Walter E. Butts | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1944-09-12)September 12, 1944 |
| Died | March 1, 2013(2013-03-01) (aged 68) Manchester,New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Vermont College of Fine Arts |
| Genre | Poetry |
Walter E. Butts (September 12, 1944 – March 31, 2013) was an American poet and thePoet Laureate ofNew Hampshire.[1] His bookSunday Evening at the Stardust Café was a finalist for the 2005 Philip Levine Prize in Poetry from theCalifornia State University, Fresno, and won the Iowa Source Poetry Book Prize. He has also received aPushcart Prize nomination.
His work has been published in such literary journals as theAtlanta Review,Poetry East,Cimarron Review,Mid-American Review,[2]Slant,PoetryMotel,Poet Lore andSpillway and has been anthologized inEmerson of Harvard (2003),Tokens: Contemporary Poetry of the Subway (P&Q Press, New York), andThe Anthology of Magazine Verse & Yearbook of American Poetry (1997). He has also written reviews of other poets' works, includingTell Them We Were Here by David Kelly, aRochester, New York–area poet.
Until the late 1970s, Butts lived inLeRoy, New York, nearRochester, where he was one of several poets who organized featured readings and open mics in the area, most notably at the Cobbs Hill Grille, a popular local bar and restaurant. Over the next few years he lived inAlbany, New York,New York City,Boston, andPortsmouth, New Hampshire, and most recently inManchester, New Hampshire. In April 2003, he was among the participants in the first gathering of state poets laureate organized by New Hampshire’s poet laureate, Marie Harris. That same year, he also toured northern New Hampshire with South Dakota poetDavid Allan Evans, giving readings and discussions at community centers and bookstores. Some of these were broadcast on regionalNational Public Radio andPublic Broadcasting stations.
Butts received his M.F.A. from theVermont College of Fine Arts in 1995, and he taught creative writing workshops at theUniversity of New Hampshire at Manchester. Most recently, he was an associate professor of English at theHesser College campus in Manchester and at the low residency Bachelor of Fine Arts program atGoddard College.[3][4] He was cited in the 2002 edition ofWho’s Who Among America’s Teachers.
In addition to teaching, Butts also co-editedWalking to Windward: Poets of New England, Volume 3 (Oyster River Press, 2001) and was the co-editor and publisher (with his wife S Stephanie) of the literary magazineCrying Sky: Poetry & Conversation.[5]
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