Rock Canyon Poets road trip! Utah poets performed at Lithic Bookstore & Gallery in Fruita, CO

Several Rock Canyon Poets road tripped to Fruita, Colorado last weekend for poetry writing workshops and a special reading at Lithic Bookstore & Gallery.

While the poets trickled into town on Friday and Saturday, the festivities began with a workshop from Kyle Harvey of Lithic about the poetic line. With the help of some well-known poems, attendees got a different look at how some poets chose to break lines and received some advice for their own work.

Trish Hopkinson also taught a workshop on response poetry. She led people through some of the different types and styles of response poetry. At the end, the attendees had a chance to try their hand at it, and some responded to poets like Maggie Smith, W.B. Yeats, Chen Chen, Paisley Rekdal, and Sandra Beasley.

The event culminated in a reading at Lithic, which was well-attended. Aaron Gates, Bonnie Shiffler-Olsen and Dennis Clark were the featured poets. Colin Douglas, Jack Garcia, Lisa Connors, Shelby Slade and Trish Hopkinson also shared some of their poems. The reading was followed by an open mic and several audience members read.

The Rock Canyon Poets would like to thank Danny and Kyle from Lithic for hosting the event, which provided a wonderful opportunity to learn new things, interact with other poets and share our work. Danny also offered many of the visiting poets a place to stay and graciously opened his home for them.

–by Shelby Slade, photo credits: Leigha

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Poetry reading + open mic featuring Laura Hamblin – Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017 @ 6:30pm

Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book are please to present local favorite & emeritus UVU professor Laura Hamblin!

Laura Hamblin is a professor emeritus from Utah Valley University. She received her PhD from the University of Denver, and has taught at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the University of Jordan in Amman. She taught creative writing, composition, women’s literature, the history and theory of the genre of poetry, and seminars including topics on Martin Buber. William Blake, and women poets. Laura’s awards include The Faculty Excellence Award from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculty Ethics Award, and the Service Learning Award. Her book, The Eyes of a Flounder, was published by Signature Press. In 2007-8 she lived in Amman where she gathered oral histories of Iraqi women refugees, see  http://www.iraqiwomenrefugees.com/. Laura is recognized in “Utah Women’s Walk” which highlights women who have made a significant contribution to the state of Utah. (The presentation opened September 2017 at Thanksgiving Point.) In addition to poetry, Laura’s interests include beekeeping, gardening, quilting (a number of her quilts have been shown in museums), and traveling.

Hamblin visits Pioneer Book as a guest of the Rock Canyon Poets. The reading and open mic are open to the general public.

For more information, contact the Rock Canyon Poets, rockcanyonpoets@gmail.com.

Official event page: https://rockcanyonpoets.com/category/events/

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm