Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

The nearly 150 square miles of Utah Lake can be seen from almost anywhere in Utah County. What it symbolizes, though, is different for every person, whether they’re a longtime resident of the valley or passing by for the first time.

“I think people’s perceptions of this lake have been that it is a place that is sort of dead and somewhat forgotten. And despite literally hundreds of projects that are active at this moment — about re-wilding and restoring the lake — that have made incredible progress, it is one of the thinnest and most vibrant bodies of water in Utah,” said Will Neville-Rehbehn, executive editor for Torrey House Press.

On Saturday, a small crowd gathered in the second floor of Provo’s Pioneer Book to celebrate the publication of “Utah Lake Stories,” a compilation of 20 essays and poems focused on, and inspired by, Utah Lake. The group included a handful of environmentalists and activists, some of whom had works published and were willing to read their pieces out loud.

The chapbook, a small booklet-sized publication, came to be after the co-editors sent out a request for submissions. Former Utah Valley University professor Karin Anderson and her daughter, Amelia England, searched for a variety of perspectives. Anderson’s first step was to search out people connected with the lake to learn up-close accounts of restoration work. This meant individual research and conversations with Brigham Young University professor and Utah Lake advocate Ben Abbott and his father, Scott Abbott, also a longtime academic and writer.

From there, the request was sent to individuals and groups focused on Utah Lake along with multiple departments at BYU and UVU.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

“There is really an interesting range of people, a lot of people who just aren’t professional writers,” Anderson said. “One thing that surprised me is that just there were so many people who responded.”

At the end of each poem or short story is a brief biography of the author. Some are professional writers from the area like Rod Miller, Maureen Clark and Corey Boren, while others like Stirling Adams, Wayne Leavitt, Brittany Bunker Thorley and Ben Abbott brought experience as lifetime residents, recreationists and academics.

After collecting submissions, Anderson and England would make suggestions before sending them back to the writers. This happened a few times, with Anderson calling it the most “fun and interesting work.”

It was also a surprise for her to see how impactful Utah Lake had been to many people’s family stories. Frequently, she heard tales of parents and grandparents who grew up playing, skating and, generally, making Utah Lake part of their lives.

Every poem and story may be different, but experiences are shared. Michael William Palmer, in the opening line of his poem “Home Lake Triptych,” wrote that when he thinks of the lake, his mind turns to “blaze, ice, pestilence.”

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

Whether it’s confronting the literal ice that blankets Utah Lake each winter, the wildfires visible from its shoreline most summers or the pestilence of invasive fish and reeds, writers searched for beauty in their subject.

The evening was not without referencing to the real world discussions surrounding Utah Lake that led to the formation of Conserve Utah Valley and the rallying together of those sitting in the room and elsewhere. Ben Abbott, the night’s final reader, first expressed gratitude for everyone present and for Lake Restoration Solutions — the now-defunct LLC which sought for years to develop Utah Lake and sued Abbott for speaking out against the plans — in bringing them together with a shared mission.

Torrey House Press, the chapbook’s Utah-based publisher, specializes in “the intersection of the literary arts and environmental advocacy” and hoped to bring attention to the history and value of Utah Lake with the publication.

“It has been central to our ecology, central to just so many families’ memories of joy and the times that people have spent and continue to spend there,” Neville-Rehbehn said. “This is something that we’re going to be able to use for the next few years as we get into, and out of, multiple legislative sessions so that — for all of the legislators that will vote on the issues that affect people who live in Utah Valley, but don’t actually have the knowledge what it’s like here — how can we help them here and how can we help them to understand through the eyes of the people who are most invested?”

Reflecting on “Utah Lake Stories,” Anderson expressed hope for a second edition with new submissions. The chapbook contains 20 pieces, but its website has an additional 10. If a second edition were to be created, Anderson said she would seek to include more Indigenous writers.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

“We have a really great range of religious, not religious, an age range, a lot of different perspectives, but this one turned into, in many ways, the sort of population of Utah Valley now,” she said.

Copies of “Utah Lake Stories” are available at Pioneer Book, according to Neville-Rehbehn, and the writings can be found at http://utahlakestories.org/.