It’s time to read, listen and celebrate National Poetry Month in Monterey County.

Agata Popęda here. Monterey County already kicked off National Poetry Month (April) festivities with a big poetry reading, Poetry in the Park, that took place last weekend, courtesy of Monterey State Historic Park. But there are multiple poetry-related events coming up this month. 

The elongated stage room at California’s First Theatre in Monterey was pretty much filled on the afternoon of Saturday, April 4, where 20 local poets presented their original works and a handful of presenters recited someone else's poetry. As part of this lineup, Karen Warwick read Robinson Jeffers and Kadiri Vaquer Fernandez read translations of the verses by Puerto Rican poet Roque Salas Rivera.

The poets were seated on the stage in two rows, bathed in a dim mauve light like an ancient Greek chorus, from which an individual would rise and emerge to the front to inspire and ignite hearts and minds—reading one, sometimes two or three poems. Outside was a warm spring afternoon and colorful tables were set with refreshments for the after-reading part of the afternoon. 

Monterey County Poet Laureate Marie Butcher was there. The International Poetry Gathering of Monterey she co-founded will celebrate April as poetry month for a week, with a series of events, kicking off on Saturday, April 18. 

Kent Leatham of Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium was there as well, poetically commenting on the commercial production of peace, playfully describing peace as a commodity, offering such details as what temperature peace should be eaten at, concluding that it should be consumed at the time of harvest. The Consortium’s event is taking place on April 11 (featuring poets Katiann Vogel and Christopher Rendon) at the Pacific Grove Public Library, where poetry month is celebrated with events on April 16, 18 and 21.

Marc Zegans, who in 2025 delighted us with prose, read his poems on this occasion. The 2025 Monterey Youth Poet Laureate Mya Pop was in attendance, as well as Jennifer Lagier, publisher of Monterey Poetry Review, and poet/educator Patricia Hicks from The Village Project, beautifully going through the rosary of ancestors that were needed—generation upon generation—to produce her.

But this is just the beginning. In addition to the six-day poetry feast prepared by the International Poetry Gathering of Monterey, Old Capitol Books brings back its annual Monterey Poetry Festival. This three-day event starts on Friday, April 24. 

The Weekly will share more details on the International Poetry Gathering of Monterey’s Poetry Week and the Monterey Poetry Festival in our April 16 issue.

Happy Poetry Month.