an initiative of urban word
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our mission
The National Youth Poet Laureate Program celebrates our nation’s top youth poets who are committed to artistic excellence, civic engagement, and social impact.
The National Youth Poet Laureate Program is an initiative of Urban Word – the largest and most comprehensive youth literary arts organization in the country – in collaboration with local arts and literary organizations, Arts Councils and library systems; and is championed by the leading organizations in our field, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Academy of American Poets, the Poetry Coalition, the Library of Congress, the National Parks Service, and the Kennedy Center.
our history
In 2008, the award-winning youth literary arts organization, Urban Word NYC, launched the nation’s first-ever Youth Poet Laureate Program. Zora Howard, of Harlem, was New York City’s and the nation’s first Youth Poet Laureate, and she has since gone on to write and star in the feature film, Premature, and she was also a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for her play, Stew.
In 2014, NYC Youth Poet Laureate Ramya Ramana performed at City Hall for the Mayoral Inauguration, and the NY Times lauded her performance calling it, “the highlight of the event.” That year, Urban Word piloted the program nationally in 12 cities across the United States, with leading local youth arts organizations in each city. By 2016, the Youth Poet Laureate Program was in more than 25 cities, and the first group of national finalists were invited to the White House by Michelle Obama. Later that year, Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, was named our nation’s first National Youth Poet Laureate, and was invited to perform at the Library of Congress with U.S. Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith.
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 including CNN, PBS, NPR, BBC, NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, and The Guardian.
Since 2016, we have named 6 National Youth Poets Laureate, that include in this order: Amanda Gorman (Los Angeles), Jellystone Robinson (Chicago), Kara Jackson (Chicago), Meera Dasgupta (youngest ever at age 16, New York City), Alexandra Huynh (Sacramento, featured on CBS This Morning), and currently Alyssa Gaines (Indianapolis). Poets from the National Youth Poet Laureate Program have performed on the nation’s largest stages, including the White House, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Maui Arts & Cultural Center, and at City Halls across the country.
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