St. George poet offers free workshop and more to southern Utah poetry scene

by Paul D. Dail

In his latest efforts to enhance both the poetry scene and the artists who comprise it, St. George poet Darren Edwards will be offering a free workshop through the Dixie Poets chapter of the Utah State Poetry Society entitled “Put Life into Your Poetry” on Saturday morning, Jan. 24, at the Washington County Library in St. George.

Edwards has worn a lot of different hats when it comes to the southern Utah poetry scene. He has taught at Dixie State University and Utah State University. He was the editor-in-chief of “The Creative,” a magazine dedicated to the arts in southern Utah. He founded Storm the Mic, a weekly open mic event at Jazzy’s Java in St. George, as well the Wham Bam Slam, the only poetry slam in southern Utah sanctioned by Poetry Slam, Inc., the nonprofit organization that oversees the international coalition of poetry slams.

In his latest endeavor—the free workshop on Saturday—Edwards will be offering techniques to help poets improve their presentation while reading poetry aloud. He said attendees to the workshop will be in good company, with several members of the Utah State Poetry Society already planning on being in attendance. However, he wanted to be clear that this isn’t just about slam poetry, a competitive event where poets are judged both on their writing and their performance.

“Most [Poetry Society members] have no interest in slam poetry,” Edwards said, “but they have no idea how to present their work orally. I’ll be showing poets how to make their work come over better. There are some real simple techniques, like how to take performance notes and different tips and tricks that can help engage the audience.”

Even though poetry is generally considered primarily a written art form, Edwards says that being able to perform poetry, even if just at an open mic, can make the writer a better poet.

“As people get up and perform, they can tell what connects with the audience and what doesn’t,” Edwards said. “They automatically know if a line that was supposed to be funny or tender doesn’t land like it’s supposed to, and then they can go back and rework it.”

Edwards can personally speak for the benefits of poets getting up on stage to perform. As part of the Wham Bam Slam, he took a team from southern Utah to the 2014 National Poetry Slam Competition in Oakland, California.

“For a rookie team, we did about as well as you could expect,” Edwards said. “We had a really rough draw for our very first bouts … We went up against three of the best teams in the nation, two of which made it to the semi-finals and one that won the whole thing. But it was a really good learning experience. We had two goals in going. One was to expose some of our poets to a national stage and the other was to bring the experience back to the community here.”

Edwards said while the first goal was obviously met, he is seeing the effects of the second goal as well.

“A lot of poets that were just starting out last year are now really revved up for the experience, and more poets want to try to get on our nationals team.”

Besides competing at nationals, Edwards said there are many other venues in the area offering more casual performance opportunities. In addition to Storm the Mic, which Edwards handed off to Ron Coulson to run every Tuesday at Jazzy’s at 7:30 p.m., he also mentioned an open mic in Cedar City at Main St. Books and several others in Las Vegas.

Edwards’ presentation “Put Life into Your Poetry” will take place on Saturday, Jan. 24, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Washington County Library located at 88 West 100 South in St. George. The workshop is free and open to the public.  Edwards said that poets can bring more than one of their favorite poems, but depending on the numbers in attendance, he will most likely only be able to workshop one piece. The workshop is made possible through grants to the Utah State Poetry Society from the National Endowment to the Arts and the Utah Division of Museums and Arts.

An optional luncheon at George’s in St. George will follow the workshop, of which Edwards will be attending. For more information on the event, contact the workshop chair Lin Floyd at [email protected].

In addition to Storm the Mic every Tuesday, the next Wham Bam Slam event will be Feb. 13. More information can be found at the Storm the Mic Facebook page or by contacting Darren Edwards at [email protected].