BELLE — For years, Matthew Ussia had heard stories about a small Missouri town with an outsized reputation in the poetry world.

Among poets in Pittsburgh, Pa., Belle and the Osage Arts Community had become something of a legend.

This month, Ussia finally experienced it for himself.

The English professor at Duquesne University traveled to Belle to participate in an Osage Arts Community reading before continuing on to St. Louis for another appearance. While the trip was his first visit to Missouri, he said Belle’s reputation had preceded it by years.

“For us Pittsburgh poets, it’s this kind of legendary thing,” Ussia said. “There’s this town in central Missouri ... that has this arts community.”

Much of that reputation, he said, came through fellow Pittsburgh poet Jason Baldinger, whose annual trips to Belle sparked Ussia’s curiosity.

“I always see his activity online,” Ussia said. “I’m like, ‘What is this?’”

His opportunity to find out came unexpectedly earlier this year when former Belle Poet Laureate John Dorsey contacted him with an invitation to read in Belle.

“I got this somewhat threatening Facebook message from John Dorsey in March,” Ussia joked. “’Matt, could you call me today? We need to talk about something.’ That’s never good.”

After returning the call, Dorsey asked whether he would like to come to Belle during the summer.

“I was like, ‘Yes,’ because I don’t say no to work or opportunities,” Ussia said. “It’s always gotten me in trouble.”

Only afterward did he realize the logistics of driving from Pittsburgh to rural Missouri.

The trip became easier when Baldinger joined him for the drive, creating what Ussia laughingly described as “the wildest conversation on Route 70.”

While Ussia expected to enjoy the reading, Belle itself also made an impression.

Having attended college in rural Pennsylvania, he believed he understood small-town life before arriving.

“I thought I knew rural because I went to college in rural Pennsylvania,” he said. “This is more rural than the rural Pennsylvania that I’m used to.”

Rather than finding that surprising in a negative way, Ussia embraced the experience.

Curious about local life, he even stopped at a grocery store to browse products unavailable back home.

“I actually have groceries in my car,” he said with a laugh. “It’s the store-brand stuff, but we can’t get that in Pittsburgh.”

What stood out most, however, was the atmosphere surrounding the Osage Arts Community reading.

“The reading was wonderful,” Ussia said. “The community that is built there and the audience that was there was fantastic. That was absolutely one of the best readings I’ve ever done in terms of just the vibe, the feeling in the room, the fact that everybody cares about art and poetry.”

He believes creating that kind of audience is no small accomplishment.

Even in Pittsburgh, a city of roughly 300,000 residents, gathering people around literary events can be challenging.

“I understand how hard it can be to build and maintain those kind of communities,” Ussia said. “It seems like what John has done to really build up that audience is tremendous. That’s kind of magical in a way.”

He hopes area residents recognize what they have in their own backyard.

“I think it’s a tremendous resource,” Ussia said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity.”

The Osage Arts Community’s reputation has spread well beyond Missouri, he added.

“It’s legendary in Pittsburgh because of Jason Baldinger and the other folks who’ve come out here,” Ussia said. “You can meet your heroes in Belle, Missouri.”

Reflecting on the trip, Ussia said traveling to places like Belle offers a reminder that meaningful artistic communities can flourish anywhere.

“Travel broadens the mind,” he said. “And I feel broadened.”

When he returns home, Ussia said he’ll continue sharing the same story he first heard from fellow poets.

“There is this magical arts community in Missouri farmland where this thing has been created, and it’s wonderful,” he said.