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 want to win incredible prizes, including a new laptop, your poems featured in a national anthology, plus run to be the next California Youth Poet Laureate? Applications are now open for the third annual Alameda County Youth Poet Laureate Competition!
Previous Laureates in other chapters have gone on to earn the Regional and National Youth Poet Laureate titles 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 2021 and 2022 Laureates’ poems:
Alameda County’s first inaugural Youth Poet Laureate, Zoe Dorado:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKyHnpZTM-U
Alameda County’s 2022 Youth Poet Laureate, Yamini Jain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phdcK1z6uDk
Alameda County’s 2022 Youth Poet Laureate, Nitika Sathiya:
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:
Teen Voices in Poetry
April is National Poetry Month and this book list highlights poetry titles at AC Library that celebrate young voices. This poetry list for teens features novels in verse, titles written by teen authors, and poets breaking new ground.
Recent titles by American poets
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