Dr. Michelle Reale, access services and outreach librarian, associate director for the Center for Antiracist Scholarship, Advocacy, and Action, professor, and published poet, has been named the 2026 Montgomery County Poet Laureate. She will formally become poet laureate in a ceremony and reading on April 17 at 7 p.m. at the Eclipse Center for Creative Community in Lansdale, Pa.

Reale, who teaches in Arcadia’s MFA in Creative Writing program, said the recognition came after years of persistence, including previous second- and third-place finishes.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” she said. “It’s something I’ve just wanted for a long time.”

The Poet Laureate serves as a one-year poetry ambassador in Montgomery County, collaborating with the program’s executive director to plan readings, workshops, and a signature community service project that anchors the program. To apply, Reale selected 10 poems from across her catalogue of previously published work, three of which are posted on the program’s website. Her community service project aims to expand access to poetry through community-based programming, particularly in public libraries.

“ I want to have something along the lines of ‘Lift Every Voice,’ and I want to hold workshops and libraries for people who don’t necessarily think of themselves as poets,” she explained. “For people who like to scribble, people who like to make poems, but have never thought of doing it in a more formalized way.”

Reale emphasized the role of creative expression in times of uncertainty and how it can help individuals process complex moments.

“It’s not just teaching about poetry for publication or anything like that. We are living in a very historical moment right now, to say the least. And I think that creating helps people get through. Writing poems, painting, whatever you do that’s a creative outlet is helpful to yourself, and if you share it, it’s helpful to others.”

Reale’s work often explores themes of identity, particularly her Italian American heritage. She said being named poet laureate has affirmed her commitment to authenticity in her writing.

“It has emboldened me to really hone my voice further, to hone the voice that I already have. I think my poetry doesn’t appeal to everyone, but it’s authentic,” she said. “Even if [the judge] isn’t from my background, somehow my poem spoke to them. That emboldens me to know that I need to continue writing things that are important to me in my own voice.”

Here on campus, Reale is preparing to take over leadership of the MFA program on July 1. She hopes to build on its existing foundation while exploring opportunities for greater collaboration between poetry and fiction writers.

“ I’m excited to get to know all the students who enter that program, not just the poetry students,” said Reale. “I’m interested in hearing about their experiences of writing, in seeing who they are. Who’s coming to our program? Why Arcadia? I want to hear what they need. I want to hear what are the particulars of what is important to them. Getting to know them and getting to know at large what is important to people in the program will help me to shape it.”

She is also completing a forthcoming poetry collection, “Beautiful Lying Disguise,” which examines the legacy of asbestos contamination in Ambler, Pa., where she was born and raised. The collection reflects on the environmental and human toll of the town’s history as a major asbestos production site.

For Reale, both her writing and her laureateship are grounded in a shared goal: helping others find and trust their own voices.

“ Each individual voice is so important. No one writes like you,” she said. “You have something to contribute, and I think this is one of the most important things you have to convince yourself of when you want to write, that you have something to say and it is worthwhile. And you have to write for yourself first. If you are pleasing yourself and you’re authentic, then that authentic voice will please other people.”