Youth Poet Laureate of Allegheny County

Calling all songwriters, spoken word artists, emcees, and poets!

The Youth Poet Laureate of Allegheny County is awarded to an artist between 13-18 years old who is passionate about their art and their communities.

The 2026-27 Youth Poet Laureate of Allegheny County will receive:

a $250 prize
artistic support and paid performance opportunities during the 2026-27 academic year
entry into the National Youth Poet Laureate competition
paid performance for the Commencement Ceremony
access to the YPL Institute Sessions
and more!

To be eligible for the 2026-27 award, you must:

be a resident or student in Allegheny County during the 2026-27 academic year
be 13-18 years old in August 2026
demonstrate community involvement
demonstrate engagement with social justice causes

In addition to the Youth Poet Laureate, four Youth Poet Ambassadors will also be selected from the same criteria. Each Youth Poet Ambassador receives:

a $50 prize
artistic support and paid performance opportunities during the 2026-27 academic year
paid performance for the Commencement Ceremony
and more!

2026-27 applications are OPEN and will close September 30th at 11:59:59pm.

Click here to apply

YPL 2026-27 Judging Panel

Oleksandr Frazé-Frazénko is a filmmaker, writer, and musician. His oeuvre includes films, music videos, commercials, a discography of over 50 albums, and a dozen books of poetry. This collection includes Oleksandr’s poetry volume FAQ Ukraine (2024) and the novel Nothing is Under Control (2025). In addition to his original works, Oleksandr published Ukrainian translations of Jim Morrison’s poetry (the first of their kind) and translated English poetry of the Restoration Period, including the works of John Rochester. His photographs, paintings, drawings, and sculptures have been featured in private collections across the globe, including exhibitions in Ukraine, Germany, Canada, and the US, among others.

During the first year of the war in Ukraine, Oleksandr stayed in the country and became involved in a volunteer movement working with foreign journalists as a producer, filmmaker, and writer to spread the truth about the situation and the historical context. He has been in residence as part of City of Asylum’s Fellowship for Ukrainian Writers since 2023 with his wife, Mari Frazé-Frazénko, a gifted Ukrainian singer. Oleksandr is currently a Research Scholar at Chatham University and was a Research Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh from 2023 to 2026.

Dmitra Gideon is the author of Some Animals Eat Their Young. Formerly the Director of Programs for Write Pittsburgh, they have facilitated creative writing workshops for youth and adults in schools, community spaces, jails, and recovery facilities. They currently work in family policing abolition.

Ivy Smith is an 12th grader at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School who is from Moon. She loves all forms of writing, but especially poetry and screenwriting. She is the poetry editor for her school’s literary journal, Pulp, and has had work appear in The Antithesis Review, Rune, and Pulp. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading, watching movies, or playing volleyball. She was the 2025-26 Youth Poet Laureate of Allegheny County and is a 2026-27 Youth Poet Mentor.

Daniel Umemezie is a Nigerian-American poet whose work explores cultural inheritance and displacement, using bodily transformation as both metaphor and form. His poetry develops a realm between interior experience and external reality. His work has appeared in the North American Review, Scholastic, Magpie Journal and many more. He is forthcoming in Polyphony Lit, and has been recognized as the Iowa Student Poetry Ambassador, the Kenyon Young Writers Program, the Iowa Poetry Association, Humanities Iowa, and others. As the 10th National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, Daniel positions cultural specificity as formal resistance, creating what he describes as “architecture of consciousness.”

If you have any questions, you can contact the Youth Poet Laureate Coordinator at poetlaureate@cityofasylumpittsburgh.org.