Keystone Poetry

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.

The volume brings together such poets as Ross Gay, Sonia Sanchez, Ed Ochester, Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Todd Davis, Toi Derricotte, and Jay Parini.

The first edition, Common Wealth (PSUP, 2005), has lifetime sales of 2,100 copies. This volume includes 76 additional poems.

This trade title has regional appeal, will live in bookstore poetry sections.

The book includes resources for teachers: “Let’s Talk About It”, for group discussion and “Let’s Write About It,” with writing prompts for individual reflection

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.Wemple Jerry :

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.

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.