Northampton Names New Poet Laureate
by Ashley Potter via MassLive
Ari Banias has been named Northampton’s new poet laureate
NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Arts Council has named Ari Banias as the city’s poet laureate for the 2026-2028 term.
Succeeding Franny Choi as the 11th poet to hold this title, Banias will serve as an ambassador for poetry in the region, educating the public on the importance of poetry as an art form through public readings and community-based projects.
“It’s very meaningful to me to be in this role, especially at a time when communities I hold dear or am part of are under increasing attack,” Banias said in an email to The Republican. “I’m looking forward to organizing poetry events in the wider area that I hope can ignite connection — between ideas, within and among people, and across communities.”
Banias, who has lived in Northampton since 2023, is the author of two full-length poetry collections: 2021’s “A Symmetry,” which won the 2022 Leslie Feinberg Award for Trans & Gender Variant Literature, and 2016’s “Anybody,” which was a finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award.
Additionally, he has received fellowships from MacDowell, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Wallace Stegner Program, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing and the Headlands Center for the Arts.
