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Appointed every two years, the title of Young People’s Poet Laureate (YPPL) is awarded to a poet in recognition of a career devoted to writing exceptional poetry for young readers while working to instill a lifelong love of poetry among developing readers. This two-year appointment comes with a $25,000 annual stipend and additional programmatic funding in support of a project that promotes poetry to young people and their families, teachers, and librarians.

Application Process and Timeline

Eligibility

  • This appointment is available to poets currently residing in the US and its territories. Nominations are open to US citizens and long-term residents (official US Residency status is not a requirement).

  • YPPL nominees/applicants must have produced a significant body of poetry for young people, including, at minimum, three books of poetry for young readers.
    • For the purpose of the YPPL, youth is defined as poetry that is specifically written for young people under the age of 18 years old.
  • YPPL nominees/applicants must have a clear commitment in their writing and community work and/or professional work to being in service to young people.

  • YPPL applicants must either commit to a project during their appointment or to participating in three youth-based events per year. Additional funds are available to support this work.

  • The YPPL appointment is a two-year term, with a year-one check-in to determine the continuation of the appointment mutually.

Important Dates

  • March 4 - Nominations open.
  • March 15 - Deadline to request alternative nomination format.
  • March 22 - Nominations due.
  • April 8 - Nominated poets are invited to apply.
  • April 26 - Deadline to request alternative application format.
  • May 3 - Applications due.
    • All nominators and applicants will be notified by early August 2024.

How to Apply

All nominators and applicants will need to register and submit through the Poetry Foundation’s Grants and Awards Online Portal. To access the portal, nominators and applicants must submit an initial registration form. Registrations will be approved within 3-5 business days.

After approval of the registration, nominators will be required to complete a nomination form. All nominations will be reviewed by an internal committee to determine which will advance to the application stage. Selected nominees will be invited to apply through the online grants and awards portal.

Poets are encouraged to nominate themselves for this appointment.

Alternative Nomination and Application Formats

The Poetry Foundation offers alternative nomination and application formats, including audio format, video format, and interview with transcription. Please contact [email protected] or call 312-799-8072 to arrange a method of submitting the nomination or application that best meets your accessibility needs.

Information on the 2024 Decision Process

The Young People’s Poet Laureate will be determined by a committee of paid external reviewers from the literary community.

For any questions about the nomination process, please contact [email protected].

Announcements

September 8, 2022

Elizabeth Acevedo Named New Young People’s Poet Laureate

Monthly Book Picks

    • Book Pick

      Plantains and Our Becoming

      Picked By Elizabeth Acevedo September 2023

      Plantains 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...

    • Book Pick

      Remedies for Disappearing

      Picked By Elizabeth Acevedo August 2023

      Remedies 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...

    • Book Pick

      Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance

      Picked By Elizabeth Acevedo June 2023

      In 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...

Past Laureates
    • White woman with long hair in low ponytail smiling in front of a white wall

      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...

    • Poet Margarita Engle poses in a dark blue shirt and pink, wearing a horse necklace.

      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...

    • Writer Jacqueline Woodson sitting on a bench outdoors, cropped from the chest up.

      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...

    • Headshot of writer Kenn Nesbitt in a tweed blazer in front of a glass building.

      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...

    • J. Patrick Lewis

      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...

    • Headshot of poet Mary Ann Hoberman outdoors.

      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...

    • Black and white headshot of writer Jack Prelutsky.

      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...