Raegan Butcher (born January 15, 1969) is an American poet and singer. He is known for his association with the anarchist collective CrimethInc., who published his first two books of poetry, Stone Hotel and Rusty String Quartet. According to a CrimethInc. biography, Butcher was born in Seattle, Washington and moved to Snohomish, Washington in his youth. In 1991, he published his first written work: a chapbook of poetry titled "End Of The World Graffiti". Three years later, in 1995, he appeared in a Seattle independent film titled The Year Of My Japanese Cousin.In 1996, Butcher was arrested and convicted for first degree robbery and sentenced to eight years in prison. During his sentence, he wrote the poems that would make up Stone Hotel, along with numerous screenplays and other currently unpublished works. He was released on March 17, 2003. Clamor identified Stone Hotel as among CrimethInc.'s best work, calling it a "great start" for Butcher and "commendable in many ways". Butcher has named, among others, Leonard Cohen, Billy Childish, Charles Bukowski, and Edward Bunker as influences. In the early summer of 2005 Raegan Butcher lived in Cuernavaca.In January 2008, Scissor Press released an album titled Pale & Skinny: 1986–1992, consisting of ten songs Butcher sang with his punk rock group Pale & Skinny (which he formed when he was a teenager). Aside from writing and music, Butcher is also interested in film directing. Raegan Butcher has two companies, PNS Productions and Butcher Films, which is currently producing a film titled Gone Shooting.
[on life before the internet] I liked not having to deal with the phone when I was at work or in my car. I think all of this technology is a double-edged sword. I love using the internet to research my novels, but I am not a big fan of social media, which seems to be making a lot of people into cyber-bullying assholes. And as an artist these days, it feels a lot like high school -- there is always someone more popular than you, getting more hits, more applause, more love or whatever. I am only on social media sites to try to promote these books, not to tell people what I ate for breakfast.
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[on his biggest accomplishment] Considering the amount of times I've contemplated killing myself, I'd say just being alive is an accomplishment.
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[on the easiest way to make the world a better place] Be nice to old people, little kids, and all animals. Don't litter.
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Prison is like high school--with knives.
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Fact
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Author of horror science fiction novels Fury of the Chupacabras (Necro 2016) and Revolt of the Chupacabras (Necro 2016).
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He is the author of two full length poetry books, Stone Hotel: Poems From Prison and Rusty String Quartet.
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