poetry open mic

Inspired, Vol. 6 Poetry Anthology now available!

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Couldn’t be more proud of our incredible talented community poets here in Utah! I am honored to have edited and released this anthology of Self-Portrait poems earlier this week. Special thanks to our designer Austin Beckstrom who always does such an incredible job! He loves book design, so if you’re needing an incredible designer for an affordable rate, definitely check him out. Also, HUGE thanks to

Utah Humanities for their support of Rock Canyon Poets.
You can find all our anthologies here:
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Inspired: Virtual Anthology Launch & Poetry Open Mic, Tues. Nov. 10 @ 7:00pm

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The Rock Canyon Poets in participation with the Utah Humanities Book Festival, announces the anthology launch of “Inspired,” a community poetry writing experience and open mic on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at 7:00 pm. The event is open to the public via Zoom and no ticket is required.

To register, email rockcanyonpoets@gmail.com.

“Inspired” is a printed anthology of local Utah poets who recently participated in a free community poetry workshop on self-portrait poems (poems using writing prompts focused on expression of the self). Each contributing poet receives a free copy and additional copies will be available to the public for $5 + shipping at RockCanyonPoets.com. 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.

Where: Virtually via Zoom
When: Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 pm

Rock Canyon Poets boasts diverse membership, ranging from 19 to 72 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.

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.

Poetry reading + open mic featuring Natasha Sajé, Tuesday, Mar. 10, 2020 @ 6:30pm

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Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book are please to present Utah poet Natasha Sajé. The event begins with an open mic at 6:30pm and runs until 8:00pm at Pioneer Book (450 W. Center) in historic downtown Provo on Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Sajé will read her work and present a poetry writing prompt.

Natasha Sajé is the author of three books of poems, including Vivarium (Tupelo, 2014); a book of poetry criticism, Windows and Doors: A Poet Reads Literary Theory (Michigan, 2014); and a book of creative nonfiction, Terroir: Love, Out of Place (Trinity UP, 2020). She teaches at Westminster College in Salt Lake City and in the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing Program. http://www.natashasaje.com

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

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

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

Poetry reading + open mic featuring Kimberly Johnson – Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020 @ 6:30pm

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Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book are please to present Utah poet Kimberly Johnson. The event begins with an open mic at 6:30pm and runs until 8:00pm at Pioneer Book (450 W. Center) in historic downtown Provo on Tuesday, February 11, 2020. Johnson will read her work and present a poetry writing prompt.

Kimberly Johnson is the author of three collections of poetry, most recently Uncommon Prayer, and of book-length translations of Virgil and Hesiod. Recipient of grants and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation and the NEA, she has recent work in New England Review, Harvard Review, and The Cincinnati Review. She teaches Renaissance literature and creative writing at BYU.

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

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

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

Poetry Open Mic + Book Launch Party, Tuesday, Jan. 14 @ 6:30 – Pioneer Book, Provo

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The Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book announce the release party of Orogeny, the fifth anniversary collection of poems by local Utah County poets along with an open mic on Tuesday, January 14, 2019 at 6:30 pm.

Orogeny is the fifth annual printed anthology by Rock Canyon Poets members. Contributing poets receive a free copy and additional copies will be available to the public for $10 at the event. The event begins with an open mic, after which, Rock Canyon Poets will read their work from the anthology. Light refreshments will be served. Open to the public. No ticket necessary.

“For an excellent overview of today’s literary Utah, Orogeny is the best source I’ve seen. The Red Rock Canyon Poets have assembled a splendid, first rate collection and even a single read through will convince the reader that all is indeed hale and hearty in Utah’s literary scene. This is a quite delightful and delightfully readable anthology, one of the very best literary magazines I’ve seen this year: it does Utah proud. Bravo y ole’.”

—David Lee, Utah’s first poet laureate and author of So Quietly the Earth

“Orogeny, the fifth anthology of the Rock Canyon poets, breaks through the trite tropes and stereotypes about Utah to explore the undiscovered nooks and crags in our mountain ranges. Friends of form will delight in the prowess and precision of Tacey Atsitty’s opening round of sonnets, whereas slam poetry enthusiasts will find a brother in Chris Atkin’s soul-wrenching poems about self-love and resilience. What I appreciate most about this anthology is the way it creates space for even the most tattered parts of us. In ‘Permu-gay-tions,’ Aaron Gates flips a canonical biblical verse to ask “Shall not man lie with man?” In ‘Birthmark,’ Laura West reclaims a piece of herself shamed by a bully, and in ‘I Remain Affectionately Yours,’ Marianne Hale Harding ugly cries in a Wal-Mart after a divorce. In Oregeny, may we all find a home, another healing and birth.”

—Willy Palomo, Chief Editor of La Piscucha Magazine

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

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

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.

Poetry reading + open mic featuring Karen Kelsay Davies & Peter Davies – Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019 @ 6:30pm

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Utah poets Karen Kelsay Davies and Peter Davies will read their work as featured poets at the monthly poetry reading and open mic at 6:30 p.m. on October 8, 2019 at Pioneer Book in Provo. Karen will read her own work and Peter will read the work of John Whitworth.

Karen Kelsay Davies has been writing free verse and formal for the past twenty years. She is the founding editor of The Orchards Poetry Journal and the Managing Director of Kelsay Books, a rapidly growing poetry publishing company that has published roughly seven-hundred titles in the past eight years. Karen’s poetry has been nominated seven times for the Pushcart Prize. In 2012 her book Amytys Leaves Her Garden won the Association for Mormon Letters Award.

Peter Davies, born in England, has lived in the United States for the past thirty years. He retired from running a distribution business IN California and now works at Kelsay Books as a copy editor. Although he doesn’t write poetry, he has a natural talent for reading it and has performed at numerous events across the United States. Peter lives in American Fork and travels to England often.

John Whitworth wrote poetry that was both popular and proficient. He has been described as a “master of metrical whigmaleerie.” Whitworth graduated from Merton College, Oxford. His work appeared in many English journals. John taught a master class at the University of Kent and was a well-loved formalist poet. His last book “Joy in the Morning,” was published by Kelsay Books.

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

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

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

Poetry reading + open mic featuring Michael Lavers – Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019 @ 6:30pm

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Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book are please to present Utah poet Michael Lavers. The event begins with an open mic at 6:30pm and runs until 8:00pm at Pioneer Book (450 W. Center) in historic downtown Provo on Tuesday, September 13, 2019.

Michael Lavers is the author of After Earth, published by the University of Tampa Press. His poems have appeared in Crazyhorse, 32 Poems, The Hudson Review, Best New Poets 2015, TriQuarterly, The Georgia Review, and elsewhere. He has been awarded the Chad Walsh Poetry Prize, the University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize, and the Michigan Quarterly Review Page Davidson Clayton Prize for Emerging Poets. Together with his wife, the writer and artist Claire Åkebrand, and their two children, he lives in Provo, Utah, and teaches poetry at Brigham Young University.

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

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

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

Poetry reading + open mic featuring Kara van de Graaf – Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019 @ 6:30pm

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Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book are please to present Utah poet Kara van de Graaf! The event begins with an open mic at 6:30pm and runs until 8:00pm at Pioneer Book (450 W. Center) in historic downtown Provo on Tuesday, August 13, 2019.

Kara van de Graaf is the author of Spitting Image, winner of the Crab Orchard First Book Prize in Poetry (SIU Press, 2018). Individual poems appear widely in national literary journals, including The Southern Review, AGNI, New England Review, The Gettysburg Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, and the anthology Best New Poets. Other honors include the Hoepfner Award from Southern Humanities Review, an Academy of American Poets Prize, a fellowship from Vermont Studio Center, and a Tennessee Williams Scholarship from Sewanee Writers Conference. Kara is co-founder and editor of Lightbox Poetry, an online educational resource for poetry in the classroom (www.lightboxpoetry.com). She serves as Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Utah Valley University and live in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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

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

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

Open Mic Poetry Reading – Tues., June 11, 2019 from 6:30 – 8pm at Pioneer Book

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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: Tuesday, June 11, 2019

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.

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.

Poetry reading + open mic featuring fish burton – Tuesday, April 9, 2019 @ 6:30pm

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Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book are please to present Utah poet Fish Burton! The event begins with an open mic at 6:30pm and runs until 8:00pm at Pioneer Book (450 W. Center) in historic downtown Provo on Tuesday, April 9, 2019.

fish burton is a poet who has lived in over thirty different houses. he has an m.f.a. in poetry from b.y.u. and has been published in inscape and collision magazine. his first chapbook, sonder,   is a collection of poem portraits. currently, he is a member of rock canyon poets and writes somewhere he has never lived before. find him at fishburton.com.

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

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

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm