The Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium is a monthly reading series that seeks to showcase the finest talents of the diverse Central Coast literary community, from Big Sur to Santa Cruz to the Salinas Valley and beyond. Free hour-long readings featuring two local-affiliated poets are held on the second Saturday of each month at the Pacific Grove Public Library, from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. All are welcome.
Created over 30 years ago as a chapter of the National Writers Union, this series is proud to be the oldest consistently running literary venue of its kind in the region. We have featured hundreds of poets, including local luminaries such as Daniel Summerhill and Rachelle Escamilla (the first two Poet Laureates for Monterey County), Mahi Shah and Maram Haddad (the first two Youth Poet Laureate for Monterey County), Robert Gómez (the inaugural Poet Laureate for the City of Watsonville), and Farnaz Fatemi, Danusha Laméris, David Swanger, and Robert Sward (Poet Laureates for Santa Cruz County), among many others.
Over the years, our series has been graciously hosted by independent bookstores (such as Old Capitol Books in Monterey and the Thunderbird in Carmel) and coffeeshops (such as East Village Cafe in Monterey), all prior to our current home at the Pacific Grove Public Library where we are graciously co-sponsored by the Whitney Latham Lechich poetry fund.
Please follow the Consortium's updates and announcements on Facebook, and enjoy 39 hours of archived Zoom readings from our 2020-23 seasons on YouTube.
If you are interested in more information, want to join our monthly mailing list, or would like to be considered as a future featured poet, please contact me via email.
Created over 30 years ago as a chapter of the National Writers Union, this series is proud to be the oldest consistently running literary venue of its kind in the region. We have featured hundreds of poets, including local luminaries such as Daniel Summerhill and Rachelle Escamilla (the first two Poet Laureates for Monterey County), Mahi Shah and Maram Haddad (the first two Youth Poet Laureate for Monterey County), Robert Gómez (the inaugural Poet Laureate for the City of Watsonville), and Farnaz Fatemi, Danusha Laméris, David Swanger, and Robert Sward (Poet Laureates for Santa Cruz County), among many others.
Over the years, our series has been graciously hosted by independent bookstores (such as Old Capitol Books in Monterey and the Thunderbird in Carmel) and coffeeshops (such as East Village Cafe in Monterey), all prior to our current home at the Pacific Grove Public Library where we are graciously co-sponsored by the Whitney Latham Lechich poetry fund.
Please follow the Consortium's updates and announcements on Facebook, and enjoy 39 hours of archived Zoom readings from our 2020-23 seasons on YouTube.
If you are interested in more information, want to join our monthly mailing list, or would like to be considered as a future featured poet, please contact me via email.
Our Staff:
Kent Leatham: Curator
John Laue: Founder & Curator-Emeritus
Jennifer Lagier: Outreach Coordinator
Robert Nielsen: Photographer & MC-Emeritus
Laura Bayless, John Dotson, & Garland Thompson: Advisory Team
Kent Leatham: Curator
John Laue: Founder & Curator-Emeritus
Jennifer Lagier: Outreach Coordinator
Robert Nielsen: Photographer & MC-Emeritus
Laura Bayless, John Dotson, & Garland Thompson: Advisory Team