Comments about ‘Live Poets Society: Salt Lake City poets push art form's rebirth’

Once there was a paper named the TRIBUNE
fed to Singleton on a Silver Spoon
When the times they got tought
Dean said I've had enough
and declared Chapter 11 before noon!

I am appalled that one of Utah's preeminent poets, Alex Caldiero, was not featured in this story. Caldiero has done more for poetry in Utah than any other individual. His unique blend of Ginsberg-esque jamming and Sexton-ian seriousness catapults him far above any of the poets mentioned in this article. Also, why a picture of Dave Alberti, but no mention of him in the article? Alberti, with forthwith speed and blatant tenacity, launches his words into the air as if they were baseballs and then slams them out of the park with his unmistakable sincerity. What about Alberti's colleague, Cody Winger? Winger's smooth tone and whimsical, wispy words take the listener into the backyard of his brain. An enhancement to this article would have included a mentioning of magical Jaguar Duffy, a poetic beast, or Shawn Stradley, a Keats in his own right. David Knowlton, an anthropologist at UVU, slowly guides you to his etymological mecca, fusing words so that they sound like music, as if he sat home and sewed them gently together. Deseret News, the article should have zeroed in on the members of this budding poetic metropolis.

salt lake poetry is like vatican city hard rock.

Gee Appalling, I don't see
your name on the story
Maybe the writer/witness sought
a "scene"
instead of the same old same old
not the past and
the usual suspects

A scene? Seriously? The "scene" died long ago, when bulldozers razed Sugar House. That was a scene, this is a joke.

Less purple prose, please. You're trying a little too hard. Utah has--and has always had--a vibrant poetry scene. Thanks for highlighting some of its accomplished members.

Heck, Appalling, the fact that read-poetry (verus lyrics where poetry never died) has survived academia and the "what does it mean" method--that this piece could even be written, should be cause for celebration!

And the lobster who compared the joyful blossoming in SLC to Vatican City hard rock. Whatever. While you've got your nose in the air catching flies, the rest of us will be enjoying the sights and sounds around us.

Great article that will hopefully inspire the readers to put pen to paper or feel welcome to attend one of our many open mic readings. Not everyone gets to get mentioned in an article. It's not about the individuals, but the community. Greenhouse Effect has become a lovely community experience and so has the monthly slam and bi-weekly open mic at Mo's Grille. Please come and share your voice or listen, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised. And don't forget Alchemy, Wildhorse, and Mestizo coffee houses! They all have readings, as well!

They may have bulldozed Sugarhouse, shut down our original downtown venue, and pushed us gradually out of, into, and out of every coffeeshop in Salt Lake City, but they will never kill the poetry scene in this town. Perhpas it's because of judgmental jerks (@wow) and a criminally oppressive political structure, both of whom accidentally inspire the counterculture to flourish and blossom, and to continue to breathe new life into genres folks see as discarded. Thanks for the great article, Des News. Keep it up.

poetry is a lone and hard struggle anywhere. allies are difficult to find. i've managed to find a few but not where i was looking.

The article barely scratched the surface about all the poetic happenings in this valley. This is a great thing. In order to tell the whole story with all the multifaceted angles, you'd have to use the entire news spread. So true Flora! It's not about the venue, Rome rises and Rome falls. Poetry happens everywhere. You only need an open mind to live it.

While I appreciate being called a magical poetic beast I am glad that my name is not in this article. New voices, new names is what the 'scene' is all about. I think this article is well written and hopefully will draw even newer voices and new listeners to the various venues. The most inportant thing is that there is a 'scene' wherever, whenever, however, whoever...whatever. To those already in the 'scene' I will restate what I hope is obvious to you...I am thrilled at your very existence!!!

harold bloom called slam poetry 'the death of art.'

this writer supports that opinion.

Such a beautiful community we have! There are so many amazing things happening! This year is proving to be fantastic! Pride, Utah Art's Festival, Traveling poets, Features! And this is just the tip of the Iceberg! ‘Subrosa of Salt’ is a new event that happens on the last Saturday of every month!! We are having a fund raiser for Healing Haiti at Flow Yoga on Saturday, Jan 30th from 8pm to 12pm! It is a multi-art platform of poetry, dance, visual art, dance, music! Parents may even bring kids as there is a kid’s room with interactive art! Come be apart of this interactive dream of artists!

S'not about who got their name or pic here, or not every venue getting mentioned (NoBrow Coffee, Kilby Court, Urban Lounge and in Ogden, MoJo's are other occasionals not listed and there are more) - rather that the D. News actually put some leg work into a respectful article about the surge of live poetry in the Valley and consulted multiple sources. That alone is occasion for celebration.

As for poetry and alt culture losing venues and whole neighborhoods due to business machinations which have so far come to naught, poetry can't be silenced by padlocking doors or tearing down buildings or even by burning books and persecuting poets. Its "scene" is a state of mind, a yearning in the human spirit to express and share, it predates even writing and it will be with us when much else has passed.

And as for slam being "the death of art" such charges have been flung at most new art movements for centuries at least. Slam is not the be-all and end-all of poetry, but was pivotal in bringing poetry out of ivory towers where it was withering and back into the public square!

As soon as it becomes a "scene" it starts to die. What is increasing is the tendency to organize complex systems that becomes increasingly more difficult to penetrate. Newcomers feel intimidated, while others are pushed out if they do not subscribe to the scene.

Death is in stagnation, not evolution and branching. Hip hop didn't kill Rock and Roll, but you can trace it's roots back to the rock beats the DJs first sampled. Slam was conceived to take poetry to the common man, so let it be that. There are plenty of hacks on either side, and geniuses as well.

To each their own.

Just for clarification, there is only one slam in Salt Lake City, but many open mic events where musicians, academic/page poets, performance poets, and others gather. It is actually very difficult to find poets who wish to "compete" in a poetry slam. The scene is and will always be fueled by different artistic voices, and the folks who start drama or feel put upon or pushed out are constantly starting up events and movements that cater more to their tastes.

I would challenge any newcomer to attend the Greenhouse Effect open mic and not feel like they were welcomed. There's a lot of love under that roof. And if you feel that you weren't, tell me and I'll try and fix it/figure out what happened. I'm easy to find. Without new voices, art has no growth.

I'm so glad to see SLC taking off with poetry, so thumbs up to all you talented poets! ps keep on snappin!

Glad to see bars and coffee shops allowing talented poets to get approval of other poets and hope more establishments let this continue to grow for the economy and all the people interested in this activity. Rock On!!