32 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 15-21, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com FACE TO FACE Known in the community as an educator and due to her involvement with the International Poetry Gathering, Marie Butcher has been named as the 2026-2027 Monterey County Poet Laureate. Her excitement is evident as she says her responsibilities only add to her long mission of bringing poetry to the people. Based in Carmel Valley, Butcher has been in the area since the late 1980s. She is the lead professor in the English for Academic and Professional Purposes program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, where the International Poetry Gathering group was created, and meets regularly at the East Village Cafe in Monterey. She works with international students, teaching them how to write and present in English. Multilingualism is at the core of the monthly International Poetry Gathering meetings and the annual International Poetry Week they put together in April. Butcher self-published a book of poetry, Renaming the Stars: Poems for Gaza, and has a thick poetry anthology, Doves Born of Flames: Poetry of Resilience from Many Lands ready to go. Weekly: Congratulations, Marie. Let’s get to the origin story. Butcher: Thank you. I was born in Arizona, went to school in Colorado. Before moving to Carmel Valley, I lived in San Francisco. The original story is that I was scribbling already as a child. Father had an active storytelling practice. We would go for imagined adventures together. It was a fertile ground for experimenting with sentences. Early on, I was exposed to languages—French, then Spanish. I was always curious about language. I used to teach French, too. They would call me Madame Butcher. I returned to poetry as an adult in 2010. My father was diagnosed with cancer around that time. I threw myself into writing. Things have been difficult at Middlebury Institute lately. Has the plan to shut down the school affected your work? This year is still normal for me. I get to teach international students writing and presentational skills in English and help them with their subjects. That means I never teach exactly the same course and work with the same material. For example, recently it was the United Nations, the recent COP30 meeting. With poetry, it’s similar. There is always new material around—pieces appear in dreams, in conversations. Why did you start the poetry group? Me and my colleague Rana Issa collaborated and in 2018 created the International Poetry Gathering, starting with a small group on campus. Reciting poetry in its original language—for example, in Arabic—was an early element. The group is very inclusive. It’s for everybody; all community members are invited. It’s a safe, supportive space to express yourself in your own language. What is poetry to you? Poetry is about truth-telling. I prefer something that is a response to social events and engages with the community, I’m not interested in just crafting beautiful words. My first volume was inspired by the local solidarity group around [Pacific Grove resident] Rolla Alaydi and her family in Gaza. We need to be gathering around a community member who suffers. Poetry is to talk and heal the wounds we have collectively and individually. That’s also why we need to honor the Indigenous by uplifting their voices and celebrate the communities that are still here, help them find their voices, be allies. Who is your own mentor in poetry? I admire the work by PalestinianAmerican poet Naomi Shihab Nye. Her poetry is accessible, her voice is resounding with me—so pure, so authentic. She is calm despite all that her community is facing. Tell us about the third book you are working on and your immediate plans as poet laureate. The new volume is about…becoming a river. I’m still working on it. As poet laureate, my goal is to bring poetry to those who are undeserved. Better yet, take them to nature for inspiration and bring the poetry along. How about a nature walk in Garland Park? Digital detox. And if someone is interested in joining the poetry group? We meet at East Village Cafe in Monterey every last Sunday of the month. The next International Poetry Gathering meets 3-5pm Sunday, Jan. 25. East Village Cafe, 498 Washington St., Monterey. Free. ipgmonterey.org. Words Matter Monterey County’s new poet laureate, Marie Butcher, wants to engage the community. By Agata Popęda Meet Marie Butcher, Monterey County’s new poet laureate. In addition to the International Poetry Gathering event on Jan. 25, Butcher will also be hosting the Arts Council for Monterey County’s Poetry Out Loud recitation competition on Jan. 31. DANIEL DREIFUSS Gingerbread Want to meet Gingerbread? Please fill out our online adoption questionnaire. 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