Santa Clara County
Youth Poet Laureate
Program
The Santa Clara County Youth Poet Laureate program is youth-centered program to celebrate literacy and self-literacy through poetry and connect young writers to opportunities for performances and community collaborations
Each year, we will accept applications from talented Santa Clara County writers (ages 13-18) to join a community of young poets. The Laureate earns an educational scholarship. The Laureate will, and all the Finalists are invited to, serve as ambassadors for literacy, arts and youth expression with ongoing opportunities for performances, projects, and peer support.
Every applicant will be invited to stay in connection with the SCC Youth Poet Laureate community.
Watch here!
The Santa Clara County Youth Poet Laureate Commencement Ceremony was held on Saturday, May 1st, 2021.
The Commencement Ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 1st, 2021 5-7 p.m.
This is the culminating event for the Santa Clara County Youth Poet Laureate Program.
Finalists will compete to become the 1st Santa Clara County Youth Poet Laureate!
Event will be hosted by Terisa Siagatonu! She is an award-winning touring poet, speaker, educator and community organizer born and rooted in the Bay Area. Her voice in the poetry world as a queer Sāmoan woman has granted her opportunities to perform in places such as the White House (Obama administration), the UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris, the Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane, Australia, and the 2019 SF Women's March. One of the most memorable moments in her career was receiving President Obama's Champion of Change Award for her activism as a poet/organizer in her Pacific Islander community. With numerous viral poetry videos garnering over millions of views collectively, Terisa's writing/teaching blends the personal, cultural, and political in a way that calls for healing, courage, justice, and truth. A 2019 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100 List Honoree and Kundiman fellow, Terisa's work has been published in Poetry Magazine and has been featured on Button Poetry, CNN, NBCNews, NPR, KQED, Huffington Post, Everyday Feminism, The Guardian, and Buzzfeed.
Terisa has also spent a lot of time in Santa Clara County--San Jose, to be exact.
