UTAH STATE POETRY SOCIETY

NURTURING THOSE WITH A DESIRE TO WRITE POETRY

Poetry shared. Life shared.

The Utah State Poetry Society is an organization dedicated to the creation and appreciation of poetry. While the major activities focus on writing, members are encouraged to read and listen to the great poetry of our time and our heritage.

Upcoming Events

Apr

26-27

Utah State Poetry Society Spring Festival

You are cordially invited to attend in-person the Utah State Poetry Society Spring Festival at the Residence Inn, Provo, Utah (1290 South University Ave.). Admission fees for members ($30). visitors ($5), and students (Free).

Come one, come all to the 2024 Spring Festival! We will be honored to hear from guest speakers Michael Lavers and Rob Carney. Carney will also lead us in a workshop about writing poetry. We will have the pleasure to learn the winners of 38 categories of the annual UTSPS poetry contest and hear the winners read their winning poems. We will also honor a poem from five past Book of the Year (BOY) books in a new section called “A Moment In Time.” Light refreshments will be available. Mark it on your calendar and plan on attending now!

For more details about the event, please read the UTSPS Spring Festival Flyer.  

  

  

Online Poetry Readings

Recently Past Events

2023 UTSPS Annual Contest & April Awards Festival

The UTSPS 2023 poetry contest winners (including honorable mentions) are now available as a PDF download here.

The UTSPS held the 2023 Spring Awards Festival on April 28th and 29th as a fully online event (via Zoom). Our guest speakers for the event were Lisa Bickmore, current poet laureate of Utah, Budd Powell Mahan, former president of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, WIlly Palomo, president of the Utah Slam Poetry chapter, and Rachel Chidester, the Utah State Slam Champion for 2022.

Contest rules for the 2023 UTSPS annual contest (deadline was 2/1/2023) can be found here.

2022 NFSPS Annual Convention

The National Federation of State Poetry Societies held its 2022 annual convention outside Columbus, Ohio. The contest winners from the NFSPS annual contest have been posted to nfsps.com. It was wonderful to see “UT” listed 56 times! Here’s a direct link to the winners PDF.

Utah Poetry Festival April 2022

The Utah Poetry Festival 2022 was organized and hosted by Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal.  There was a statewide and month-long celebration of Utah’s poets and poetry throughout April 2022. Watch Utah poets read original poems highlighted throughout the month via the Utah Humanities YouTube channel.

Interested in preparing a poetry manuscript? Check out this panel discussion on the topic: Utah Poetry Festival: Organizing a Poetry ManuscriptDo you have a bunch of poems that you’d like to be a book? Are you uncertain about where to start, or stuck, or looking for some ideas before you begin? Join us for this practical discussion of how to organize a poetry manuscript. Panelists: Cindy King, Lance Larsen, Jason Olsen. Moderated by Jennifer Tonge.

2022 UTSPS Annual Contest & April 8-9 Awards Festival

The UTSPS 2022 poetry contest winners and honorable mentions are now available as a PDF download: UTSPS_2022_Winners_List.pdf.

UTSPS held our 2022 Spring Awards Festival on April 8th and 9th as a fully online event (via Zoom).

Contest rules for the 2022 UTSPS annual contest (deadline was 2/1/2022):
UTSPS_2022_Guidelines.pdf.

2022 Poetry In the Park & Redrock Creative Writing Seminar

The 11th annual Poetry In the Park (PIP) workshop was held March 4th in Zion National Park Nature Center. Renowned poet, Lola Haskins, led this workshop. See PIP for 2022 workshop details.

Redrock Writers’ 2022 Creative Writing Seminar was held on March 5th. Similarly, details for the 2022 seminar are at redrockwriters.org Annual Writing Seminar.

2021 UTSPS Book of the Year Concert

Michael Parker read from his 2021 Book of the Year, Divining the Spirits in the House of the Hush and Hush, at the October 16th Book Concert as an online reading.

2021 UTSPS April Awards Festival

The UTSPS 2021 poetry contest winners and honorable mentions are now available as a PDF download: UTSPS_2021_Winners_List.pdf.

UTSPS held our 2021 Spring Awards Festival as a fully online event, April 23rd & April 24th. Registration was limited to 100 participants. Priority for registration was for UTSPS members, then non-members who entered the UTSPS 2021 annual contest.

2021 Utah Poetry Festival April 16th – 18th

The 2021 Utah Poetry Festival was held as a fully online event April 16th to 18th. For details, see: Utah Poetry Festival 2021.

NFSPS 2021 Annual Convention

The National Federation of State Poetry Societies held its 2021 annual convention fully online, likely some time in June. See the nfsps.com Convention Information page.

More News

UTSPS New Chapters Formed!

One new chapter has been formed in 2022: Utah Poetry Slam! Two new chapters have been formed in 2017: Hinterland Poets (at large via online) and Willow Wind Poets (Kanab).

NFSPS Contest: BlackBerryPeach Prizes for Poetry: Spoken and Heard

The National Federation of State Poetry Societies hosts a contest for the spoken and heard word. Prizes: 1st Place $1,000, 2nd Place $500, 3rd place $250. Submission period is January 1 to March 15, 2022. Guidelines are at: nfsps.com/BBP3Guidelines.html.

NFSPS Quarterly Strophes Newsletter Available

See nfsps.com for the Strophes Online link for the latest issue.

UTSPS Blog

For the new UTSPS blog, go to utahpoetry.blogspot.com. See UTSPS members featured, each with a short bio, photo, and poem.

Other News

UTSPS members may list their recent poetry publications along with info on how to purchase. See the Publications page for current listings and directions on how to submit publications to be listed.

UTSPS Book of the Year info added to the Publications section.