Welcome!

We are a community organization committed to celebrating the power of Poetry — words in motion — leveraging it to deepen the understanding between different cultures, helping to forge interpersonal and community connections that counteract times of uncertainty, division, and challenge.We facilitate familiarity and appreciation through social interaction, creating new opportunities to spark creativity, and help to build strong bonds of trust through vulnerability and honesty.We seek to be positive, engage, detox, and rejuvenate.

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6th Annual
International Poetry Week 2025

You are warmly invited to a week-long series of events April 21-27, 2025 to celebrate the 6th Annual International Poetry Week in the Monterey Bay area and National Poetry Month.

• EVENT DETAILS

Learn more about our partnership with International School of Monterey

Past IPG Events in the Community

International Poetry Week 2025 is here!

April 21-27, 2025
Pre event April 19th

Join us to celebrate the 6th Annual International Poetry Week in the Monterey Bay area, starting April 21st, 2025. Set during National Poetry Month (April), this week-long series of events in Monterey, with a pre-event in Carmel on Saturday, April 19th, is hosted by International Poetry Gathering of Monterey in partnership with Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), and Kollaborativ Events.The first Poetry Week started at MIIS and we are so delighted to be expanding to include multiple events, venues, poets and musicians from out of the area. We hope you will join us!Our events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise stated.See our schedule of events and venues in our Calendar below.

Thank you to our Partners & Sponsors for this community event!

Download the Calendar in PDF Here

Monday, April 21st | 12:00pm-1:45 pm

Opening Ceremonies

Location: MIIS Library | 425 Van Buren Street, Monterey

Join us as we kick-off Poetry Week, and the theme of Tending Each Other, with a native Rumsen Ohlone blessing by Rachelle Daniels, and a rededication of the MIIS Poetry Box by Poet & IPG Co-Founder Marie Boucher.We're pleased to also have a special reading by guest poets: Alice Tao, Patrice Vecchione, & Pilar Graham--all of whom are local poets, whose books My River Gently Flows, Ink Knows No Borders, & Falling are new to the MIIS Library collection. We will also be celebrating the upcoming publication of Doves Born of Flames: Poems of Peace from Many Lands, edited by Marie Boucher, who is also Department Head of the EAPP Program at MIIS.This event is co-sponsored by the
KWD Collaborative in Conflict Transformation at MIIS.

Alice K. Tao was born in 1935 in Guangdong, China, the oldest of six children. Surviving the turmoil and instability of China through the 1940s, Alice emigrated to the United States, married, and raised a family with her husband in Massachusetts and California. She pursued graduate studies, eventually teaching Chinese Language at MIIS. With the freedom of retirement, Alice has continued to study and learn, following her deep interests in music, writing, and travel. My River gently flows, Alice’s first book of poetry, was published in 2023.

Patrice Vecchione is the author of two books of poems, three of nonfiction, and the editor of many anthologies. Her most recent books are My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth and the anthology Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience. Patrice leads poetry writing workshops for young people and adults through her program The Heart of the Word. A poem is forthcoming in the anthology, Women of the Golden State. This summer, she’ll lead monthly writing workshops for women in her garden. In July, she’ll read for the Monterey Poetry Consortium.

Pilar Graham is the author of Falling (2025) and Currents (2022). Her poetry has appeared in Voices; Gasconade; Sundog; Haunted Waters Press; Indent Literary Journal; among others. Her creative nonfiction include Essay Daily; The Broiler; Poetry Midwest; and Pithead Chapel Press.
Graham earned her MFA in Poetry from California State University, Fresno and teaches at CSU Monterey Bay and Fresno City College

Thursday, April 24th | 4:00pm-6:30 pm

The Alchemy of Poetry and the Arts

Locations:
4:00pm: Monterey Museum of Art | 559 Pacific Street, Monterey
5:30pm: Youth Arts Collective | 472 Calle Principal, Monterey

We're so pleased to collaborate with the Monterey Museum of Art and Youth Arts Collective for this event duo!
Join us for both events, back-to-back, or just pop in for one.

Starting at 4:00pm inside the Monterey Museum of Art:
IPG Co-Founders, Rana Issa and Marie Boucher, will facilitate an enriching conversation about the creative process and how art and poetry intertwine. Featuring Special Guest Poet, Meredith Stricker, who will speak about the interplay of painting and poetry in her work, as well as other collaborations with other artists and musicians.

Working in cross-genre art, Meredith Stricker is the author of six poetry collections and recipient of the National Poetry Series Award. She co-directs visual poetry studio, a collaborative that focuses on architecture in Big Sur on California's central coast, along with projects to bring together artists, writers, musicians and experimental forms. A new collection, Sentience, is forthcoming from Omnidawn Press. Other books include Rewild, awarded the Dorset Prize from Tupelo Press; Our Animal, winner of the Omnidawn Open Book Competition; Alphabet Theater, mixed-media performance poetry from Wesleyan University Press; Tenderness Shore, L.S.U. Press for the National Poetry Series Award; mistake, from Caketrain Press; and anemochore, winner of the Gloria Anzaldúa Prize from Newfound Press and finalist for the Poetry Society of America Four Quartets Award. Her poetry and art have appeared in performance and gallery spaces and in numerous publications including: Conjunctions, Boston Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Best American Experimental Writing.
She was recently awarded the Peter Porter Poetry Prize from the Australian Book Review.
Photo credit: Michelle Magdalena Maddox

Pianist Kumiko Uyeda is an active chamber musician in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area. She performs in various genres, including western art music, Brazilian folk-jazz (choro), and collaborates with poets, global-music instrumentalists, and butoh dancers. She received her M.M. degree in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music and has published two solo piano CD albums to date: Music of Erik Satie and Art
of Love. She received her Ph.D. in cultural musicology from U.C. Santa Cruz with research on the intersections of music and social movements of the indigenous Ainu people of Japan.

Then, join us at 5:30pm, at Youth Arts Collective in Monterey:
With Featured Poet, Heather Flescher, and youth Poet & Musician (and YAC member!),
Margaux Tybus Casales, will be sharing their works amongst the art of the collective.

Heather Flescher is a disabled trans woman poet who has been writing and performing obsessively throughout her life. She has featured at Beast Crawl, the Monterey Poetry Festival, MoonDrop Productions, Brooklyn Wildlife, Bird and Beckett, Sacred Grounds, the Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium, Time To Arrive, the Friday Collapse, and elsewhere. Her play "Daughters of Nothing" was produced by the Paper Wing Theatre Company. Heather still believes that poetry can change the world, and tries to live accordingly.

Margaux Tybus Casales is an 18 year old Musician, Poet, and sometimes visual artist who is a member of the Youth Arts Collective in Monterey. Only recently utilizing poetry as a medium to bring out and share innermost thoughts and emotional processes, and voice opinions, Margaux loves to mix poetry and music into one — giving poems a cadence and rhythm to follow. Margaux believes art can help one heal the soul and bring life to those who need it, with poetry conveying meaning that can help change many peoples’ perspectives.

Friday, April 25th | 5:30pm-7:30 pm

Melodies of Verse:
The Timeless Harmony of Arabic Poetry and Music

Location: Pacific Grove Public Library | 550 Central Avenue, Pacific Grove

Thank you to our Collaborating Partner, PG Library, and our Business Sponsor, International Cafe in Monterey

Explore the deep connection between Arabic poetry and music in an evening of discussion, recitation, and live performance. From classical qasida to modern songs, explore how rhythm, melody, and verse have shaped Arabic artistic expression for centuries. Whether you’re a poetry lover, music enthusiast, or simply curious, this event offers a captivating journey through sound and meaning.The evening's MC will be IPG Co-Founder, Rana Issa, who will also be joining our featured poets, Dr. Mumtaz Tabbaa, MD, and poet Salwa Ghamrawi, who will both be sharing their works and other recitations.Also joining us are musicians Rafid Yalda, an Iraqi-American Musician, educator and master performer of the nay (reed flute) from Baghdad, Iraq, and Ealaph Tabbaa, Musician and Composer from Syria.We hope you join us for this magical evening exploring the harmonies of poetry!

Dr. Mumtaz Tabbaa, MD, was born in Damascus, Syria. He completed his postgraduate medical training in the fields of Gastro-enterology and Nutrition in the United Kingdom and in the USA. His medical practice as physician and scientist was not a barrier to his journey of poetry and Sufi practice. He presented his poetry of the Arab Spring in the national meetings of the Syrian American Council. He has been working at the county hospital of Monterey since 1999.

Salwa Daouk Ghamrawi is a published author, singer, speaker, and mother who was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. She is a pillar in the Arab-American community in California. Salwa is also a social justice activist, fighting for causes regarding women, politics, war, and the marginalized. Salwa has traveled to be on television, speak at poetry events, and perform at cultural fairs.

Rafid Yalda, an Iraqi American musician and music educator, developed a passion for the Nay (Arabic flute) at the age of seven, inspired by the renowned late Egyptian Nay virtuoso Mahmoud Effat. He pursued music education under the guidance of esteemed music professors in his hometown, mastering musical notation and the principles of harmonics. His exceptional musical talent earned him the position of music instructor at the Music and Ballet School in Baghdad, a role personally offered by the acclaimed Iraqi musician and Oud player, Munir Bashir. Throughout his career, Rafid has taught music in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan, and has performed in numerous concerts and international music festivals alongside some of Iraq's most celebrated singers. Most recently, he had the honor of performing with the legendary Iraqi singer Kadhem Al-Saher during his tours in Canada and various U.S. states.

Ealaph Tabbaa was born in Monterey 2001, and started his musical education at 3 years old.
He mastered many musical instruments, including piano, violin, viola, bassoon, oud, and other instruments before graduating from Carmel high School. He then completed two majors in music performance and composing from The University of the Pacific. Currently he is preparing his master degree in International Folklore and Middle Eastern Music .

Join us in the Main Hall of PG Library for an unforgettable evening!

Saturday, April 26th | 6:00pm

Our Words Are Made of Flower & Song
~ A Night of Xicana Poetry ~

Location: East Village Cafe | 498 Washington Street, Monterey

A big thank you to our Collaborating Partner, East Village Cafe, and our Business Sponsor, Catch Carmel's Fish House

International Poetry Gathering of Monterey is excited to present an evening with Xicana and Chicano poets,
featuring MC/Poet Arnoldo Colibrí García, and Poets Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo,
Adela Najarro, Christopher Rendón, and Sara Santistevan.Xicana | Chicano poetry is international in nature and carries the words and experiences of people based in the U.S. and others displaced from their Latin American homelands. The Xicana | Chicano culture double crosses borders with her poetry and movements for justice.
Written and spoken in Spanish, English and Caló--a trans-language that absorbs the best of all languages and spoken worlds, this poetry is an invitation to cross-fertilize dreams of another world, with multiple roots, intergenerational & multinational collaboration and place-based community.

Arnoldo Colibrí García is an accomplished poet, community-based human rights organizer, writer and culture-maker, and a dedicated Restorative Justice (RJ) practitioner and trainer. With extensive experience as a facilitator with restorative justice practices, Arnoldo is originally from south Texas, and was raised in a Mexican Purépecha-rooted migrant farmworker family. He became a farmworker labor rights and education rights activist while in middle school. His experiences in the Chicano youth civil rights movement and supporting farmworker justice organizing, led him to become a life-long organizer committed to protecting the rights of the foreign born and the undocumented as central to any project of socially just transformations.

Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo is a poet, visual artist, and education facilitator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work is informed by her Indigenous ancestry, Mesoamerican philosophy and art, Mexika dance, Mexican culture, Raza history, and her experiences as an Indigenous Mexican Chicana. Her art has been exhibited nationally and her poetry is published widely in anthologies and journals. Elizabeth earned a BFA in Pictorial Art and a BA in French from San José State University. She served as 2021 Creative Ambassador of the San José Office of Cultural Affairs. She was awarded a Creative Corps Initiative grant from the California Arts Council and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Elizabeth is a Board Member of Poetry Center San José and the founder of La Raíz Magazine. Learn more at www.ejmontelongo.com/poetry

Adela Najarro is a poet with a social consciousness who is working on a novel. Her extended family left Nicaragua and arrived in San Francisco during the 1940s; after the fall of the Somoza regime, the last of the family settled in the Los Angeles area. She serves on the board of directors for Círculo de poetas and Writers and works with the Latinx community nationwide, promoting the intersection of creative writing and social justice.
She has published five poetry collections. Her latest book, Variations in Blue, was selected by the Letras Latinas/ Red Hen Collaborative as the second volume in their curated series. The California Arts Council recognized her as an established artist for the Central California Region and appointed her as an Individual Artist Fellow.
More information about Adela can be found at her website: www.adelanajarro.com.

Christopher Rendon is a writer from California’s Central Coast with a passion for storytelling that bridges personal experience and community. A 2017 UCLA graduate with a B.A. in English, he currently serves as a specialized coordinator at Monterey Peninsula College, where he helps high school students earn college credit through dual enrollment.
His poetry is deeply rooted in themes of health, addiction, family, resilience, and the communities of Salinas and Seaside. Over the years, Chris has taken the stage at open mics, college events, and spoken word competitions, and he twice competed with the Hartnell Speech Team (2014, 2018), earning a national medal in Dramatic Interpretation and Poetry at the Phi Rho Pi National Forensics Tournament. Now, at 29, he is stepping out of the margins of poetry to fully embrace his craft. With a vision to amplify the voices of his community and share the raw, untold stories of his life and those around him, Chris is determined to carve his place as a published author soon.

Sara Santistevan is an emerging Latina poet. She received the 2021 Reyna Grande Scholarship, which gave her the resources to finish her chapbook, The Root from which Freedom Blossoms. She has work published in Shō Poetry Journal, The Acentos Review, Latin@ Literatures, the Porter Gulch Review, and elsewhere. She has a soft spot for walkable cities, flavored lattes, quirky earrings, and anything cute—especially cats! Learn more about her at www.sarasantistevan.com.

Sunday, April 27th | 3:00pm - 5:00pm

International Poetry Gathering,
Featuring Writers of Color of Santa Cruz

Location: East Village Cafe | 498 Washington Street, Monterey

A big thank you to our Collaborating Partner, East Village Cafe, as well as our Sponsor, Save a Child Foundation

Join us for this month’s International Poetry Gathering, where we highlight the powerful voices of Writers of Color of Santa Cruz, bringing together diverse perspectives through poetry and spoken word.
This event will feature three poets from diverse backgrounds, sharing their unique poems and cultural expressions.Whether you are a poetry enthusiast or a first time listener, come be inspired and share your own poems in any language that you like!

Geneffa Jahan, is co-Editor of Portable Peace Protest, from Iraq to Palestine, teaches English at Cabrillo College. She created the Salaam Initiative and Chai Society to empower the presence of (in)visible minorities on campus. She worked with Cabrillo students to host Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here in 2023 and 2024. Her photograph-poem selected as part of the traveling Shadow & Light exhibition, honoring the lives of Iraqi academics who have been targeted and slain. Her first poetry collection, Spilling the Chai, is available on Amazon.
Learn more at: www.geneffajahan.com

Elbina Batala Rafizadeh, Co-Editor of Portable Peace Protest, from Iraq to Palestine, immigrated from the Philippines with her family in 1964 and worked as a public health nurse in Watsonville and Pajaro Valley. She has taught at Bay Area universities and now faculty at West Valley Mission College. Her first collection of poetry, Keepers of the Malickong Rice Terrace is available on Amazon: www.elbinabatalarafizade.com

Joseph Jason Santiago LaCour is a Filipino and French Creole Spoken Word Poet and Hip-Hop Artist from the Midwest now living in Santa Cruz.

Educational Partnerships

IPG Monterey is proud to partner with International School of Monterey for this year's International Poetry Week!

This year, during International Poetry Week 2025, IPG Monterey is collaborating with International School of Monterey (ISM) to enhance student exposure to poetry. At the school, 3rd-8th graders are invited to craft their own poems around the themes of collective community and individuality. Expanding on the relationship between the Arts, students are also invited to submit works of art or music inspired by the poetry of their colleagues at ISM. For those who don't have the call to written poetry will have the opportunity to still tap into their creativity and self-expression through these alternative mediums. This approach allows for students to collaborate, creating their own self-expression through mutual creative exploration.Throughout Poetry Week 2025, the ISM student body will able to submit their works, with their names or anonymously, at the ISM Library — where they will be displayed for the entire ISM community.We also invite any of the students who wish to, to submit to IPG for public sharing of their works (with parent approval). We will post here on our website and on social media.Our deep gratitude to the administrative and teaching staff at ISM for their enthusiasm and collaboration on this project, as well as the students for their participation. We hope that this year's partnership can lead to future collaborations with other schools across the Monterey Bay in future.

Learn More About ISM Here

Origins of International Poetry Gathering

In Fall of 2019, a group of Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) students (Arabic learners, international students, and other students) and Professor Rana Issa from the Arabic Language Studies department, met and decided to collaborate on hosting new internationally centered events on campus. The group named itself MIIS International Cultural Gatherings, finding common ground in the members’ shared love of all things international: culture, cuisine, dance, art, and music.This organization was the precursor to the International Poetry Gathering of Monterey. When Rana Issa joined efforts with Marie Butcher, also at MIIS, they carried these ideals into the larger community. Hosting monthly meetings open to the public, as well as launching International Poetry Week in 2020, these efforts to honor Poetry, Community, and the Arts continue to grow.GOALS:
To deepen the understanding of different cultures, helping to forge interpersonal and community connections that counteract times of uncertainty, division, and challenge. We facilitate familiarity and appreciation through social interaction, creating new opportunities to spark creativity, and help to build strong bonds of trust through vulnerability and honesty. We seek to be positive, engage, detox, and rejuvenate.VALUES:
Poetry:
The stringing together of words — written or spoken — has been an intrinsic human experience for millennia. We know the power and beauty of this practice and art at a visceral level. Illuminating the immense power of this medium for the betterment of our communities — and world — is central to who we are.Connection:
As humans, we share more than what separates us. Connection not only makes our community stronger, but facilitates healthier mental and physical health in individuals.Creativity:
Creativity and art taps into universal truths that connect us as humans. Exploring the variety of ways we express ourselves across a global landscape only enriches us all individuals, while also creating more resilient communities.Rejuvenation/Health: Getting to know those in our community helps to dispel possible negative impressions that could generate from misunderstandings or stereotyping. Coming together around poetry spreads the power of words, and fosters the sharing of our shared humanity. Nurturing not only external peace, this kind of understanding also facilitates personal inner growth and comprehension.

If you are interested in collaborating with us, or have questions, please drop a line below.