“I love Pablo Neruda’s big-hearted exuberance, especially his odes,” says former Utah poet laureate (2012 – 2017) Lance Larsen. “Linguistically and metaphorically, ‘Ode to My Socks,’ goes everywhere. Neruda the man was a collector of antiques, maritime flotsam and jetsam, glassware, seashells, figureheads of ships. In 2019 I […]
Artists of Utah is excited to announce the finalists for this year’s 15 Bytes Book Award for Poetry. 2019 marks the 7th year for this annual award, given to recognize excellence in publishing for books written by a Utah author or with a Utah connection. We received a […]
The epigraph to Lance Larsen’s new collection of prose poems is attributed to Paul of Tarsus: “Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and suffer need.” Evoked, of course, is the ever-famous notion of negative capability […]
“When I was a student, the feeling was composers were super nerdy, academic, and kind of out of it,” says Christian Asplund. “Composers were the pocket protector guys.” Asplund didn’t see himself in that vein, but he knew he wanted to write and perform music since grade school. […]
What do a rusty sewer grate, “Llama Crossing” street sign, rabbit, and a metal screen door have in common? On the surface, not much. Aside from the llama-crossing sign, these are all ordinary things anyone might see in a neighborhood or while out for a drive in the […]
READ LOCAL First is your glimpse into the working minds and hearts of Utah’s literary writers. Today, 15 Bytes features Utah Poet Laureate Lance Larsen who provides three poems below. Sunday Blog Read continues to collect a distinguished group of established and emerging Utah writers for your review and […]
In the wake of a spate of articles and rebuttals on the “death” and usefulness of poetry, on its accessibility, and other catalysts of infighting amongst schools of poets, Lance Larsen’s new collection, Genius Loci, came as welcome relief. Many of Larsen’s poems transcend such specialization and erudition. They are […]
Last week Governor Gary Herbert named BYU professor Lance Larsen the state’s new poet laureate. As the Daily Herald reports, during his five-year term the Springville resident will travel the state “promoting what he calls a lost art form” (read the article here). Larsen, and his artist wife […]
