2020 Utah Original Writing Competition Winner: Travis Petersen
Petersen’s dialogue is fast; his descriptions are succinct. Chapter 1 of The Prayer of St. Francis adds another worthy addition to the library of READ LOCAL First.
Voices from the River
This month we bring you selections by five local authors. Voices from the River includes pieces by Karen M. Bayard, Sean Patrick McPeak, Suzy Eskenazi, Emilia Wint, and Gail Weinflash.
Several Poems by Bob Rees
Bob Rees is Director of Mormon Studies and Visiting Professor at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He was a Fulbright Professor of American Studies in the Baltics. His writing has appeared in local, national, and international publications.
Abdal Aşık: Three Poems in English & Turkish
Love and beauty are prominent themes in Aşık’s work, which he describes as “ordered by the soul.” This installment of READ Local First includes three poems in Turkish with the poet’s English translations.
Beatrice and Nan: Excerpts from An Unremarkable Girl
An Unremarkable Girl is a mother/daughter memoir by Nan Seymour and Beatrice Washburn. The book tells the story of Beatrice, a transgender girl from Utah, who survives the perils of a misgendered adolescence… to become herself.
Four poems by poet Meg Day
Welcome to this month’s edition of READ LOCAL First: Utah’s most comprehensive collection of accomplished poets and authors. This month we introduce you to deaf, genderqueer poet Meg Day. Day is the author of Last Psalm at Sea Level (Barrow Street, 2014), winner of the Publishing Triangle’s Audre Lorde Award, and a finalist […]
Shakespeare Wrote in the Time of Plague
During the time of Shakespeare, church leaders likened cats to witches. Rebecca Pyle: “With less cats came more rats, more fleas, more people infected too: black plague.”
Julie Turley: Rock Moves
Utah native Julie Turley is quarantining in Brooklyn, New York. She’s a writer and librarian. The 15 Bytes editorial staff extends its well wishes to Julie, as well all artists, writers, and residents in Manhattan—the epicenter of our country’s coronavirus outbreak. The photograph pictured here was taken in Utah prior to the pandemic.
Shauna Brock: Eskhára
Recently, Shauna Brock read her short story, Eskhára, to a crowd at Finch Lane Gallery. The event was part of our READ LOCAL Onsite series. Now, READ LOCAL First brings you the story in print.
Ranjan Adiga : Climbing Mountains in Nepal
Ranjan Adiga, a fiction writer, creative nonfiction writer, and Associate Professor at Westminster College. He grew up in Nepal and writes in English as a second language. His short fiction focuses on South Asian immigrants — among the fastest growing communities in the United States but underrepresented in media and literature. Among other publications, his stories and articles have appeared in Story Quarterly, Belmont Review, Salt Lake Tribune, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. In 2017, his short story “Bombay Curry Kitchen” took second place in the 60th Annual Utah Original Writing Competition. Today’s publication is a personal essay.
Michael Mejia: Matanzas
READ LOCAL First boasts Utah’s most comprehensive collection of accomplished writers who practice fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, and memoir. This month we bring you Michael Mejia, author of the novels TOKYO and Forgetfulness, both published by FC2. Mejia’s fiction and nonfiction have appeared in many journals and anthologies, including AGNI, DIAGRAM, The […]
Heidi Hart: Four Poems
READ LOCAL First represents Utah’s most comprehensive collection of celebrated and promising writers of fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, and memoir. This month we bring you Heidi Hart. Hart teaches German and English at Weber State University. She is a Pushcart Prize-winning poet with an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and a […]