In Monterey County, April is blooming with poetry – and events celebrating the art.

Being aware that April is National Poetry Month is one thing, but keeping up with all the poetry events in Monterey County this month requires quite a bit of stamina. For example, the two biggest multi-day celebrations are coming up: The nine-day-long International Poetry Week 2026, which starts April 18, and three-day Monterey Poetry Festival kicking off April 24.

“Poetry is kind of a healing balm in medicine,” says Monterey County Poet Laureate Marie Butcher. “It’s also a way to be in community – and that’s what we need so much right now.”

And that means poetry readings, at times with music (such as Weaving of Jazz & Poetry at Pacific Grove Public Library on April 21), opportunities to mingle for local poets (Nepotism at Old Capitol Books on April 25), visits from regional poets (Poet Laureate of San Francisco Tongo Eisen-Martin, CSU Monterey Bay poetry professor Allie Jones) and even hikes (Poetry in Nature, April 19).

“I can speak only about Monterey,” says Stephanie Spoto of Old Capitol Books, where a community of local poets meet regularly to work together. “But here, National Poetry Month is really taking off. It encourages people to write.”

In celebration of Latino poets and poetry, Downtown Book & Sound in Salinas hosts International Poetry Week 2026 on Friday, April 24. Fresno’s Poet Laureate Aidee Medina, Adela Castillo of Noche Bohemia Salinas and Monterey Peninsula College instructor Kadiri Bier Fernandez will read, followed by an open mic event.

“We’re thrilled that we can offer a lot of cultural and linguistic diversity,” says Butcher, who will read her new poems set to jazz by Stu Reynolds and, along with the first Monterey County poet laureate, Daniel B. Summerhill, will present at Old Capitol Books. “One of our underpinning themes is making everybody feel included and having opportunities to hear different languages and hear from different cultural backgrounds,” Butcher adds.

Sound like a lot? Good. “I always like a little chaos,” says Spoto, who created the Monterey Poetry Festival in 2020. “The best poetry comes always in the spirit of Dionysus. It defies rules, grammar and [established] narratives.”

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH 2026 continues through April. For full schedule of events, visit ipgmonterey.org/#poetryweek2026 and oldcapitolbooks.com/montereypoetryfestival.