Joel Long had a secret.

He’d been carrying it like a gem in his pocket since late July, through a trip to Italy for his daughter’s wedding and into the start of a new school year.

Finally, on September 22, he could share it.

That evening, Joel joined KRCL’s RadioACTive, a local program dedicated to “the people and issues that shape Utah,” where Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced he’d been selected as the city’s first poet laureate.

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“It’s an honor,” said Joel after the announcement went public.

An experienced English and creative writing teacher who’s worked at Rowland Hall since 2004, Joel stood out in the competitive selection process for his published work (his most recent book of lyric essays came out in March) and longtime involvement in community literary events. As poet laureate, he’ll spend the next three years promoting literary arts throughout Salt Lake City, including through his own signature community project, and he already has a long list of ideas for how to bring poetry into more lives in small, unexpected ways.

“People often have a clichéd idea of what poetry is. I want to share a wider spectrum of what it can be,” said Joel. “My goal is to get people to see they like poetry, even if it’s just, ‘I like that line,’ and to understand why it matters.”

After more than four decades of writing poetry, Joel can readily put into words why it matters, but that wasn’t always the case. When asked how he got his start as a poet, he easily recalled his earliest attempt.

“It was a terrible, dreadful poem I wrote in high school after an awful prom date—something about petals falling from a rose, and thorns. It was pure crap,” he said with a chuckle. “But there was an urge there to do something with that emotion, that feeling, the language.”

That urge lived on as Joel began his undergraduate degree at the University of Northern Colorado. There, he took an Introduction to Poetry class from poet James Doyle, where he began reading a variety of works from the Norton Anthology.

“I found them deeply engaging,” Joel said. “I don’t know that I completely understood them, but I began to understand the value of the music of the poem as a vessel for the sacred.”

An English major, Joel continued to study at UNC with Professor Doyle, whom he calls Jim. He remembers two life-changing moments with his mentor. The first happened on Jim’s front porch, where his level-two Creative Writing class had gathered. After reading three lines from Joel’s latest poem aloud, Jim remarked, “I don’t know why those couldn’t be in the Norton Anthology.” That sparked something in Joel. “Maybe I could be good,” he remembered thinking.

You make sure you’re sitting in a chair and putting fingers to the page. That’s when the writing comes. If you’re not writing, you’re not going to write a good poem.—Joel Long, Upper School English and creative writing teacher

The second came while Joel was working on his master’s thesis, a book of poems. To keep him on deadline, Jim, now his advisor, struck a deal: over winter break, each would write 10 poems a week for the other, postmarked by Friday. If Joel missed a deadline, Jim wouldn’t sign off on his thesis. If Jim missed one, Joel could write anything he wanted (“even garbage,” he joked), and Jim would sign off.

“Suffice it to say, neither of us failed,” said Joel about this gift of an experience. He still has the file of his advisor’s 60 poems.

Professor Doyle’s influence lives on in Joel, from his choice to pursue a career in education to his commitment to finding creative and inspiring ways to share the written word with students. His goal is not only to deepen their studies but also to show them how the process of making art adds value to their lives. As a working poet, Joel understands firsthand the disappointments and triumphs of wrestling with words. He also knows that the rewards come only through showing up, a practice he calls “dragging down the muse.”

“You make sure you’re sitting in a chair and putting fingers to the page. That’s when the writing comes,” he said. “If you’re not writing, you’re not going to write a good poem.”

It’s advice that helps students tap into the mindset and discipline needed to do the work.

“Mr. Long is fuel to the fire,” said senior Isabel Himoff, who began writing poetry in middle school and has enrolled in Joel’s Creative Writing class every year of high school. Isabel first studied with Joel in ninth-grade English and said his creative approach made her want to learn more. She remembers how he’d play poetry or music he found inspiring, and make space to follow class conversations wherever they led. “He’d say, ‘We should stop and look at this, because this matters,’” she said. “It was powerful.”

Joel’s encouragement helped Isabel grow more confident as a poet. When long COVID disrupted her sophomore year, she turned to poetry as a tool for healing and self-discovery. “Writing was the only way I could express my emotions, one of my only ways to communicate what I was feeling,” she said.

Seeing Joel use poetry to speak up for causes he cares about also inspired Isabel to put her growing confidence into action. She’s currently working on a traveling exhibit of poems and paintings for Stewardship Utah, which will help raise money for preserving Utah wilderness. The main exhibit is set to open in November, and she’s on her fourth round of edits to her poems. Joel has supported her through the process in a way that echoes his own experience with Professor Doyle: years after exchanging weekly poems with his advisor, Joel began a similar practice with Isabel.

Fun fact: Joel isn’t just a poet; he’s also a wildlife photographer. This practice complements his writing, sharpening his attention to the natural world’s quieter details, which often find their way into his poems.

“Every single week I would write poems, and he would work on a book or an essay, then we’d exchange,” Isabel said. Having Joel read her work, and trust her with his, gave Isabel encouragement, as well as someone to keep her accountable. “It’s heartwarming and super empowering,” she said of the opportunity.

Isabel’s story is one of many shaped by Joel during his more than two decades at Rowland Hall. And as poet laureate, he’ll have new opportunities to help people discover what poetry can offer, just as he has for his students. Isabel believes the community will be better for it.

“I think the city is so, so lucky,” she said.

Joel feels lucky too. Poetry has shaped how he experiences the world, and he’s grateful for this new chance to share that gift with even more people.

“This is a vital thing in my life,” he said, “and being the poet laureate means I am going to try to bring that value to more people—certainly those who already value poetry, but also those who need what it can do to deepen our lives.”

Congratulations, Joel!

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Banner: Days after being named Salt Lake City’s first poet laureate, Joel poses with one of his Creative Writing classes.