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Haiku at Filoli

A sanctuary for healing and building connections for all people, Filoli boasts “654 acres of beauty nestled along the slopes of California’s coastal range… which includes a nature preserve with 5 distinct ecosystems.” In acknowledging Filoli’s role in ecology and conservation and as an arts and cultural hub, it is important to also highlight howContinue reading “Haiku at Filoli “

Lauren Lin

Lauren Lin is the Inaugural Burlingame-Hillsborough Youth Poet Laureate and San Mateo County Youth Poetry Ambassador. She is a two-time Youth Speaks poetry slam winner who weaves passions, beliefs, and emotions into her work. Lin’s poetry has received awards from YoungArts, Literary Legacies, and the MLK Step into the Light youth arts contest. Lin foundedContinue reading “Lauren Lin “

Lauren Lin

Ideas to Postpone the End of the World

Part cento, part sensory poem, this collaborative poem was crafted during a workshop facilitated by San Mateo County Poet Laureate Aileen Cassinetto as part of the San Mateo County Youth Ecopoetry Project (2021-2022). Ideas to Postpone the End of the World Quoted lines from “Generation Climate: How the crisis made young people the adults inContinue reading “Ideas to Postpone the End of the World”

Breathe

This collaborative poem was crafted during a workshop facilitated by San Mateo County Poet Laureate Aileen Cassinetto as part of the San Mateo County Youth Ecopoetry Project (2021-2022). Breathe A Community Poem by San Mateo County Youth There is a pattern we burninto the night sky, & it will not be of chemicalbut compassion forContinue reading “Breathe”

Chloe Chou

Chloe Chou is the 2022-23 Daly City Youth Poet Laureate and the 2022-23 South San Francisco Youth Poet-in-Residence. A South City resident, she is currently a freshman at Westmoor High School in Daly City. Her passions are coding and writing. In her free time, she likes to make mixtapes! In 2020, she published a book calledContinue reading “Chloe Chou”

Youth Poets Laureate

Youth poet laureate programs promote youth voice and leadership. They are an impactful way to encourage civic engagement and celebrate literacy and the literary arts. The National Youth Poet Laureate initiative is a program of Urban Word, an award-winning arts and youth development organization. Over 50 partner cities to date are participating in Urban Word’sContinue reading “Youth Poets Laureate”

Youth Empowerment

Youth Empowerment Several poetry projects were launched between 2019 and 2022 to encourage creative expression and civic participation among San Mateo County’s youth. These include: Burlingame Youth Poet-in-Residence Program City of Burlingame-Town of Hillsborough Youth Poet Laureate Program Daly City Youth Poet Laureate Program South San Francisco Youth Poet-in-Residence Program Menlo Park Youth Poetry ContestContinue reading “Youth Empowerment”

Kathilynn Lehmer

Kathilynn Lehmer is an educator, writer, artist, and poet who has lived on the Coast for over forty years. Her daughter, her family and friends, her sanctuary—the ocean and the redwoods—are her inspiration for her art and writing. Poem The silent scream appeared the day you told me, but I stilled it to live our moments.Continue reading “Kathilynn Lehmer “

Eva Chen

Eva Chen is a 16-year-old poet, photographer and social justice activist. Her writing has been recognized in the Scholastic Arts and Writing Competition and published in The Weight Journal, Catcher Zine, and Cathartic Literary Magazine. She co-founded Footprints on Jupiter, a teen literary magazine, to raise funds for the World Literacy Foundation. In the summer of 2021, she volunteeredContinue reading “Eva Chen “