Aeva Dye-DelToro, of St. George, is the 2023 Utah Poetry Out Loud state champion.

On Winning: What Poetry Teaches Us

By Renée Leta || Photography by Samuel Jake Aeva Dye-DelToro, of St. George, was named 2023’s Utah Poetry Out Loud champion in the annual recitation competition sponsored by Utah Division of Arts & Museums. On May 9, Aeva will compete in the national semi-finals of the arts competition in Washington D.C. Poetry Out Loud contests emphasize reading, writing, public speaking …

Why we need to tell and retell stories from America’s war camps

Words by Wendy Ogata | Photographs by Todd Anderson Marion Masada had a shocking story to tell about what happened to her as a girl at an Arizona concentration camp during World War II. But she kept it to herself for 12 years, telling it for the first time to a kind man she was dating. “I never told my …

Transcontinental Railroad tracks in Utah

‘Rails East to Ogden’ earns national recognition

A book about the history of Utah’s Transcontinental Railroad has received the U. S. Department of the Interior’s Environmental Achievement Award. “Rails East to Ogden: Utah’s Transcontinental Railroad Story” is available as a free download from the Utah Division of State History. One of the book’s co-authors is Dr. Christopher Merritt, director of the Utah State Historic Preservation Office. Other …

Examining the costs of the Iron Horse

By Jessica Nichole Begay Living on the Uintah & Ouray Ute Reservation, Larry Cessppoch said he’s used to the quiet. In Ogden to attend the Railroads in Native American Gathering, the sound of a train whistle woke him up.  “That must of been how it was for our Ute people when they had no knowledge of what was coming with …

Staking a Utah literary claim, word by word

A literary quilt: Maybe that’s the best metaphor to consider the Utah@125 nonfiction collection. It’s stitched together in six chapters, essay by essay, poem by poem, showcasing works by 125 Utah writers, each true story 125 words long, each word representing a year of official statehood. Forty-seven writers read their Utah@125 true stories on Indie Bookstore Day on April 30, …

‘Topaz Stories’: Voices rise from the dust

By Wendy Ogata | Photographs by Todd Anderson It took decades for Yae Wada to finally heal her righteous indignation. “I was bitter and I was angry, for many, many years,” she said. Wada was one of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry — most of them American citizens — imprisoned behind barbed wire and armed guards after Japan bombed Pearl …

Utah@125: Supporting Utah writers, nine readings at a time

By Ellen Fagg Weist More than 40 writers will tell true stories about contemporary Utah in simultaneous readings to mark Indie Bookstore Day on April 30. Eight readings will take place across the state at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 30, at bookstores from Logan to Provo, with an additional reading on Zoom hosted by Torrey House Press (Register here). …

Presenting Utah’s Tribal colors

To launch the More Than A Flag initiative, a Native American color guard presented state and national flags, along with the eight flags of Utah’s Tribal Nations. The flag ceremony in the Utah State Capitol rotunda on Jan. 19, led with solemn respect by Arnold Lano of the Utah Inter-Tribal Veterans, signifies the effort to hear Native voices in a …

Flag bearers carry the Olympic flag into the Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Games.

When Utah welcomed the world

As viewers watched the medal-winning performances of Utahns on the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing, Utahns were reminded of our state’s glory in hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics. More than 500 digital images from the Olympic Legacy and the Governor’s Olympic collections are now available for viewers, thanks to the work of Michelle Gollehon, digital content specialist of the Utah …

The stripes of the Ukranian flag fly from a Lehi billboard.

Adopting a flag’s symbols in a show of support

Stripes of sky blue and sunflower yellow, representing Ukraine’s abundant wheat fields, flooded social media during the last days of February. Those iconic stripes were also planted across the world and close to home, such as on a billboard in Lehi or the lighted tower of downtown Salt Lake City’s Walker Building.  Or on Monday, Feb. 28, when the Utah …

Utah students find new inspiration in the “Hamilton” story

That was the best experience of my life, one Utah 9th-grader said after seeing a live performance of “Hamilton” on Saturday, Feb. 12. She had earned her ticket by writing a letter to Gov. Spencer J. Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre M. Henderson about how to improve Utah. She was one of 80 winning students from across Utah selected from …

One Utah: A ‘Revolutionary’ Contest winners

TO BE GIVEN A CHANCE By Morgan Chatterton, 10th grade, Highland High School Hello Gov. Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson. Hope you are doing well. There are two main issues in our community: homeless people who need to be given a chance, and plastic waste. According to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, “As of January 2020, Utah …