Apply To Be Dallas’ Youth Poet Laureate

Does your Dallas student have a flair for poetry? If so, they can enter the Dallas Public Library’s annual Express Yourself! poetry competition for a chance to be named the Youth Poet Laureate of Dallas and receive a $1,000 scholarship.

Eligible candidates must reside within the city of Dallas or attend a school within the city limits and be between the ages of 13 and 18 on May 1, 2022, the start of the laureate term. 

The new program serves as a counterpart to the Poet Laureate of Dallas, a position created earlier this year by Dallas Public Library, the Office of Arts and Culture, and Deep Vellum. Both poet laureates will be announced at the Express Yourself! award ceremony in April.

(READ: Dallas Looking For First Poet Laureate)

Applications for Youth Poet Laureate are being accepted from Sept. 20, 2021, to Jan. 31, 2022, in conjunction with the 26th annual Express Yourself! Youth Poetry Competition and Cover Art Contest.

The Youth Poet Laureate is a one-year term and includes publication of the writer’s work in the annual Express Yourself! Anthology, public readings, and other Express Yourself! Events.

The Express Yourself! program is open to Dallas poets and artists in grades 2 through 12. Sixty poetry finalists will have their work published in the bound anthology, and 10 art finalists will have their work printed on the cover and inside pages of the anthology. Overall and grade-level winners are announced at the April award ceremony. 

Teachers can also request in-school workshops led by local poets to inspire students to write poems to submit to the competition.

To submit entries and for more information, visit the Dallas library website.