Shanan Ballam is a senior lecturer at Utah State University, where she teaches poetry and fiction writing. In her new role as poet laureate for the city of Logan, she will get to teach and advocate to more than just university students.
Ballam was appointed by Mayor Holly Daines Tuesday and will begin her five-year term on August 20. Ballam is the second to hold the title, taking over from Star Coulbrooke. As an avid skier and hiker, she says nature has inspired her poetry and connected her work to her love for Utah.
“I love Logan; I love our natural world, our surroundings and the people of Logan, so I feel like I understand — I hike and ski every day; I want to be out in the natural world and to celebrate this particular place,” she said.
Poetry has a unique place in the world, Ballam says, and by promoting its creation and documentation, it is possible to capture stories other art and literary forms sometimes miss.
“Poetry records the pulse of the people in our current time and our current state, so it is different than recording a factual history, it is more of an emotional history that can be preserved for our city,” Ballam said.
Ballam says she hopes to bring the literary arts to more people in Logan, and will coordinate with the Logan City Library to host poetry workshops that will be free and open to anybody interested.
