Young People’s Poet Laureate
Awarded every two years, the $25,000 laureate title is given to a living writer in recognition of a career devoted to writing exceptional poetry for young readers. The laureate advises the Poetry Foundation on matters relating to young people’s literature and may engage in a variety of projects to help instill a lifelong love of poetry among the nation’s developing readers. This laureateship aims to promote poetry to children and their families, teachers, and librarians over the course of its two-year tenure.
Announcements
September 8, 2022
Elizabeth Acevedo Named New Young People’s Poet Laureate
Monthly Book Picks
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Book PickPlantains and Our Becoming
Picked By Elizabeth Acevedo September 2023Plantains and Our Becoming, a coming-of-age memoir in poetry, is a self-described collection centered on love. When I first read this collection, I thought of it as a full-throated war...
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Book Pick
Remedies for Disappearing
Picked By Elizabeth Acevedo August 2023Remedies for Disappearing is both a hymn to Black girlhood and a collection of full-throated songs. It is the cry and resounding echo. This collection captures the tender-hearted but unflinchingly...
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Book Pick
Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance
Picked By Elizabeth Acevedo June 2023In the poetry collection Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance, Nikki Grimes works as a guide. Throughout the collection, Grimes features a poem by one Harlem Renaissance poet and includes...
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2019-2022 Laureate
Naomi Shihab Nye was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her father was a Palestinian refugee and her mother an American of German and Swiss descent, and Nye spent her adolescence...
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2017-2019 Laureate
Poet, novelist, and journalist Margarita Engle was born in Pasadena, California, to a Cuban mother and an American father. She earned a BS from California State Polytechnic University and an...
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2015-2017 Laureate
Jacqueline Woodson was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in Greenville, South Carolina and Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of over 30 books for children and adults, including...
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2013-2015 Laureate
Kenn Nesbitt was born in Berkeley, California. He grew up in Fresno and San Diego and attended National University in San Diego, where he majored in computer science. Nesbitt’s poetry for...
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2011-2013 Laureate
Former Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis grew up in Gary, Indiana and earned a BA at Saint Joseph’s College, an MA at Indiana University, and a PhD in economics...
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2008-2011 Laureate
Mary Ann Hoberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut. She earned a BA in history from Smith College and (35 years later) an MA in English literature from Yale University. She...
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2006-2008 Laureate
Jack Prelutsky is a creator of inventive poems for children and adults alike. He served as the Poetry Foundation’s Children’s Poet Laureate from 2006 to 2008. Prelutsky grew up in...
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