Media Release: The 2021 Virginia Young Poets in the Community

​For Immediate Release
 
Contact:  Luisa A. Igloria
20th Virginia Poet Laureate 
​vapoetlaureate2020 "at" gmail dot com
 
Virginia Poet Laureate Luisa A. Igloria & the Poetry Society of Virginia Announce
the 2021-2022 Young Poets in the Community Cohort
 
Virginia Poet Laureate Luisa A. Igloria and the Poetry Society of Virginia are pleased to announce the 2021-22 Virginia Young Poets in the Community (YPIC). The twenty-four young poets, selected from a pool of applicants from around the commonwealth, will create public poetry projects showing what matters most to them in our world today and how poetry is a tool for social engagement. YPIC is part of Luisa’s 2021 Poet Laureate Fellowship Project for the Academy of American Poets, with support from the Mellon Foundation. With the Virginia Poet Laureate, the young poets will also have the opportunity to participate in workshops, readings and/or other events highlighting their projects. The students will receive certificates and monetary awards for their work.
 
The incoming cohort of young poets ranges in age from 3rd grade to college senior. Sample projects include a poetry collaboration between law enforcement officers and young African American males; a series of “poetry remixes” based on prominent poems which center on identity; and an anthology of community poems based on residents’ experiences during the pandemic.  They are:
 
Elementary School
●      David Babbick, Virginia Beach, 3rd grade, homeschooled
●      Jaiden Isaiah Brown, Chester, 5th Grade, C.E. Curtis Elementary School
●      Emily Nguyen, Annandale, 5th grade, Camelot Elementary School
 
Middle School
●      Key’Niyah Clemons, Richmond, 8th grade, Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School
●      Zoe Lee, Fredericksburg, 7th grade, Edward Drew Middle School
●      Abigail Willis, Mosely, 8th grade, Tomahawk Creek Middle School
●      Elaine Zhang, Falls Church, 6th grade, Haycock Elementary School
 
High School
●      Renee Anderson, Chester, 11th grade, Appomattox Regional Governor’s School
●      Yunseo Chung, Yorktown, 12th grade, Grafton High School
●      Stephanie Gomez, Broad Run, 12th grade, Fauquier County Virtual Academy
●      Leah Gunn, Bristol, 9th grade, Virginia High School
●      Adaevia Jones, Stafford, 11th grade, Colonial Forge High School
●      Charlotte Maleski, Arlington, 11th grade, Washington Liberty High School
●      Yayra McGodfred, Virginia Beach, 12th grade, Green Run Collegiate High School
●      Leia Morissey, Norfolk, 12th grade, Granby High School
●      Shannie Porter, Charlottesville, 12th grade, Albemarle High School
●      Kashvi Ramani, Ashburn, 10th grade, Rock Ridge High School and 
the Academies of Loudoun
●      Areen Syed, Norfolk, 10th grade, Norfolk Academy
 
College
●      Aderonke Adeleke, Chesapeake, sophomore, Old Dominion University
●      Shawna Alston, Norfolk, freshman, College of William and Mary
●      Virginia Kane, Alexandria, senior, Kenyon College
●      Hailey Lanford, Arlington, senior, George Washington University
●      Molly Rufus, Alexandria, art organization employee and audio engineering student
●      Mariah Salazar-Solórzano, Alexandra, sophomore, Northern Virginia Community College
 
For the full list of the winners with their mentors, please visit the program’s webpage at http://www.luisaigloria.com/young-poets-in-the-community. Follow the young poets’ projects on social media via #VAYoungPoets.