Events
River Writing is for everyone and we'd love to welcome you to the table. If the $40 tuition presents a barrier to your participation, please request sliding scale. If you'd like to dive in a bit deeper, consider joining a multi-week series. Click here to see our current schedule.
The Phalarope Fun Bus to Antelope Island! 3/22/25

Saturday, March 22nd
Departing SLC at noon and will return around 5 pm
Meet at the parking lot of the North Temple Trax Station. The approximate address of the parking lot where the bus will be waiting is 126 N 600 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84116. The lot is right beneath the North Temple Bridge. If you are driving from downtown SLC, when you get to the bottom of the bridge, turn right on 600W. We'll be right there! ADA seating available. Please write to Nan to reserve.
Great Salt Lake Celebrants Cael Crosby and Chanel Sorenson will be your welcoming hosts. Your State Park fee is included with this $3 registration. (Our poetry reading is free.) Songs, Phalarope stories, & optional masks will be provided. Bundle up for the outdoor event!
Songs Scored by Shorelines is the 4th annual reading of irreplaceable, a collective praise poem devoted to Great Salt Lake. The poem is a prayer for the full restoration of the lake and an homage to all the species she sustains. This tribute continues to swell and contains over 400 voices.
Every word we read and sing will be presented directly to Great Salt Lake as an offering of love and devotion for our imperiled sacred lake.
Songs Scored by Shorelines: the Irreplaceable Poetry Reading 2025

Saturday, March 22nd, 2-4pm. Antelope Island State Park, Buffalo Point
Everyone is welcome! ASL Interpretation provided by Drake Heap and Francescia Paxton.
ADA Accessible. Free with registration.
Join us for our 4th annual reading of irreplaceable, an ever-flowing collective praise poem devoted to Great Salt Lake. The poem is a prayer for the full restoration of the lake and an homage to all the species she sustains. Our words will be offered directly to Great Salt Lake as a show of love and devotion.
Readers & Singers
Darren Parry
Carl Moore
Liz Weight
Cael Crosby
Carson Tueller
Sophia Cutrubus
Rebecca Brenner
Josh Craner & 6th grade students:
Arya Roberson, Rory Scholle-Moore, Mae Pilstl, & Elle Moore
Franque Bains
Jasmine Hennigs-Cornell
Ben Abbott
mica vainright
Katie Boué
Olivia Dudding-Rodriguez, Poet Laureate of Helper, Utah
Eva López Chávez
Mickaela Allison-Aliifua
Yara Ghabayen
Lisa Bickmore, Utah Poet Laureate
nan seymour
Lake-facing art on display!
Engage with cyanotype waves designed by many community members along the watershed with loving direction from Making Waves artist Sarah May. Get to know some Great Salt Lake species by spending time with illustrated flags by artist Kellie Bornhoft's collection, By A Thread.
Transportation
Register here for $3 bus ride (includes park entry) on a chartered bus departing at 12:00 pm from the North Temple Trax Station in SLC. If you come in your own vehicle, the state park fee ($15 per vehicle) will apply. Plan for extra travel time! Dress in warm layers for outside. You may wish to bring a blanket.
2 Hours @ the Table with Tiffany 3/31/25

Two Hours at the Table with Tiffany
6:30 - 8:30 PM MST
Meeting on Zoom
Everyone is Welcome! (16+)
Limited to 8 Participants
About Tiffany
About River Writing
We create a friendly place to practice by making community agreements. We read poetry aloud to find prompts and then write with pen and paper to say the truest things we can say. Before beginning, we agree to be kind, to keep each other’s confidence, and to listen to each other with undivided attention. We agree to take care of ourselves and to share responsibility for creating a welcoming space. Everyone is invited. We practice non-judgement by forgoing apology, critique, and praise. It can be challenging not to praise each other, but we choose to opt out temporarily in order to take respite from the culture of comparison. Sharing your writing is optional. When you choose to read, we respond simply by saying thank you.
Confluence: A Reading from the River on 4/10/25

Thursday, April 10th 6-7pm MST.
Meeting on Zoom.
Register before April 10th 5pm to receive the link
Uncensored. Everyone is invited! (16+)
Join us for the sheer pleasure of listening!
Featured poet, Sarah May
Our Readers
Karen Bayard
Tiffany Burns
Moudi Sbeity
Marybeth Jarvis Clark
Karen Bean
Cat Cates
Debbie Fetters
Suzy Eskenazi
Maria Davis
nan seymour
About Sarah May
Our featured poet Sarah May will open with selections from her new book "Our stories are our bodies". Sarah May is a Salvadoreña artist, weaver, poet, and bruja who has long called the Lake home. As someone who lives in the in-between of multiple worlds and identities, Great Salt Lake is a sacred place where she is seen and held in all she is and where she cultivated her magic into the artist, poet, and storyteller she is today. Sarah served as the Director for the 2025 Great Salt Lake Vigil at the Capitol.
About River Writing
We write together in circles shaped by community agreements. This is the practice: we read poetry aloud to find a prompt and then write with pen and paper to say the truest thing we can say. Before beginning, we agree to be kind, to keep each other’s confidence, and to listen to each other with undivided attention. We agree to take care of ourselves and to share responsibility for creating a welcoming space. Everyone is invited. We practice non-judgement by forgoing apology, critique, and praise. It can be hard not to praise, but we choose to opt out temporarily in order to take respite from the culture of comparison. When a participant chooses to read, we respond simply by saying thank you.
2 Hours @ the Table with Karen 4/17/25

Thursday, April 17th from 6:00-8:00 pm MST
Meeting on Zoom
Everyone Welcome! (16+) Sliding scale available
Limited to 8 Participants
About Karen
About River Writing
We create a friendly place to practice by making community agreements. We read poetry aloud to find prompts and then write with pen and paper to say the truest things we can say. Before beginning, we agree to be kind, to keep each other’s confidence, and to listen to each other with undivided attention. We agree to take care of ourselves and to share responsibility for creating a welcoming space. Everyone is invited. We practice non-judgement by forgoing apology, critique, and praise. It can be challenging not to praise each other, but we choose to opt out temporarily in order to take respite from the culture of comparison. Sharing your writing is optional. When you choose to read, we respond simply by saying thank you.
2 Hours @ the Table with Karen 5/11/25

Sunday, May 11th from 2:00-4:00 pm MST
Meeting on Zoom
Everyone Welcome! (16+) Sliding scale available
Limited to 8 Participants
About Karen
About River Writing
We create a friendly place to practice by making community agreements. We read poetry aloud to find prompts and then write with pen and paper to say the truest things we can say. Before beginning, we agree to be kind, to keep each other’s confidence, and to listen to each other with undivided attention. We agree to take care of ourselves and to share responsibility for creating a welcoming space. Everyone is invited. We practice non-judgement by forgoing apology, critique, and praise. It can be challenging not to praise each other, but we choose to opt out temporarily in order to take respite from the culture of comparison. Sharing your writing is optional. When you choose to read, we respond simply by saying thank you.