Community Initiatives
Our annual Susquehanna Valley Voices reading presents two writers based in (or otherwise connected to) the greater Susquehanna Valley, highlighting the rich literary culture of our local area. To underscore the community nature of this series, the SVV reading may take place at the Stadler Center or in an off-campus venue, depending on the year. This year's SVV reading will feature poets Marjorie Maddox of Williamsport and Tom Patten of Watsontown. The SVV reading will take place on Dec. 2 at the Stadler Center.
Now entering its fourth year, the Center's National Poetry Month Project brings Bucknell students to Lewisburg Area School District classrooms to teach lessons in writing poetry during the month of April. With the help of our LASD partners, the program reaches virtually every district classroom in which English is taught. The National Poetry Month Project culminates in a Community Poetry Reading in Bucknell Hall, for which one student from each grade is selected to read a poem aloud.
Other recent community-centered activities include new updates of the Bucknell Poetry Path the Linntown Intermediate School Poetry Path this fall; partnership with the Lewisburg Arts Council to bring poetry to Lewisburg’s annual Celebration of the Arts; ongoing collaboration with the Joseph Priestley Memorial Chapel in Northumberland, where Bucknell students share their poetry in the First Sunday reading series; co-sponsorship of the Lewisburg Poet Laureate Program, an initiative of local nonprofit Lewisburg Neighborhoods, among others.
The Center regularly contributes staff time and resources to campus organizations seeking to stage poetry-related activities, including collaborations in 2025–26 with Bertrand Library, Samek Art Museum, the Office of Interpersonal Violence Prevention, and the Music Department.