Seeing Things

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.

More Adult Books

  • Winner of the 1987 American Book Award The Essential Etheridge Knight is a selection of the best work by one of the country’s most prominent and liveliest poets. It brings together poems from Knight’s previously published books and a section of new poems.

  • In The Golem of Brooklyn, Len Bronstein, an art teacher with little knowledge of Judaism, accidentally brings a golem to life after stealing clay and getting high. As this nine-foot-six, Yiddish-speaking creature learns about contemporary crises, including the rise of white nationalism, it embodies the weight of Jewish history and trauma, prompting profound questions about humanity and identity.

    Read More about "The Golem of Brooklyn: A Novel"...

  • The Hunter unfolds in a small Irish village where former Chicago PD officer Cal Hooper seeks peace but finds himself entangled in a conflict involving a reappearing father and a gold-seeking scheme. As Cal and his partner Lena strive to protect a troubled teenager from the looming threat, the lines between safeguarding and revenge blur, challenging their relationships and their morals.

    Read More about "The Hunter"...

  • Matt Daly’s lineage links back to Puritans from the early colonial period who helped set the course toward many of the destructive and shameful practices that Anglo-American culture has enacted on people and ecosystems around the world.