Poet, Editor, Teacher

Torch the Empty Fields is out!

Mary Jo LoBello Jerome’s debut full-length collection of poetry, Torch the Empty Fields, was recently published. A former poetry editor of the Schuylkill Valley Journal, she is the 2019 Poet Laureate of Bucks County, PA. She edited Fire Up the Poems: Poetry Prompts for Teachers, published in 2021 with the Laureate committee of Bucks County Community College.

Mary Jo is honored to have a poem in the fabulous new anthology by James Crews, The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace & Renewal. (order here: Farley’s Bookshop). Her poem “I Dream What My Mother Means to Say” won honors and appeared in The Paterson Literary Review. “Torch the Empty Fields,” a poem in response to covid and political unrest, came out in Poets Reading the News.

In her career, she has written for The New York Times, Scholastic Publications, and many other magazines. A former high school English teacher and associate professor of writing at regional colleges, she has lived and taught in Rotterdam, Tokyo, and Blairstown, NJ. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and now resides in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Order Torch the Empty Fields

Cover design by Ariele Rosch

Upcoming Events, Readings, and Workshops

  • Poetry reading at Farley's Bookshop, 44 South Main St. New Hope, PA. January 19, 2024, 6 PM with poets Joanne Leva, Judith Lagana, and Vasiliki Katsarou.

  • Poetry Reading at Celebration of New Works, ArtWRKD, Newtown, PA July 22, 2 - 4 PM, with J.A. Lagana, Lynn Levin & Nicole Steinberg

  • Poetry Reading at the NYC Poetry Festival on Saturday, July 29, 12:30 - 1 PM, Algonquin Stage with Lynne Shapiro, Ravenna Taylor, Hilary Sideris, Vasiliki Katsarou & many more.

  • Poetry Reading at Commonplace Reader, Yardley, PA. September 9, 4 - 6 PM with Christine McKee, Tom Mallok, Bill Wunder & others.

Past Events and Workshops

  • Art Center Reading, Sept. 11, 3:15, at MRAC, Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center, the first in-person poetry reading at MRAC since Covid. With Robert Zaller and Jane Edna Mohler. Hosted by David P. Kozinski: dpkozinski@comcast.net

  • Poetry Out Loud, judge, local High School Competition, March 2022.

  • Caesura Poetry Festival workshop leader October 2021. “Try to Praise the Mutilated World: Investigating and Drafting Poems of Hope.”

  • September 2021. Wordsmiths Reading with Felicia Zamora at the Newtown Campus of Bucks County Community College.

  • September 2021. Poetry reading at the Peace Fair on the grounds of Buckingham Friends School (5684 York Rd., Lahaska, PA 18931) with other local poets.

  • September 2021. Featured reader at Bucks County Guild of Craftsmen, opening meeting with a discussion of the creative process.

  • Judge of 2020 Bucks County High School Poet of the Year, Reading, Spring 2021.

  • Poet Laureate Reading, Bucks County Community College, with Liz Chang and Jane Edna Mohler, 11/15/20.

  • Caesura Poetry Festival Workshop: “What’s the Story: Narrative Techniques in Poetry & Other Genres,” 10/1/20. Reading 10/6.

  • Schuylkill Valley Journal, virtual reading, 6/20. Launch of spring issue.

  • Peace Center, virtual fundraiser opening reading, June 2020. Partnering for Peace, for more information.

  • River Heron’s Summer Series poetry reading. Wednesday, 6/20,

  • Bucks County High School Poet of the Year, Virtual Reading + Celebration, 5/20 Judged outstanding high school poetry contest.

  • Commissioned poem to honor the Bucks County Woman of the Year, Celia Sharp.