EDITOR’S NOTE: To read more about some highlights of this year’s Wordfest literary arts program, see the feature about Darius Atefat-Peckham here, Thatcher Elmer here and poetry slams here. For the 25th year of the Utah Arts Festival’s literary arts program, there is a new coordinator – poet Trish Hopkinson – and a new name … Read more
The state of poetry as an oral art form in Utah is thriving. Last year, at national competition, the Salt Lake City Unified team, which took first prize at the Utah Arts Festival’s slam contest, finished in fourth place among 72 teams, the best performance ever for a Utah-based team. And, the prospects for the … Read more
When he was 12, Darius Atefat-Peckham started writing poetry. “I grew up in poetry and it felt like it had to happen, whether I liked it or not,” he says in an interview with The Utah Review. Through a crack in the bathroom door, he read his first poem to his dad who was taking … Read more
Cowboy poets, a unique tradition in the American West literary scene, have a sizable presence at this year’s Wordfest literary arts program for the Utah Arts Festival. They include well-known veterans including C. R. Wood, from Delta, Utah whose business card reads simply, “auctioneer,” and Sam DeLeeuw, who is a rancher with her husband. However, … Read more