Opportunities for Poets In Utah State Poetry Society Diamond Jubilee Year

Utah's State Poetry Contest winners will be announced and prizes awarded at Utah State Poetry Society's Diamond Jubilee Convention April 23 and 24 at the Salt Lake Airport Hilton. Dr. Lance Larsen will be the featured poet. Deadline for contest entries is a February 1 postmark. Convention registration information and contest guidelines are detailed in: USPS 2010 Contest Rules. 

All Utah poets are invited! In fact, several prizes are open to only non-members, with the hope that discovery of this gathering of poets will bring awareness that if you enjoy poetry, you are among friends.

This two day feast of poetry will culminate Saturday evening with a program for winners of  Utah Poets Student Division, Junior Creative, sponsored by the Salt Lake Tribune and USPS. All students, public, private, and home school, are urged to enter poems. Student deadline is February 15.  See the utahpoets.com Youth page for more details.

This project is supported by the Utah Arts Council, with funding from the State of Utah and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believe that a great nation deserves great art.

The following is a 15-Jan-10 message from Helen Keith Beaman, USPS President Elect:

Get excited! Our annual April Award Festival is just around the corner. I hope you have your submissions for the contest well under way, and are already deciding what clothes you want to wear. I investigated the possibility of changing our venue, but found the other options so much more expensive, that we felt quite happy coming back to the Hilton Salt Lake City Airport Hotel. They have served us so well in the past and even came down on the price of the rooms--$62.00! And you can share—Wow! When I first started coming to the Festival in about 1993—yes! Time does fly—it was so exciting. It seemed that everyone stayed at the hotel, even those who lived close, and the hotel was not nearly as lovely as our Airport Hilton. There was such a marvelous feeling of camaraderie; I would like to see it that way again. So scrimp and save and arrange for baby sitters and transportation, and make any and all arrangements necessary so that you can come. Please, please come and let’s make this our most wonderful Festival ever—after all it is our Sixtieth Diamond Jubilee Festival. If you have missed a few years, now is the time to make a comeback. So, fill out your registration, make your reservation, pack your bags in wild anticipation, and let’s meet at our wonderful destination: Utah State Poetry Society April Award Festival 2010 at the Hilton Salt Lake City Airport Hotel.