Keystone Poetry

Keystone Poetry Events & Readings Calendar:

5/23/25 Bellefonte PA: The Print Factory @ 6pm

6/1/25 Williamsport PA: Otto Bookstore @ 1pm

6/7/25 Langhorne PA: Langhorne Peace Center @ 2pm

6/11/25 Lititz PA: Aaron’s Books/Lititz Shirt Factory @ 7pm

6/17/25 Philadelphia PA: The Free Library of Philadelphia @ 5:30pm

7/20/25 Pittsburgh PA: City of Asylum Bookstore @ 3pm

9/12/25 University Park PA: Paterno Library @ 4pm

10/4/25 Telford PA: Indian Valley Public Library @ 1pm

From Philadelphia to Erie, and from the shale fields to the coal mines, Keystone Poetry celebrates the varied landscapes and voices of Pennsylvania. This collection brings together the work of 182 poets who, with keen eyes and powerful language, commemorate the hometowns, history, traditions, and culture of the Commonwealth.

Organized geographically, the poems traverse county lines, ancestral lineages, and thematic concerns—as well as gender, racial, and socioeconomic barriers. The poems in this collection seek to bring the reader close to home while fostering the discovery of new places and a deeper understanding of all those who live in the Keystone State.

Keystone Poetry also includes resources for teachers. Drawing from this collection of place-based literature, high school and college educators can use students’ hometown experiences to make disciplines such as literature, composition, creative writing, history, geography, sociology, political science, and psychology more engaging and accessible.

• To delve more deeply into class discussion, see “Let’s Talk About It,” a helpful aid for individual or group reflection.

• To fuel creativity, access “Let’s Write About It,” a practical guide to inspire writers of all levels.

“My favorite poets are included in this wonderful anthology, including Hayden Saunier, who invites us to the feast: ‘Our table's/ made of everything, and us, and ours. Sit down and eat.’”—Michael Simms, author of Nightjar and founder of Autumn House Press

Marjorie Maddox is Professor Emerita of English and Creative Writing at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, Lock Haven. Maddox has published seventeen collections of poetry, including Seeing Things and Begin with a Question, and the ekphrastic books Heart Speaks, Is Spoken For; In the Museum of My Daughter’s Mind; and Small Earthly Space.

Jerry Wemple is Professor of English at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg. Wemple is the award-winning author of four poetry collections, including We Always Wondered What Became of You and Artemas and Ark: The Ridge and Valley Poems.

Together, Maddox and Wemple are the coeditors of Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania, also published by Penn State University Press.

Download the table of contents here: Keystone Poetry TOC

History

           Pennsylvania & Mid-Atlantic

Literary Studies

Pennsylvania & the Mid-Atlantic

           History

General Interest

Poetry