You can read more about the festival, it’s history, and Utah Humanities here. And make sure to save the date for the Rock Canyon Poets feature reading at Speak For Yourself Open Mic in Provo on Thursday, October 19 at 6:30 p.m.
Welcome to the Utah-focused list of Poetry STILL Happens, brought to you by Rock Canyon Poets. We’re now keeping a running list that will be updated regularly to help you get a dose of poetry by attending both in-person and online events, prompts and resources for writing your own poems, and submission calls.
Tune in on KRCL RadioActive for Poetry STILL Happens streaming recordings available on their website and Facebook, as well as the Rock Canyon Poets website and Facebook. Follow both to make sure not to miss a thing! The new features will include announcements and a reading from a Utah poet.
If you have an event or announcement related to poetry in Utah, please contact us here.
Welcome to the Utah-focused list of Poetry STILL Happens, brought to you by Rock Canyon Poets. We’re now keeping a running list that will be updated regularly to help you get a dose of poetry by attending both in-person and online events, prompts and resources for writing your own poems, and submission calls.
Tune in on KRCL RadioActive for Poetry STILL Happens streaming recordings available on their website and Facebook, as well as the Rock Canyon Poets website and Facebook. Follow both to make sure not to miss a thing! The new features will include announcements and a reading from a Utah poet.
If you have an event or announcement related to poetry in Utah, please contact us here.
Welcome to the Utah-focused list of Poetry STILL Happens, brought to you by Rock Canyon Poets. We’re now keeping a running list that will be updated regularly to help you get a dose of poetry by attending both in-person and online events, prompts and resources for writing your own poems, and submission calls.
Tune in on KRCL RadioActive for new Poetry STILL Happens mini-features, played throughout the month and featured on their web site and Facebook, as well as the Rock Canyon Poets web site and Facebook. Follow both to make sure not to miss a thing! The new features will include announcements and a reading from a Utah poet.
If you have an event or announcement related to poetry in Utah, please contact us here.
15th Wasatch IronPen Writing Marathon, in which artists of the written word face off in a 24-hour writing competition! Adult and Youth writers of all experience levels can participate in one of three genres (Fiction, Non-fiction or Poetry) or can take on the IronPen Ultra and write in all three!
Writers of all experience levels can register for the marathon at the SLCC Community Writing Center (located at Library Square, Suite 8) or register online. Participants must register by Friday, June 24th, at 6:00 p.m. Registration for the IronPen is $10 for one genre (Fiction, Non-fiction, or Poetry) or $15 for the IronPen Ultra (all three genres).
After receiving the prompt on Friday, June 24th at 6:00 p.m., writers will have exactly 24 hours to write. Submissions are due Saturday, June 25th at 6:00 p.m. Visit CWC website or call 801-957-2192 for more details.
A monthly recurring poetry slam based in Provo Utah!
First Friday of every month at 7pm (unless otherwise stated).
Please come and listen to some awesome poetry! Want to share something you’ve written? Sign up for the next slam here: https://forms.gle/BMP6YByjRTo5boB86
Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.
Welcome to the Utah-focused list of Poetry STILL Happens, brought to you by Rock Canyon Poets. We’re now keeping a running list that will be updated regularly to help you get a dose of poetry by attending both in-person and online events, prompts and resources for writing your own poems, and submission calls.
Tune in on KRCL RadioActive for new Poetry STILL Happens mini-features, played throughout the month and featured on their web site and Facebook, as well as the Rock Canyon Poets web site and Facebook. Follow both to make sure not to miss a thing! The new features will include announcements and a reading from a Utah poet.
If you have an event or announcement related to poetry in Utah, please contact us here.
April 2022 marks the 26th annual celebration of poets and poetry and it’s not too late to make a plan for poetry month! Whether you want to sign up to write a poem a day or unofficially just plan to crank out some poetry in April, there are plenty of prompts and resources to keep you going strong all month. And that’s not all that’s going on either. Note: Check back often, since I’ll be updating this list as I come across other resources to participate in poetry month.
National Poetry Month is the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K-12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, bloggers, and, of course, poets marking poetry’s important place in our culture and our lives. Read more about the creation of National Poetry Month here at Poets.org. And, click here for a complete list of national, virtual happenings.
Utah@125 – a collection of 125-word essays and poems to celebrate this state – will host eight simultaneous readings (plus a ninth bonus reading) on Indie Bookstore Day.
This event is thought to be the first-ever simultaneous reading at bookstores across the state. Among the readers will be former Utah poet laureates, award-winning slam poets, prominent Utah journalists, as well as award-winning fiction writers, poets, and essayists.
More than 40 writers, five in each location, will read 125-word pieces at six Utah bookstores at 3 p.m. The simultaneous readings will take place on Saturday, April 30 in Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Sandy, and Provo bookstores. Plus: There will be a virtual Zoom reading at 3 p.m. and an additional Salt Lake City reading at 5 p.m. at Weller Book Works.
All of the Utah@125 readings — of essays and poems published as part of the state’s Thrive125 celebration — are free. Join the events at 3 p.m. or catch the 5 p.m. reading.
As a celebration of Utah’s writers and bookstores, this project is sponsored by the Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement, Utah Arts & Museums, Torrey House Press, and Utah’s independent bookstores.
PARTICIPATING STORES:
The Utah Poetry Festival is free and open to the public. Virtual events can be watched live or streamed later via the Utah Humanities YouTube channel. In-person events will strictly follow CDC-recommended protocol for Covid-19. All virtual events will be closed captioned by AI Media. Registration will open in February. View the schedule to register. Festival attendees must register for each event they wish to attend.
1-2 PM Red Butte Poetry Walk and Workshop. Write poems in Red Butte Garden with Utah Poet Laureate, Paisley Rekdal. A poetry workshop for teens on up: writing prompts provided. Free, in-person and outside. Register with Red Butte Gardens.
4-5:15 PM Celebration of Chapbooks. An in-person reading to celebrate new and recent chapbooks by Robert Baldwin, Aaron Cance, Melissa Salguero, Lisa Roullard, Susan Sample, Natalie Taylor, Candace Thomas, and Sunni Brown Wilkinson. The King’s English patio. Masks required for entry into the store.
Ongoing virtual event: Make your own chapbook! A virtual tutorial on chapbook-making by Michelle Macfarlane available on the Utah Humanities YouTube Channel starting April 2nd.
ROUNDTABLE: 9:30-10:15 AM MST
Poetry Out Loud vs Poetry Slam: A Teacher’s Roundtable
In this panel for high school teachers, organizers will discuss what divides and unites the Utah High School Poetry Slam Initiative and Poetry Out Loud. We will discuss strategies for bolstering the strengths of both programs and bringing together these communities for the benefit of all students. With Jean Tokuda Irwin, Amanda Hurd and Sally Wilde. Moderated by Willy Palomo.
CRAFT TALK 1: 10:30-11:15 AM MST
Artist Books and Re-Thinking the Page
What happens when poets combine image with text, or treat the poem (and book) as a visual and conceptual object, not just a literary one? From poetic experiments with time and collage to radical documentary or “uncreative writing” projects, this craft discussion around book arts and writing will make you re-think the material possibilities of the page. With Kathryn Cowles, Nathan Hawke and Craig Dworkin. Moderated by Paisley Rekdal.
CRAFT TALK 2: 11:30-12:15 PM MST
Poetic structure both excites and vexes poets at every stage of development, presenting the glorious challenge of working out how the logic of the poem’s sentences will interact with the competing logic of its structure. This session features four poets who offer perspectives on the kinds of questions poets ask as they balance the demands of form (even in so-called “free verse”) against the story the poem unfolds. With Michael Lavers, John Talbot, Meg Day. Moderated by Kimberly Johnson. *This panel will have an ASL interpreter.
CRAFT TALK 3: 2-2:45 PM MST
Poets increasingly work in multi-modal forms, combining text not only with image but sound, video, animation, mapping technologies and more. In this panel, we’ll explore the many ways that poetry has begun to merge with other forms of digital, visual and sonic technologies, expanding our ideas of what a poem is. With Ben Gunsberg, Danielle Susi, Laura Stott, Alex Caldiero. Moderated by Lisa Bickmore.
CRAFT TALK 4: 3-3:45 PM MST
Organizing a Poetry Manuscript with Jason Olsen, Lance Larsen, Cindy King. Moderated by Jennifer Tonge.
APRIL 16th, 7-8 PM MST Headline Reading with Danielle Dubrasky, Nancy Takacs, and John Belk. Hosted by Paisley Rekdal – A headline reading to celebrate new and recent books by Utah poets Danielle Dubrasky, Nancy Takacs, and John Belk.
Welcome to the Utah-focused list of Poetry STILL Happens, brought to you by Rock Canyon Poets. We’re now keeping a running list that will be updated regularly to help you get a dose of poetry by attending both in-person and online events, prompts and resources for writing your own poems, and submission calls.
Tune in on KRCL RadioActive for new Poetry STILL Happens mini-features, played throughout the month and featured on their web site and Facebook, as well as the Rock Canyon Poets web site and Facebook. Follow both to make sure not to miss a thing! The new features will include announcements and a reading from a Utah poet.
If you have an event or announcement related to poetry in Utah, please contact us here.
The Utah Poetry Festival is free and open to the public. Virtual events can be watched live or streamed later via the Utah Humanities YouTube channel. In-person events will strictly follow CDC-recommended protocol for Covid-19. All virtual events will be closed captioned by AI Media. Registration will open in February. View the schedule to register. Festival attendees must register for each event they wish to attend.
1-2 PM Red Butte Poetry Walk and Workshop. Write poems in Red Butte Garden with Utah Poet Laureate, Paisley Rekdal. A poetry workshop for teens on up: writing prompts provided. Free, in-person and outside. Register with Red Butte Gardens.
4-5:15 PM Celebration of Chapbooks. An in-person reading to celebrate new and recent chapbooks by Robert Baldwin, Aaron Cance, Melissa Salguero, Lisa Roullard, Susan Sample, Natalie Taylor, Candace Thomas, and Sunni Brown Wilkinson. The King’s English patio. Masks required for entry into the store.
Ongoing virtual event: Make your own chapbook! A virtual tutorial on chapbook-making by Michelle Macfarlane available on the Utah Humanities YouTube Channel starting April 2nd.
ROUNDTABLE: 9:30-10:15 AM MST
Poetry Out Loud vs Poetry Slam: A Teacher’s Roundtable
In this panel for high school teachers, organizers will discuss what divides and unites the Utah High School Poetry Slam Initiative and Poetry Out Loud. We will discuss strategies for bolstering the strengths of both programs and bringing together these communities for the benefit of all students. With Jean Tokuda Irwin, Amanda Hurd and Sally Wilde. Moderated by Willy Palomo.
CRAFT TALK 1: 10:30-11:15 AM MST
Artist Books and Re-Thinking the Page
What happens when poets combine image with text, or treat the poem (and book) as a visual and conceptual object, not just a literary one? From poetic experiments with time and collage to radical documentary or “uncreative writing” projects, this craft discussion around book arts and writing will make you re-think the material possibilities of the page. With Kathryn Cowles, Nathan Hawke and Craig Dworkin. Moderated by Paisley Rekdal.
CRAFT TALK 2: 11:30-12:15 PM MST
Poetic structure both excites and vexes poets at every stage of development, presenting the glorious challenge of working out how the logic of the poem’s sentences will interact with the competing logic of its structure. This session features four poets who offer perspectives on the kinds of questions poets ask as they balance the demands of form (even in so-called “free verse”) against the story the poem unfolds. With Michael Lavers, John Talbot, Meg Day. Moderated by Kimberly Johnson. *This panel will have an ASL interpreter.
CRAFT TALK 3: 2-2:45 PM MST
Poets increasingly work in multi-modal forms, combining text not only with image but sound, video, animation, mapping technologies and more. In this panel, we’ll explore the many ways that poetry has begun to merge with other forms of digital, visual and sonic technologies, expanding our ideas of what a poem is. With Ben Gunsberg, Danielle Susi, Laura Stott, Alex Caldiero. Moderated by Lisa Bickmore.
CRAFT TALK 4: 3-3:45 PM MST
Organizing a Poetry Manuscript with Jason Olsen, Lance Larsen, Cindy King. Moderated by Jennifer Tonge.
APRIL 16th, 7-8 PM MST Headline Reading with Danielle Dubrasky, Nancy Takacs, and John Belk. Hosted by Paisley Rekdal – A headline reading to celebrate new and recent books by Utah poets Danielle Dubrasky, Nancy Takacs, and John Belk.
If you have an event or announcement related to poetry in Utah, please contact us here and we will include it in our next edition.
Rock Canyon Poets, in participation with KRCL 90.9 FM, are currently working on design and printing of our forthcoming chapbook Poems of Summer. The deadline was September 15, 2021.
Tune in on KRCL RadioActive for updates on the forthcoming chapbook and for new Poetry STILL Happens mini-features, played throughout the month and featured on their web site and Facebook, as well as the Rock Canyon Poets web site and Facebook. Follow both to make sure not to miss a thing!
Rock Canyon Poets are proud to announce they will be reading poetry for the fifth time at the Big Mouth Stage on Friday, August 27, 2021 from 7:20 – 8:00 p.m. as literary artists for the Utah Arts Festival. You can read about our 2015 performance in this Daily Herald Article: Newly formed Rock Canyon Poets perform at Utah Arts Fest.
Rock Canyon Poets boasts diverse membership, ranging from 19 to 70+ years in age with many backgrounds–including literary journal founders, editors, ex-military, business professionals, a playwright, and a periodontist. Individually, they have received several awards and been published in magazines, anthologies, journals, chapbooks, and full-length books of poetry. Rock Canyon Poets offer poetry with the tactile clarity of tin-can messages through fuzzy strings to the ears of an audience. These poems are tumbleweeds in semi-truck grills. They get stuck in your teeth, build bridges of spun sugar, and make it possible to mount a camel without a sturdy ladder.
The Utah Arts Festival takes place Friday, August 27 – Sunday, August 29, 2021 12 noon to 11pm, on Library and Washington Squares in downtown Salt Lake City (200 East 400 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111).
Co-founded by Bonnie Shiffler-Olsen and Trish Hopkinson in 2015, Rock Canyon Poets was established to develop camaraderie among Utah Valley poets, provide consistent workshopping and reading opportunities, and promote the disciplined study of writing poetry as a serious art form. Members meet twice a month at Pioneer Book in historic downtown Provo. The group sponsors poetry readings and an open mic on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. Membership is by invitation or portfolio submission only.
For more information, contact the Rock Canyon Poets, rockcanyonpoets@gmail.com.
Twenty-two writers. Twenty-two original views of Utah. Collected as Utah @ 125, these works of flash nonfiction are part of Thrive125, a far-ranging cultural initiative celebrating the state’s 125th anniversary.
What: Utah @ 125, a collection of new 125-word nonfiction pieces by Utah writers
When: Published February 2021
Where: Available at thrive125.utah.gov/utah-at-125
The flash nonfiction pieces in Utah @ 125, each just 125 words long, were commissioned from writers ranging from Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal, a University of Utah professor, to Lance Larsen, a former state poet laureate and Brigham Young University professor, and Tayler Fang, a recent Logan High School graduate, who served as 2019-2020’s National Student Poet of the West.
Other writers include slam poets, playwrights, nature writers, activists and novelists, based in Vernal, Cedar City, Provo, West Valley City, Eagle Mountain, Logan and Salt Lake City. These short-short essays describe a Bonneville Trail hike on the winter solstice, the anchoring feeling of watching quails march across a front yard, extraordinary views from on top and inside the artworks of “Spiral Jetty” and “Sun Tunnels,” and what it means to grow up in a town like Beaver.
The Utah Department of Heritage & Arts published Utah @ 125, a new digital literary chapbook, as part of Thrive125. The ambitious statehood celebration, which was launched Jan. 4 with a TV broadcast hosted by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and featuring Utah performing artists, will continue throughout the year.
Along with the literary chapbook, the Thrive125 initiative includes: a database of Utah’s 1896 architecture; “Becoming Utah: A Peoples’ Journey,” a short educational film with curriculum resources about Utah’s history; a One Book, One Utah state library book club highlighting Craig Child’s “Virga & Bone”; a “Voices: Discord and Harmony in 1896” digital exhibit; plus historical and cultural panels, such as “Wintertime Native American Tales”; and “Coming Together: How Utah Became the Union’s 45th Star,” an exhibition at the Utah State Capitol.
Rock Canyon Poets 