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

January 2, 2020September 3, 2020 / trishhopkinsonpoet / 1 Comment

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 Open Mic + Book Launch Party, Tuesday, Jan. 15 @ 6:30 – Pioneer Book, Provo

January 7, 2019 / trishhopkinsonpoet / Leave a comment

The Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book announce the release party of Orogeny, the fourth collection of poems by local Utah County poets along with an open mic on Tuesday, January 15, 2019 at 6:30 pm.

Orogeny is the fourth 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 more information, contact the Rock Canyon Poets, rockcanyonpoets@gmail.com.

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm

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

Poetry Open Mic + Book Launch Party, Tuesday, Feb. 13 @ 6:30 – Pioneer Book, Provo

February 3, 2018 / trishhopkinsonpoet / 1 Comment

The Rock Canyon Poets and Pioneer Book announce the launch party of Orogeny, the third collection of poems by local Utah County poets along with an open mic on Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at 6:30 pm.

Orogeny is the third annual printed anthology by Rock Canyon Poets members. Each contributing poet receives a free copy and additional 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.

Where: Pioneer Book – 450 West Center Street, Provo

When: Tuesday, June 14, 2016

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.

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

The Daily Herald features Rock Canyon Poets for Nuclear Impact Utah event this Tuesday, May 9, 6:30 pm at Pioneer Book

May 7, 2017 / trishhopkinsonpoet / Leave a comment

Big thanks to Court Mann and photographer Dominic Valente for the excellent story and photographs in this Daily Herald article that was published this morning about our upcoming Nuclear Impact Utah event this Tuesday, May 9 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm at Pioneer Book in Provo.

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 with a brief Q&A with the filmmakers. The event and open mic are open to the general public. No ticket necessary.

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/

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

August 4, 2016August 4, 2016 / 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

Poetry Launch Party and Open Mic at Pioneer Book in Provo

June 9, 2016 / trishhopkinsonpoet / 1 Comment

The 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

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

Poetry Reading and Open Mic – Tuesday, June 9, 2015 at Pioneer Book

May 22, 2015 / trishhopkinsonpoet / 6 Comments

Join 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: June 9, 2015 (2^nd Tuesday of every month)

6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Browse the shelves at Pioneer Book and mingle

7:00 – 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.