Photo credit: Daily Hampshire Gazette

Gary Metras is Easthampton’s inaugural Poet Laureate, and he is also a part of Easthampton City Arts’ Literary Committee organizing our 5th Annual Easthampton Book Fest and additional literary opportunities to support local writers and to benefit the greater Easthampton area!

Metras is a poet, printer, publisher, teacher, and fly fisherman. He is the author of “White Storm” (Presa Press, 2018), “Two Bloods: Fly Fishing Poems” (winner of the Split Oak Press Poetry Chapbook Award), and “Francis d’Assisi” (Finishing Line Press, 2008), which was a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award.

In 1979 Metras founded Adastra Press, which prints and publishes short collections of quality contemporary poetry using the methods of the antique book arts, letterpress printing, and hand-sewn bindings. He has worked with and published such renowned poets as Thomas Lux, Michael Casey and Ed Ochester and has published many debut collections. Adastra Press has produced over 80 titles by more than fifty poets from around the country.

The Easthampton Poet Laureate award has been funded by the Easthampton Cultural Council, with generous support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.