The Post Office - by Elaine Sexton (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Elaine Sexton invokes the ghost of Benjamin Franklin, the first postmaster general, to witness an America unravelling. In a contemporary one-room U.S. post office, a blistering conflict erupts between co-workers about gay marriage, free speech, the country's racial and class divide, and democracy itself. Here readers will find an America, in its gorgeous and messy diversity, that is looking for reason where there seems to be none. This collection of poems that constitute the libretto for a timely chamber opera features photographs and other representations of the United States Post Office, in its many forms, and excerpts from the original score. Written in collaboration with composer Laura Kaminsky, The Post Office will premiere at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) in May 2026, marking the debut for a bold, new creative team of Kaminsky, joined by Sexton and architect Charles Renfro, of Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

About the Author

The text of this opera in poems was developed in collaboration with composer Laura Kaminsky, whose first opera at Brooklyn Academy of Music, As One, is one of the most produced contemporary operas worldwide with over 60 productions to date. Elaine Sexton is a maker, critic, teacher, and librettist. The Post Office: An Opera in Poems is her six collection of poetry, and first libretto, written in collaboration with composer Laura Kaminsky. She is 2026 NY State Council for the Arts Grantee for this work. Her poems are widely anthologized and published in journals including Poetry, O! the Oprah Magazine, with recent work in American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, and Poetry International.