Westminster College Poetry Series

By McCall Mash

Westminster College will host a four-part poetry series throughout the upcoming school year starting on Thursday, Sept. 17.  

The series is called the Anne Newman Sutton Weeks Poetry Series. Each reading will begin at 7 p.m. and will be located on Westminster College’s campus. Following the reading, there will be a book signing and reception with food; everyone is invited to join and talk to that evening’s poets.

The Weeks Poetry Series is sponsored by the Zoo, Arts, and Parks program of Salt Lake County, which helps to keep the readings free.

The series also hosts two other events: the Utah Humanities Book Festival located at the Salt Lake City Library on Saturday, Oct. 17, and a free poetry workshop for students and community members, led by Brandon Som.

The series is directed by Natasha Sajé. Sajé is an English professor at Westminster College and  is the adviser for Ellipsis, the college’s literary magazine. This year’s issue of Ellipsis will debut at the final poetry reading of the 2015/16 poetry series.

As a fellow poet, Sajé understands the importance of creating the perfect pair “When I pair poets at each event, I look for some resonance and some consonance between the poets,” Sajé said.

The series’ first reading started with award-winning poets Ruth Ellen Kocher and Ashley Seitz Kramer. Kramer lives in Salt Lake City and is an assistant dean at Westminster College and a doctoral student in education, culture and society at the University of Utah. Kocher is a professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo.

The Weeks Poetry Series’ calendar, along with more information, can be found online at www.westminstercollege.edu.