The National Youth Poet Laureate Program

Did you know there’s a YOUTH POET LAUREATE?

The nation’s first Youth Poet Laureate Program was created in 2008 by Urban Word, a youth literary arts organization based in New York City. The inaugural Youth Poet Laureate was Zora Howard, from Harlem, N.Y.

These days, Howard is a writer and actor. She’s best known for co-writing and starring in the 2019 drama Premature, and her debut play, STEW — which premiered off-Broadway in 2020 — was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  

“Currently, the National Youth Poet Laureate Program serves programs in more than 70 cities, states, and counties, and has been featured in every major news outlet in the country,” says the organization’s website. In 2014, Urban Word piloted the Youth Laureate program in 12 cities across the U.S.; within two years it had grown to 25 cities. Also in 2016, Michelle Obama invited the national finalists to the White House.

Clockwise from top left, Alexandra Huynh, Alyssa Gaines, Amanda Gorman (photo by Kelia Anne), Jellystone Robinson, Meera Dasgupta, and Kara Jackson. Photos from youthlaureate.org.

“Later that year, Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, was named our nation’s first National Youth Poet Laureate,” says the website, “and was invited to perform at the Library of Congress with U.S. Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith.”

You’ll recall Amanda Gorman from her stunning reading at President Biden’s inauguration. And her recent Grammy nomination in the Best Spoken Word Poetry Album category, newly introduced for the 2023 awards. Read more about the Spoken Word Poetry Album nominees here.

The Youth Poet Laureate is selected through an annual application process. To apply, candidates must have held the Youth Poet Laureate title through an official National Youth Poet Laureate program partner in their city. From those submissions, a panel of judges selects one youth poet from each of the four regions of the U.S. The four finalists take part in the National Youth Poet Laureate competition. Among the prizes for being named a finalist is an all-expense-paid writing retreat, workshops, trainings, and professional development opportunities.

The 2022 Youth Poet Laureate is Alyssa Gaines, the Midwest Regional Finalist and the first-ever Indianapolis Youth Poet Laureate. Her work was published by Teach for America and has appeared in Scholastic’s “Best Teen Writing” and the Indianapolis Recorder.

Since 2016, the organization has named six National Youth Poets Laureate. They are: Amanda Gorman (Los Angeles, 2017), Jellystone Robinson (Chicago, 2018), Kara Jackson (Chicago, 2019), Meera Dasgupta (New York City, 2020), Alexandra Huynh (Sacramento, 2021).

Learn more at YouthLaureate.org.