Kansas Poetry

March 2026 Adult Book List

Un Mango Grows in Kansas by Huascar Medina
This bilingual book by Huascar E. Medina explores identity, immigration, and belonging in the American Heartland, reflecting the experiences of second-generation Latinx communities in Kansas.
Chasing Weather by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg; Stephen Locke (Photographer)
This work blends poetry and photography to capture the power of storms across Kansas towns and the Midwest.
Ghost Sign by Al Ortolani; Melissa Fite Johnson; Adam Jameson; J. T. Knoll
Ghost Sign explores the history, culture, and communities of Southeast Kansas, using vivid imagery, folklore, and reflections on the region’s enduring, independent spirit.
Feet of the Messenger by H. C. Palmer
Palmer reflects on his Vietnam War service and his deep connection to the Kansas Flint Hills, exploring memory, the lasting effects of war, and the enduring significance of place.
Dress Me Like a Prizefighter by Catherine Strayhall
A powerful debut collection that explores generational memory, family, and the natural world with emotional depth and lyrical precision. With vivid imagery and a courageous voice, Strayhall balances the weight of history and loss with beauty, tenderness, and hope.

The Afterlives of Trees, Wyatt Townley
Buried in the Suburbs: Poems, Jamie Lynn Heller
Fast-Food Sonnets: Poems, Dennis Etzel Jr.
Kansas Speaks Out: Poems in the Age of Me, Too, Dennis Etzel, Jr and Jericho Hockett
Music I Once Could Dance To, Roy J. Beckemeyer
To the Stars: Kansas Poets of the Ad Astra Poetry Project, Denise Low
To the Stars Through Difficulties: A Kansas Renga in 150 Voices, edited by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
While the Kettle’s On: Poetry, Melissa Fite Johnson
Words of a Prairie Alchemist, Denise Low

Cricket in the Thicket by Carol Murray; Melissa Sweet (Illustrator)
Cricket in the Thicket: Poems About Bugs introduces young readers to the fascinating world of insects through playful, rhyming poems, vibrant illustrations, and engaging facts about creatures from ants and grasshoppers to dragonflies and fireflies.

Visit Your Public Library
Provides a directory of Kansas public libraries where you can find titles from this month's reading list or request a book through interlibrary loan.

As Kansas and America 250 events, exhibits and ideas grow, this page will as well.