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Home > Jerry Wemple

Jerry Wemple [1]

Listed as: 
Poet
Public address: 
Bloomsburg, PA
Pennsylvania US
Email: 
jwemple@commonwealthu.edu
Bio: 

Jerry Wemple published four poetry collections.  His most recent is We Always Wondered What Became of You from Broadstone Books. The collection of mostly prose poems centers on his secret transracial adoption within his biological family, growing up as a biracial child in rural Pennsylvania during an era when people of color were almost nonexistent there, and discovering the identity of his birth father as an adult. He is co-editor of the anthology Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania, and the follow-up Keystone Poetry. He also co-edited the anthology Rivers, Ridges, and Valleys: Essays on Rural Pennsylvania. His poetry and creative nonfiction work appear in numerous journals and anthologies, and have been published internationally in Ireland, Chile, and Sweden. He teaches in the Creative Writing program at Commonwealth University in Pennsylvania. 

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Born in: 
Dunmore, PA
Pennsylvania
Raised in: 
Sunbury, PA
Pennsylvania
Website: 
http://www.jwemple.com [2]
Prizes won: 

The Noami Long Madgett Poetry Award

The Word Journal Chapbook Prize

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship

Jack and Helen Evans Endowed Faculty Fellowship

Education: 
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Writers Retreats: 
Vermont Studio Center
Identifies as: 
Mixed-Race
Prefers to work with: 
Any

Source URL:https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/jerry_wemple

Links
[1] https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/jerry_wemple [2] http://www.jwemple.com