This is a blog by the Social Justice Services team
Calling All Teen Poets!
Do you live in Alameda County? Are you between 13 and 18 years old? Do you love writing and having the opportunity to share your work with a community of other poets? Applications are now open for the fourth annual Alameda County Youth Poet Laureate Competition!
Our inaugural 2021 Youth Poet Laureate, Zoe Dorado, is currently the West Regional Youth Poet Laureate. She is one of four poets in the running for the 2024 National Youth Poet Laureate title through Urban Word, our partner organization. We need youth voices and visions to strengthen our community—poetry is a fantastic way to do this!
When selecting your work for the application, consider your poetry’s Content, Craft, and Voice. These are the three categories judges will use to evaluate your work. Make sure to remove your name from the document you upload with all three poems, as they will be assessed anonymously. Email any questions you have to ypl@aclibrary.org.
For inspiration, here are a few links to the previous Laureates’ poems:
Alameda County’s 2023 Youth Poet Laureate, Brian Guan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phdcK1z6uDk
Alameda County’s 2023 Vice Youth Poet Laureate, Sunwoo Eom:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y19qg4_G4Y4&t=1s
Check out our teen poetry book lists written by teen authors and poets breaking new ground:
When poets write their life stories...
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