A Writer's Guide to Provo

The Provo City Library has six study rooms, each with a table and a whiteboard. Book one online or at a reference desk up to two weeks ahead, for as long as two hours a day. The Historic Provo pages collect the Provo Oral History Project and historical photographs.

The Harold B. Lee Library sits in the center of BYU's campus and stays open late on weekdays. Group study rooms can be booked online. Visitors can pick up a parking pass at the booth by the lots north of the Museum of Art. Friends of the Library members can borrow books, and so can students and staff from other Utah academic libraries. As a federal depository, the library keeps its government documents collection open to the public.

The Perry Special Collections hold literary manuscripts by Mormon authors and a Women's Manuscripts Collection. Author collections for Melville and Whitman are here as well, beside a History of Printing and Fine Press collection. Register in Aeon to request materials ahead, or book a curator appointment online. University Archives requests need at least 30 days' notice. It is closed weekends.

Utah Valley University's Fulton Library is in Orem, about five miles northwest of downtown Provo. Its third through fifth floors are set aside for focused study, with study rooms and pods you can book. The UVU Archives keep oral histories and personal papers, and research visits can be booked online.

Pioneer Book is a general-interest used bookstore downtown, and most of its stock comes from customers' trade-ins. It runs a reading challenge each year. It is closed Sundays.

Moon's Rare Books deals in rare and antiquarian books, with shelves that run to Bibles and literary classics. You can book a private show and tell of the collection. It is closed Sundays.

Planted in Pages sells new books alongside houseplants. Lauren Barney and Tayler McCrary run the shop in the Beebe House, a historic Provo home. Look there for mysteries and children's books.

Poppy Books & Gifts is an independent bookstore in Spanish Fork, about 11 miles south of Provo, co-owned by Karin Smith and Whitney Gallegos. Its downstairs floor holds books and gifts for children and teens. The store hosts book clubs and author visits, and local authors can submit their books through a form on its site. It is closed Sundays.

Incidental Coffee Roasters roasts its own beans. Open seating and outlets are plentiful, and local guides describe the room as calm and good for focused work. It is closed Sundays.

Peace on Earth is a vintage-styled coffeehouse that local guides call laptop-friendly. It stays open later than most Provo cafés, which suits an evening writing session. It is open daily.

Kiln is a coworking space on Rivers Edge Drive that sells day passes. It has deep work rooms and phone booths, and members have access around the clock. Parking is free.

Java Junkie is a coffeehouse on Center Street, founded by locals, that makes its soups in house and serves bagel sandwiches. Local people show their art and sell their crafts here. Musicians play many nights. It is open daily.

The MOA Café serves lunch inside BYU's Museum of Art, looking out on the museum's artwork. Admission to the museum is free, and it holds poetry events alongside its exhibitions. The museum is closed Sundays.

The Tree Room is the dining room at Sundance Mountain Resort, in Sundance, about 13 miles up Provo Canyon from downtown. Its tabletops were made from a single Northern Utah tree. Next door, the Library Lounge sits by the original fireplace among art and nature books. Reservations are recommended, and the Tree Room is closed Sundays and Mondays.

Life, the Universe, & Everything is a science fiction and fantasy symposium held each year at the Provo Marriott. Writers come for the masterclasses and pitch sessions. Scholars can submit papers to its academics track.

The Storymakers Guild is an author's guild for aspiring and published Latter-day Saint writers. Its conference at the Utah Valley Convention Center offers more than 100 craft classes, and it books agent and editor consults. Bring an opening chapter for the first chapter contest.

Provo City Library's Read Local Book Festival fills the library's ballroom with author booths, where local writers meet readers and sign their books. An author panel runs alongside.

BYU's English Reading Series brings visiting poets and prose writers to the Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium each semester, on Fridays at noon. Students read at the Paxman Student Reading.

League of Utah Writers chapters meet across the state, some weekly and some monthly. In Utah County, Utah Valley Legends meets in Provo-Orem and Nebo Novelists meets in Springville. The League also publishes the Inkpot literary journal.

The Humanities Center belongs to BYU's College of Humanities. Its Book Manuscript Workshop pays two reviewers of the author's choosing to respond to a faculty book manuscript in progress. Faculty can also apply for one-year fellowships or propose a research group.

The Charles Redd Center at BYU promotes the study of the Intermountain West across academic disciplines. Some of its awards are limited to BYU faculty or students, and the rest are open to all applicants, from unaffiliated scholars to presses. Its podcast is Writing Westward.

ScholarsArchive is BYU's institutional repository, hosted by the Harold B. Lee Library and free to read. Faculty can deposit publications and data sets there for readers anywhere. Departments host online journals through it as well.

Utah Humanities is an independent nonprofit that runs humanities programs across the state. It offers research fellowships along with program and oral history grants. Its Center for the Book runs a book festival and the Utah Book Awards.

Cedar Fort is a Utah County publisher with a catalog of more than 3,000 books. Its list runs from Latter-day Saint nonfiction to clean romance, and its Council Press imprint publishes historical westerns. The warehouse is in Springville, just south of Provo.

The Religious Studies Center publishes Latter-day Saint gospel scholarship at BYU. Its list includes scholarly books and the Religious Educator.

BYU Studies publishes an academic journal and books of scholarship aligned with the Latter-day Saint faith, including the BYU New Testament Commentary Series. Winners of its annual poetry and essay contests appear in the journal.

Political Behavior publishes original research on the political behavior of individuals and small groups, along with organizations such as parties and interest groups. Springer Nature publishes it, and its editors-in-chief, Christopher Karpowitz and Jessica Preece, are both at Brigham Young University. Preparing an article for Political Behavior

The Utah Division of Arts & Museums runs this statewide competition with the Utah Center for the Book, for Utah residents 18 and older. It takes unpublished novels and nonfiction books, along with short work in poetry and prose. Out-of-state judges read the entries blind. There is no entry fee.

The Utah Center for the Book and the League of Utah Writers give these awards to recently published books by permanent Utah residents. Self-published books qualify. Categories run from speculative fiction to memoir and essay.

The League of Utah Writers runs four writing contests each year. Quills is for published work, and the Olive Woolley Burt contest is for unpublished work.

The Whitney Awards honor novels by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including books from national publishers. Categories run from romance and speculative fiction to young adult and middle grade, with a separate award for the best debut. The awards are presented at a gala during the Storymakers Conference in Provo.

Editors For Students gathers grants and writing resources for Brigham Young University students.

BYU Print & Mail is the university's print shop, and it serves the public. It prints theses and dissertations as hardbound copies, with the title foil-stamped in gold or silver. Spiral and perfect binding are available too. The shop also repairs books.

The art studio at Sundance Mountain Resort, up Provo Canyon in Sundance, takes day visitors. Its classes include printmaking and journal making, and you can walk in for a make-and-take project. It is open daily.