National Poetry Month event celebrated on Main Street
By Katelynn Humbles
Firefly Bookstore hosted an evening of poetry on Monday, April 14 in celebration of National Poetry Month, drawing a crowd of KU students, faculty and community members for a reading by three nationally recognized women poets.
Photography by Katelynn Humbles
The free event featured Marjorie Maddox, Sandra Fees and Tabassam Shah, whose work explores themes such as memory, cultural identity, grief and resilience. Light refreshments were served as attendees gathered in the independent bookstore’s cozy Main Street space.
Maddox, professor emerita at Commonwealth University–Lock Haven, read from “Seeing Things” and her forthcoming “Hover Here,” offering reflections on trauma, caregiving and perception. She is the author of 17 poetry collections and co-editor of “Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania.”
Fees, a former Berks County poet laureate and ordained minister, shared selections from her 2024 book “Wonderwork,” which weaves spirituality and healing through lyrical verse. She also runs the Poet in Spirit newsletter.
Shah, winner of the 2022 Watershed Journal Publishing Prize, read from “Red & Crescent Moons,” addressing Pakistani American girlhood and Appalachian identity. Her work appears in “The Watershed Journal,” “Tidewise” and the forthcoming “Cutthroat.”
The event highlighted the ongoing role of Firefly as a literary hub in Kutztown, offering space for dialogue and connection beyond the campus.