Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Arts Festival takes place in Salt Lake City this weekend, and a Utah doctor is taking the stage as an unlikely performer.
David Stevenson is a pediatrician and medical geneticist working at the University of Utah. He aids in the diagnosis and treatment of genetic conditions. Stevenson said that people are often surprised by his hobby because of his profession.
"He doesn't come across as a typical performance poet," said David's wife, Jennifer Stevenson. "People are usually very surprised because he's a very serious doctor."
David said he has done "slam poetry" and performed in various competitions throughout the state. He said he enjoys writing and performing poetry as an outlet, and that he recites poetry about a variety of topics.
"Things that make me laugh," David said. "Things that I have a hard time expressing. There was a time when my wife was diagnosed with cancer. Not knowing exactly how to interact and how to respond, how to grieve, I wrote a poem about that."
Jennifer said that she knew how hard the experience was for her husband, and that poetry was helpful in helping him to cope.
"I'm alone in the fact that I have the cancer, but he's also alone in the person who is dealing with the effects of all that around him, our children," Jennifer said.
David said that although he is a doctor that helps people to heal physically, he has found emotional healing in his poetry.
"By sharing your thoughts with somebody else allows a healing process," he said. "Just by them listening, I can be healed. And I think in medicine, just by listening you sometimes get that ability to help heal the patient. The ability to listen to a patient is very important. The ability to communicate with a patient and understand how they're feeling."
The Utah Arts Festival will take place at Library Square on 210 E. 400 South in Salt Lake City. The poetry slam will be presented from 7-9 p.m. Thursday and Friday.
