Faculty Member Named Poet Laureate of New Hampshire

Goddard College Announces Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Faculty Member Walter Butts Named Poet Laureate of New Hampshire.

Walter Butts has been named the 2009-2013 Poet Laureate of New Hampshire. A native of Le Roy, NY, Butts has lived in several cities with active poetry communities, including Rochester, NY, Boston, MA, Albany, NY and New York City. In 1995, he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Vermont College, which launched his teaching career. Before moving to Manchester, NH seven years ago, Mr. Butts and his wife lived in Portsmouth, NH for close to a decade. While there, he and his wife, the poet S Stephanie, organized a series of poetry readings on the sea coast.

The new Poet Laureate plans to work in conjunction with independent bookstores and arts organizations around the state to offer opportunities to the public to connect with poets and poetry. He also hopes to create opportunities for New Hampshire poets to network with small publishers in the state. He’ll make himself available for readings as well.

Mr. Butts lives in Manchester, NH and teaches in the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Bachelor of Arts in Individualized studies programs at Goddard College in Plainfield, VT. He also teaches at Hesser College’s Manchester, NH campus. He was selected as Poet Laureate through a nomination process facilitated by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the New Hampshire Department of Cultural Resources which culminated in a recommendation from the Poetry Society of New Hampshire to Governor John Lynch. He replaces Patricia Fargnoli of Walpole, NH.

Mr. Butts has published three books of poetry, Sunday Evening at the Stardust Café, Movies in a Small Town, and The Required Dance, in addition to several chapbooks. His poems and critical essays have appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals. Calling himself “honored and humbled” by his selection as poet laureate, Butts adds: “This appointment compels me, in a very positive sense, to really be involved, to really participate. It’s an ideal situation for a poet to be in.”

For further information contact Julie Martin, Dean of Institutional Advancement, julie.martin@goddard.edu.