Society 30 years later.

As a member of the English Speaking Society at his university, Kiyoshi first read 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭. His favorite Steinbeck work now is 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘰𝘯𝘺 because of his memories of teaching it to students majoring in animal science. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘰𝘯𝘺 became a space for these students to reflect on their love for animals and their studies, and Kiyoshi was even invited to visit some of his students’ farms to meet their horses.

Kiyoshi is currently researching the parallels between Steinbeck’s 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘺 and Matsuo Basho’s travel log, 𝘖𝘬𝘶 𝘯𝘰 𝘏𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪. Matsuo Basho was a 17th century haiku poet who travelled across Japan and wrote about his journey. People today continue to recreate the path that Basho took in 𝘖𝘬𝘶 𝘯𝘰 𝘏𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪 and write about their own experiences, similar to the legacy of 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘺. Kiyoshi recently explored this comparison by presenting at the 2026 International Steinbeck Conference, and he will be expanding on the particular viewpoint of the "pilgrimage" at a study meeting of the Japan Association for Media English Studies in July.

Kiyoshi explains that he is “afraid that we are losing Steinbeck's relevance in Japan as the number of members of the John Steinbeck Society of Japan is decreasing.” It is for this reason that Kiyoshi remains a vital figure for the preservation of Steinbeck studies in Japan. These questions and more are explored further in the 2019 book 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥: 𝘐𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 50𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 which Kiyoshi co-edited.

Kiyoshi has recently obtained an elusive copy of the manuscript for “The Wizard of Maine” and is excited for the opportunity to work on it. He is also looking forward to building connections between the archives of the John Steinbeck Society of Japan and the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies.

06/02/2026

Happy June first! Make sure to stop by the National Steinbeck Center for some summer!

05/28/2026

Here at the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies, we are eagerly awaiting the release of 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴: 𝘏𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 (Duke UP, August 18, 2026).

Written by our former Director, Dr. Daniel Lanza Rivers (they/them), 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴: 𝘏𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 takes an in-depth look into the complex and interconnected history of environmental colonialism, decolonial land return movements, and the art and activism centered on environmental justice and climate adaptation in California. One particular chapter narrows in on Steinbeck’s 𝘛𝘰 𝘢 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘜𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 by situating it both within a historical context and in reference to contemporary challenges around water management, drought adaptation, and consolidated agriculture.

Interested readers are welcome to pre-order the book before release, and a 30% discount is available when using code “E26CAFTR” at checkout on the Duke UP website: https://dukeupress.edu/california-futures.

05/19/2026

Our next Steinbeck scholar, Yasuhiro Sakai, recently journeyed across the globe to attend our 2026 International Steinbeck Conference. Yasuhiro last attended the conference over 20 years ago, when it was hosted in New York in 2002 and Kyoto, Japan in 2005.

Yasuhiro says that his appreciation for Steinbeck began even 30 years before that with his introduction to 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯. The existence of the gnome in the chapter “Tularecito” and the story’s general Celtic atmosphere captured his attention the most, leading to a lifelong interest in Steinbeck’s literature.

When asked about the longevity of Steinbeck’s work, Yasuhiro noted that the “kindness and love” of his writing is sorely needed “under this convenient atmosphere of digital situations.” Yasuhiro urges contemporary audiences to revisit the humanity of Steinbeck in order to combat the isolation that is now embedded in our current world.

Yasuhiro’s research today continues to explore the connection between Steinbeck’s philosophy and the Celtic symbolism that first drew him in. Tracing back to Steinbeck’s mother and her Irish heritage, Yasuhiro takes a fascinating deep-dive into the overlapping ideologies of “is” thinking, Phalanx theory, Group-Man theory, and holism with Celtic tradition in his recently released book 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘬: 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 “𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵”: https://www.osaka-kyoiku-tosho.net/books/1254/.