Pioneer Book

Nuclear Impact Utah – Poets on the Nuclear West at Pioneer Book on May 9, 2017

/ trishhopkinsonpoet / Leave a comment

Nuclear Impact Utah – Poets on the Nuclear West is an event presented by the Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book, featuring contributors to the new Shabda Press anthology Nuclear Impact: Broken Atoms in Our Hands, including Bonnie Shiffler-Olsen, Trish Hopkinson, Michael McLane, Amy Brunvand, & C. Wade Bentley. Plus, clips from the film Downwinders and Q&A with filmmakers Tim Skousen & Tyler Bastian. The event begins with a poetry open mic followed by contributor readings and film clips at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at Pioneer Book in Provo, followed by a brief Q&A with the filmmakers. The event and open mic are open to the general public. No ticket necessary.

Rock Canyon Poets was co-founded by Bonnie Shiffler-Olsen and Trish Hopkinson in 2015 and 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. The group sponsors poetry readings and an open mic on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at Pioneer Book in historic downtown Provo. Membership is by invitation or portfolio submission only.

Pioneer Book is Utah County’s largest used and rare bookshop, carrying titles in a broad range of fields.

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

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/931968596940088/

Poetry reading & open mic featuring Kimberly Johnson — Tuesday, April 11, 2017 @ 6:30pm

/ trishhopkinsonpoet / 1 Comment

Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book are please to present local favorite & BYU professor Kimberly Johnson!

Kimberly Johnson’s most recent collection of poetry is Uncommon Prayer (Persea Books, 2014).  She is also the author of critical examinations of Renaissance literature and of translations of Virgil’s Georgics​ (Penguin Classics, 2009) and the works of Hesiod (Northwestern University Press, 2017).  Recipient of grants and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation and the NEA, she lives in Salt Lake City.

Johnson 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/

Click here to download a printable flyer.

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

Open Mic Poetry Reading – Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 at Pioneer Book

/ trishhopkinsonpoet / Leave a comment

RCP logo 1Join the Rock Canyon Poets for an evening of poetry. Not just any poetry—we want poetry that aches to be published, poetry that pushes the boundaries of the page, poetry that doesn’t need a performance, poetry that simply needs to be read. Bring your words in all of poetry’s traditional forms (from the sonnet to free verse) or just bring your ears for listening.

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: February 21, 2017

(usually the 2nd Tuesday of every month, but had to bump this one due to Valentines Day)

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Poetry Reading

Sign up in advance or just come and read!
These events are very casual and social. If you’d like to RSVP, add your name in a comment below, or email rockcanyonpoets@gmail.com. Each poet may read for up to 5 minutes. Maximum of 9 poets per reading. If there is time remaining, poets in the audience will have an opportunity to read.

Inspired reading for blog

Want to know more about Rock Canyon Poets? Follow our blog, Facebook, or Twitter. Open mic poetry readings happen the second Tuesday of every month at Pioneer Book in downtown Provo. Click here for more information on events.

Open Mic Poetry Reading – Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017 at Pioneer Book

/ trishhopkinsonpoet / Leave a comment

RCP logo 1Join the Rock Canyon Poets for an evening of poetry. Not just any poetry—we want poetry that aches to be published, poetry that pushes the boundaries of the page, poetry that doesn’t need a performance, poetry that simply needs to be read. Bring your words in all of poetry’s traditional forms (from the sonnet to free verse) or just bring your ears for listening.

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: January 10, 2017 (2nd Tuesday of every month)

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Poetry Reading

Sign up in advance or just come and read!
These events are very casual and social. If you’d like to RSVP, add your name in a comment below, or email rockcanyonpoets@gmail.com. Each poet may read for up to 5 minutes. Maximum of 9 poets per reading. If there is time remaining, poets in the audience will have an opportunity to read.

Inspired reading for blog

Want to know more about Rock Canyon Poets? Follow our blog, Facebook, or Twitter. Open mic poetry readings happen the second Tuesday of every month at Pioneer Book in downtown Provo. Click here for more information on events.

REALLY Important Modern Poetry special feature + Open mic–Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016 @ 6:30pm

/ trishhopkinsonpoet / Leave a comment

reallymodernpoetryeventThe Rock Canyon Poets are pleased to be hosted by Pioneer Book in downtown Provo for an enjoyable night of satirical poetry. The reading is open to the community and free to attend. Come join local Utah County poets and listen to them read the timeless poems of Kanye West, Sarah Palin, Lady Gaga, Charlie Sheen, and many other “well-versed” celebrities from The Anthology of Really Important Modern Poetry on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 6:30 pm. The reading will be followed by an open mic and light refreshments will be served.

Featured poets include Rock Canyon Poets’ co-founders Trish Hopkinson and Bonnie Shiffler-Olsen, along with several other members, including Paul Francis, Colin Douglas, Chris Atkin, Darin Whittaker, Austin Beckstrom, Neil Shelley, and Lisa Conners.

Pioneer Book is Utah County’s largest used and rare bookshop, carrying titles in a broad range of fields. They are proud to be the home of the Rock Canyon Poets, as well as hosts to regular reading events and a monthly poetry open mic.

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Provo, Utah 84601

When: Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

 

Inspired: A FREE Community Poetry Writing Workshop

/ trishhopkinsonpoet / 1 Comment

Memories can inspire–and expressing those memories in poetry can help us to remember, save, celebrate, and even heal. A free community poetry writing workshop entitled “Inspired” helps participants create a new poem as a response to a memory using writing prompts and exercises. Offered annually in participation with the Utah Humanities Book Festival by Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book, this workshop will be presented in two sessions, followed by a reception and poetry reading. Participants will be encouraged to submit their poem to be included in a printed anthology and contributors will receive a free copy.

Inspired2016_web-04

Where

Pioneer Book, 450 West Center Provo, Utah 84601

What to Bring

  • Photographs, journals, or other memory reminders (optional)
  • Pen and paper to write and/or an electronic device to write on (laptop, etc)
  • Drink/snack if you so desire

How to Sign-up

To sign-up, email your name and contact information to rockcanyonpoets@gmail.com. Seating is limited. Come ready to write!

Schedule

  • Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 at 6pm – Workshop #1: prompts and craft demonstration, writing exercises
  • Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016 at 6pm – Workshop #2: share and workshop first draft of poems
  • Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016 at midnight – Final poem submission due for anthology
  • Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016 at 6pm – Anthology launch party/reception and poetry reading

DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE FLYER

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE BOOK FEST CALENDAR

 

Open Mic Poetry Reading – Tuesday, Sept 13, 2016 at Pioneer Book

/ trishhopkinsonpoet / 1 Comment

RCP logo 1Join the Rock Canyon Poets for an evening of poetry. Not just any poetry—we want poetry that aches to be published, poetry that pushes the boundaries of the page, poetry that doesn’t need a performance, poetry that simply needs to be read. Bring your words in all of poetry’s traditional forms (from the sonnet to free verse) or just bring your ears for listening.

Rock Canyon Poets and Peculiar literary magazine have a booth at the Provo Pride Festival! Come by and see us this Saturday!

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT PROVO POETRY? FOLLOW OUR WEBSITE, FACEBOOK, OR TWITTER. OPEN MIC POETRY READINGS HAPPEN THE SECOND TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH AT PIONEER BOOK. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Sept 13, 2016 (2nd Tuesday of every month)

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Poetry Reading

How to Sign Up
Add your name in a comment below, or email rockcanyonpoets@gmail.com. Each poet may read for up to 5 minutes. Maximum of 9 poets per reading. If there is time remaining, poets in the audience will have an opportunity to read.

Inspired reading for blog

Reading by Emma Winsor Wood + Open Mic, Tuesday, August 9, 6:30 – 8:00 pm, at Pioneer Book

/ trishhopkinsonpoet / 1 Comment

Don’t miss this incredible poet! Emma Winsor Wood, originally from New York City, she holds a BA from Harvard in Russian History and Literature and an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she taught literature and poetry writing. Her poetry has received fellowships from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference and appeared in numerous journals. She is currently the deputy interviews editor at The Rumpus. Her first book A Failed Performance: Selected Plays of Daniil Kharms, a collaborative translation with the poet C. Dylan Bassett, is forthcoming from Plays Inverse in Winter 2018.

Wood visits Provo as a guest of Rock Canyon Poets. The reading is open to the general public.

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

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

Click here to download a printable flyer.

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

August RCP Flyer

Poetry double feature & open mic, Tuesday, July 12, 6:30 – 8:00 pm, at Pioneer Book

/ trishhopkinsonpoet / Leave a comment

Don’t miss two incredible poets: C Dylan Bassett and Elizabeth Cranford Garcia! Both originally studied at BYU and are here visiting from California and Georgia respectively.

Translator and poet, C Dylan Bassett is the author of The Invention of Monsters / Plays for the Theater and five chapbooks. His recent work is published in Black Warrior Review, Boaat, Ninth Letter, Washington Square and elsewhere. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he currently lives in California and teaches Creative Writing at UC Santa Cruz.

Elizabeth Cranford Garcia’s work has appeared in Boxcar Poetry Review, Poets and Artists, and Red River Review among others, as well as two anthologies, Fire in the Pasture: 21st Century Mormon Poets, and Stone, River, Sky: An Anthology of Georgia Poems. She currently serves as Poetry Editor for Segullah Literary Journal, and is a past editor of The Reach of Song, the anthology for the Georgia Poetry Society. Her first chapbook, Stunt Double, is now available through Finishing Line Press. She spends most of her time being mommy to two toddlers and keeping up with Walking Dead episodes with her husband in Acworth, Georgia.

Bassett and Garcia visit Provo as guests of Rock Canyon Poets. The reading is open to the general public.

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

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

Click here to download a printable flyer.

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

July RCP Flyer

Poetry Launch Party and Open Mic at Pioneer Book in Provo

/ trishhopkinsonpoet / 1 Comment

Orogeny2_facebookThe Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book announce the launch party of Orogeny, the second collection of poems by local Utah County poets along with an open mic on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 6:30 pm.

Orogeny is the 2nd annual printed anthology by Rock Canyon Poets members. Each contributing poet receives a free copy and copies will be available to the public for $10 at the event. Poets will read their work from the anthology, after which, the open mic will begin and audience members are invited to read a poem they have written or a favorite by another poet. Light refreshments will be served.

Click here to download a printable flyer.

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

What other Utah poets are saying…

“In these pages you’ll find starlings and stars, red rocks and coffee shops, turntables and wishing wells, burritos and razorbacks and reruns of The Sound of Music. In short you’ll find poets dreaming their way onto the page. By dreaming, I mean closing their eyes to see better, opening them to grab up any details they missed. Transformation is their state flower. ‘What if?’ their state song.” – Lance Larsen, Poet Laureate of Utah

“While Orogeny gestures to the spectacular Wasatch Mountains that loom above the Provo home of these nineteen poets, it also points back to origins and myths. In this collection we find a myriad of such stories of beginning (and hints at their endings) ‘folded and deformed by lateral compression to form a mountain range’– from fallen angels to exploding stars, from Eve to Eurydice and the spectacles of carnival or war. These poems lay at fault lines, at places of slipping, subverting, and rising above.” – Michael McLane, editor for saltfront and Sugar House Review

“The poets and poetry in this issues of Orogeny bend and deform the the crust of our shared experiences: loss and longing, joy and beauty, fear and grace. Formal sonnets, oblations, odes, elegies, and lyrics—these poems are the layered sediments of our lives here in the semiarid landscape that we call home. Reading these poems, we recognize ourselves, lone prophets wandering and ranting together in a rocky wilderness.” – Laura Hamblin, Author, The Eyes of a Flounder

Rock Canyon Poets boasts diverse membership, ranging from 18 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.

Co-founded by Bonnie Shiffler-Olsen and Trish Hopkinson in January, 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.