The Utah Arts Council has been supporting Utah's literary community for 51 years. The Utah Original Writing Competition began in 1958 and has since expanded to other offerings, including readings, conferences and workshops all over the state, as well as providing a series of professional development seminars for writers.
Utah initiated its Poet Laureate program in 1997. The Poet Laureate is a Governor-appointed advocate for literature and the arts throughout the state. The Poet Laureate is available for readings at public events and in venues including libraries, universities and schools. In just the past two years, the Poet Laureate Program has made 27 presentations in 10 Utah communities. Our current Laureate, Katharine Coles of Salt Lake City, is a professor of creative writing at the University of Utah and is also the founding director of the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago.
Bite-Size Poems
In 2009, Utah Poet Laureate Katharine Coles launched the Bite-Size Poetry Project. The goal of the project is to put a bite-sized poem (one that can be read aloud in one minute or less) in front of every Utahn every month. Eighteen of Utah's finest poets have contributed their bite-size poems and recorded them on video. Each month a different poem is featured and sent out in an e-mail blast, as well as being streamed as a video file from Web sites at NowPlayingUtah.com and KUER-FM.
Support of literary publishing in Utah is exhibited through these fine publications:
Utah Authors Book Collection
The Utah Authors Book Collection began as a program of the League of Utah Writers called Save Utah’s Book Sensibly (SUBS). In the SUBS program, Utah writers sign and donate a copy of their newly published books to the collection. This practice continues, and the Utah Authors Book Collection has hundreds of first-edition books by Utah authors. This collection will soon be available to the public in digital form.
Utah Original Writing Competition Manuscript Collection
Winning manuscripts from the Original Writing Competition have been collected for many years. These manuscripts have been preserved in the State Archives but very soon will be made available online. Watch for an announcement about this exciting new offering.
Poetry Out Loud
Recitation and performance are major new trends in poetry. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation have partnered with the Utah Arts Council’s Literature Program to support the expansion of Poetry Out Loud, which encourages Utah’s youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance.
Original Writing Competition
The annual Original Writing Competition has won national respect because of the reputation of its judges and the honors received by its winners. For more than 50 years, this competition has honored some of Utah’s finest writers with public recognition, career assistance and cash prizes.
The following professional development seminars are available on DVD. Contact Guy Lebeda for more information.