Senior Lecturer Shanan Ballam Celebrates Forthcoming Book  

Senior Lecturer Shanan Ballam was recently interviewed by both The Herald Journal and KSL, discussing her experiences recovering from a stroke and returning to language and writing. Her forthcoming book, first poems after the stroke, delves into these. David Lee, first Poet Laureate of Utah and author of Mine Tailings and Rusty Barbed Wire: Selected Poems, says of Shanan’s collection: “They are beautiful poems of pain, courage and healing that are witness to the human capacity at its best to rise above suffering and explode into hope and joy.”  

In addition to recent interviews, Shanan has been busy reading her poetry and guiding community members through poetry workshops. As Logan City Poet Laureate Shanan read a poem at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new library, reaching more than 200 people in attendance. She, with poet Brock Dethier, team-taught Poetry in the Park in Zion National Park, with many high school students in attendance, exploring the theme “Expanding Poetic Possibilities.” And, here in Logan, Shanan led a generative workshop for community reading series Helicon West. Shanan has upcoming teaching and reading events, such as a poetry workshop in St. George and serving as a featured writer for the Larksong Writers Place in Lincoln, Nebraska. Shanan’s writing and teaching moves beyond USU, as she frequently shares her work and words with the broader literary community, an essential form of community engagement and literary citizenship.  

April is National Poetry Month, and we are so very proud to celebrate Shanan’s forthcoming book, first poems after the stroke.  

Shanan will be a featured reader at Helicon West this Fall on October 10th at 7 p.m.