The future of poetry is already here. Across San Mateo County, young creatives are using poetry to explore identity, culture, belonging, and the world around them. This collection celebrates their imagination, innovation, leadership, and civic engagement through poems, youth poet laureate programs, workshops, contests, and collaborative projects that spark curiosity, inspire connection, build community, and empower the next generation to be heard.
Youth & Ecopoetry
Between 2019 and 2022, students 18 and below who live or attend school in San Mateo County were invited to participate in poetry projects that raised awareness of the climate crisis by looking at how human ecology, ecosystems, climate justice, housing justice, and human relationships are interconnected. The San Mateo County Youth Ecopoetry Project was officially launched in 2021 with year-long workshops and readings, made possible with support from the Academy of American Poets and the Mellon Foundation, in partnership with local libraries, schools, and nonprofits.
Poetry & Identity
Between 2019 and 2022, over 600 young people from all around San Mateo County crafted poems and participated in poetry workshops, readings, anthologies, and competitions on themes of identity and belonging. Programs that were launched include the Burlingame Youth Poet-in-Residence Program, Burlingame-Hillsborough Youth Poet Laureate Program, Daly City Youth Poet Laureate Program, South San Francisco Youth Poet-in-Residence Program, Menlo Park Youth Poetry Contest, Redwood City Public Library’s Makerspace Poetry Lab, Filoli Haiku Contest, Housing Leadership Council’s Youth Poetry & Art Competition, & San Mateo County youth civic arts programs, among others.
- Abigale Wee
- Andrada Tomisinet
- Burlingame Youth Poet Laureate
- Cassandra Bousquet
- Chloe Chou
- Daly City Youth Poet Laureate
- Elizabeth Wong
- Eva Chen
- Finley Brownstein
- Hanna Docampo Pham
- HMB High
- Housing Leadership Council
- I Have a Dream
- Izzy de Souza
- Jescent Marcelino
- Juleen Mallari
- Julia Santos
- Julianne Cheng
- Keiki Leni Ward
- Lauren Lin
- Lena Hui
- Madeleine Hur
- Marlo Cowan
- Marta Olson
- Menlo Park Rotary Scholars
- Menlo Park Youth
- Ollie Ballard
- Portola Valley First Graders
- Portola Valley First Graders II
- Rachel Cronin
- Ronit Das
- Sarah Hansen
- Sheridan Stewart
- Sierra Elman
- SMC Youth Ambassadors
- SSF Youth Poet
- The Many Voices Word Karaoke
Youth Poets Laureate
Between 2019 and 2022, several youth poets laureate have participated in literary events in San Mateo County to promote youth voice and encourage civic engagement, including Eva Chen, San Mateo County Young Woman of Excellence Awardee; Madeleine Hur, Inaugural Daly City Youth Poet Laureate; Chloe Chou, 2022 Daly City Youth Poet Laureate and South San Francisco Youth Poet-in-Residence; Santa Clara County Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate Anouk Yeh; Alameda County Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate Zoe Dorado; former Oakland Youth Poets Laureate Samuel Getachew & Greer Nakadegawa-Lee; and National Youth Poets Laureate Meera Dasgupta (2020-2021) & Alexandra Huynh (2021-2022). Continue reading.
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