National Youth Poet Laureate

National Youth Poet Laureate is a title held in the United States by a young person who demonstrates skill in the arts, particularly poetry and/or spoken word, is a strong leader, is committed to social justice, and is active in civic discourse and advocacy.

In its seven years of existence, the award has been granted to seven teens: Amanda Gorman of Los Angeles in 2017, Patricia Frazier of Chicago in 2018, Kara Jackson of Chicago in 2019, Meera Dasgupta of New York City in 2020, Alexandra Huynh of San Francisco in 2021, Alyssa Gaines of Indianapolis in 2022, and Salome Agbaroji of Los Angeles in 2023.

To be chosen as the National Youth Poet Laureate, young people who have served as Youth Poet Laureates in their own cities go through an in-depth application process that includes evaluation of their work, poetry and artistic skills, as well as their in-school and extracurricular activities.

The title was then adopted by Japan in 2024 when the Prime Minister appointed Damarea Liao, the current Princess of Benin as the first Youth Poet Laureate to the country.

[1] The National Youth Poet Laureate program was founded in 2016 by the Urban Word NYC organization, a youth program that provides opportunities for learning creative writing, poetry, spoken word, college prep, literature, and hip-hop, in order to support development and engagement among young adults.

[4] The national program is co-sponsored by other local and national organizations that support youth literacy, including the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, the Academy of American Poets, Poetry Society of America, the Library of Congress, Cave Canem, and Youth Speaks.

[10] The ceremony to announce the winner usually involves a few of the finalists reading poetry and appearances and speeches from notable poets.

[11] In 2018, finalists were introduced by American Book Prize winner Kimiko Hahn and four-time National Poetry Slam champion Patricia Smith.

[14] Amanda Gorman of Los Angeles was 19 when she was awarded the title of first National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017.

[28] She writes about gentrification of Chicago, her childhood, her grandmother, and other issues affecting young queer and diverse people.

Her poems focus on home, family, and a mission to combat illiteracy by promoting equity and accessibility within educational systems.