Walter E. Butts
New Hampshire's Poet Laureate, Walter E. Butts, will serve from 2009 to 2014. Butts is a resident of Manchester, and teaches at Hesser College’s Manchester campus and at a low residency Bachelor of Fine Arts program at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vt. He was selected based on a recommendation to Governor John Lynch from the Poetry Society of New Hampshire.
Featured Poets
Donald Hall
Donald Hall books of poetry include The Happy Man, which won the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Hall lives in Danbury and served as the state’s Poet Laureate from 1984 to 1989. In 2006, he was named U.S. Poet Laureate.
Charles Simic
Charles Simic has published numerous books of poetry, including The World Doesn't End: Prose Poems, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He has lived in New Hampshire since 1973.
Maxine Kumin
The author of eleven books of poetry, including Up Country: Poems of New England, for which she received the Pulitzer Prize, Maxine Kumin lives in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire State Council on the Arts
This state-sponsored site offers information about the annual Artists Fellows Program, arts events around the state, and grants for artists.
The New Hampshire Writers' Project
Located in Manchester, the New Hampshire Writers' Project is a statewide literary organization for writers in all genres and at all levels, with more than 750 members. NHWP offers spring and fall workshops, publishes a bimonthly newsletter and an annual catalog of new books by members, coordinates a conference, hosts public readings and events, provides information and referral services for members, and presents the New Hampshire Literary Awards for literary achievement.
Poetry Society of New Hampshire
The Poetry Society of New Hampshire sponsors four National Contests open to all poets, and publishes winning poems in the Society's quarterly magazine, The Poets Touchstone. Write 31 Reservoir Rd., Farmington, NH 03835, call (603) 332-0732, or email poetrysocietyofnh@gmail.com for more information.
The Robert Frost Place: A Center for Poetry and the Arts
Located at Robert Frost's former home in Franconia, the Frost Place offers a museum dedicated to its namesake and sponsors a resident poet, poetry festival, conference on poetry and teaching, and seminar each summer.
New Hampshire Humanities Council The New Hampshire Humanities Council awards grants and develops and sponsors free public programs such as book discussions, workshops, seminars, and conferences led by scholars in literature, history, languages, ethics, philosophy, comparative religion and culture, and the interpretation of the arts. The NHHC works in partnership with state schools and cultural institutions to improve the quality of life for New Hampshire citizens.
Writing Programs & Colonies
The MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is one of the oldest and best known artist colonies in the country, located on 450 acres in the Monadnock Region of the state. Colonists receive room, board, and the exclusive use of a studio.
New England College Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry Program
This low-residency MFA program combines short-term residencies with faculty-student correspondence during the semester. The campus is located in Henniker, NH, and also offers a Contemporary Poetry Lecture Series.
University of New Hampshire Graduate Program in English Language/Literature/Writing
UNH offers various options for graduate study in English literature and/or writing. The Master of Arts in Writing program is designed for those "who intend to become professional writers" and offers concentrations in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.
I grew up in the suburbs of Connecticut—during the school time of year—but I preferred it in New Hampshire. I preferred the culture, the landscape, the relative solitude. I've always loved it. I wrote about it a lot when I thought I could never possibly ever live here. When Jane [Kenyon] and I moved here in 1975, it was with the notion that living here I probably wouldn't write about it anymore. But it has certainly informed my work enormously. I cherish living in the place I love.
The Frost Place: Franconia, NH During his brief residence, Frost managed to publish three highly-acclaimed books, securing his place among America’s finest poets.
The Graves of Poets
When poet Jane Kenyon died from leukemia in 1995, her body was taken to Proctor Cemetery in Andover, New Hampshire, where a gravestone marks the place where her widower, current U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall, will someday join her beneath a headstone which already bears his name.
Mondays at Skimmilk
Featured during National Poetry Month 2007 on NH Public Television, and now airing nationally on PBS, Mondays at Skimmilk: 30 Years of Writers at Work celebrates the life of Jean Pedrick and the writers who participated in the long-lived literary workshop at her family farm in Brentwood, New Hampshire. In this half-hour documentary, director Ken Browne offers an intimate look at this noteworthy workshop group as participants speak about the importance of community and craft in the life of poets.
Poems about New Hampshire
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost Whose woods these are I think I know...
Reading Series, Conferences, & Literary Festivals
Eagle Pond Author's Series at Plymouth State College
Since 1998, PSC has brought several well-known poets and writers to campus each year for readings and book signings. The series is named in honor of poet Donald Hall's New Hampshire residence.
The New Hampshire Writers' Project
The NH Writers' Project sponsors an annual Writers' Day Conference, cosponsored by the School of Liberal Arts at Southern New Hampshire University. The Day features readings, workshops, and talks by established poets and writers of various genres.
The Robert Frost Place: A Center for Poetry and the Arts
The annual Frost Place Festival of Poetry was first organized in 1979. Each August, five published poets with significant national reputation join a resident poet to be guest faculty--along with four resident faculty poets--to some 45 participant writers chosen from across the country. All nine faculty poets give public readings in the evenings and lead afternoon critiques. In addition, the six guest poets give morning lectures, and at mid-week, the participants themselves give an evening reading of their work. The Frost Place also sponsors an annual Conference on Poetry and Teaching.
Literary Journals & Small Presses
Concrete Wolf
Brent Allard and Lana Ayers edit this quarterly perfect bound poetry journal which reads submissions year round and is based in Bedford, NH. The website offers sample poems and reviews, links, and past issues.
The New Hampshire Review Founded in 2005 and published twice a year online, TNHR accepts poetry, book reviews, and artwork. Currently structured as an online publication, it is working to secure the funds necessary for print. It nominates six poems annually for the critically-acclaimed Pushcart Prize anthology.
Amoskeag Amoskeag is a literary journal run by the faculty of Southern New Hampshire University. It is published every spring, and features fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, photos, and artwork.
Slope Slope is run out of New Hampshire but features poets from around the world. They run both unpublished and published authors and began publishing in 1999. The publishing schedule has varied over the years.
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