WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — This year's Women's History Month theme is "Women Who Tell Our Stories." In honor of the month, Newswatch 16 sat down with a well-known author and poet in the Williamsport area.
Newswatch 16s Chris Keating introduces us to Marjorie Maddox, a woman who has told many of her own and other's stories over the years.
Marjorie Maddox is shuffling through just one of her over 500 published pieces of work. The poet and author living in Williamsport has been writing for as long as she can remember.
"I have been writing since I was a kid. I have been writing mostly fiction. So, I write poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and children's literature."
She says the journey of telling a good story is the best part.
"Something kind of clicks, and things start coming together. It is this whole process of discovery. You end up someplace different from where you started. That is what I love about writing, this sense of transformation takes place."
Maddox says it doesn't take rocket science to tell a good story. In fact, her writing spans across an array of genres. Such as sports, television news, medicine, and much more.
"Inspiration is everywhere. So, just looking around and interacting with the world, talking with other people will give you ideas."
One of her biggest inspirations is family. She has a book coming out this year called In the Museum of My Daughter's Mind.
"It is based on 18 paintings by my artist daughter, Anna Lee Hafer. I got on a roll, and I just kept going, and pretty soon, I had 18 poems responding to her work."
When she is not writing, Maddox is teaching literature and writing at Lock Haven University. She enjoys sharing her knowledge with the younger generation.
"To get people to express themselves, to ask the hard questions, to really dig deep."
She offered some advice to women entering the field of creative writing.
"Read a lot. See what works for you. There is a lot of different styles out there, and you are not going to like all of them."
Maddox and her daughter will be signing copies of her new book at Otto Bookstore in Williamsport on May 5, 2023, from 6 to 8 p.m.
See more Women's History Month stories on WNEP's Youtube page.