{"id":291527,"date":"2026-09-22T13:20:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T13:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/291527\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T13:20:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T13:20:20","slug":"heres-why-your-teen-should-apply-to-become-youth-poet-laureate-of-allegheny-county-even-if-they-wont-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/291527\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s why your teen should apply to become Youth Poet Laureate of Allegheny County… even if they won\u2019t win"},"content":{"rendered":"

The natural approach for an article like this is to start at the beginning. But for me, there are two beginnings: when I first applied to the Youth Poet Laureate of Allegheny County competition and when I found out I had won. I\u2019ll start with when I first applied (and why your teen should, too!) because as you\u2019ll see below, applying was actually much more important than winning.<\/p>\n

I attend Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, where I\u2019ve majored in Writing and Publishing since seventh grade. Students in my program are required to apply to at least five writing competitions or publications. This effort counts no matter the result \u2014 win or lose, accepted or rejected.<\/p>\n

So with some encouragement from my writing teacher (and with that requirement in mind), I applied for the Youth Poet Laureate program. Then I forgot about it.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t wait with bated breath for a call; not because I took for granted how life-changing it would be if I did win, but because in my fifth year of submitting my work, I had become acquainted with rejection. This brings me to my first reason why teens should apply:<\/p>\n

Rejection is good for everyone.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve probably heard this more times than you can count. Maybe you\u2019ve even said it to your own child. I know it isn\u2019t an original idea. But I also know that most parents want nothing more than to see their kids succeed. Oftentimes, well-meaning caution is the very thing that stops teens from pursuing their interests.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a>Photo of the 2026 Youth Poet Laureate and Ambassadors on stage courtesy of City of Asylum.<\/p>\n

I can tell you because I\u2019ve got plenty of practice in it: Even when teens fail or cry or face disappointment because they didn\u2019t get chosen, it\u2019s necessary. And it\u2019s part of life. When I receive an email from a journal months after I submitted my work, I still get a pang of excitement\u2026 then, most often, I ride the steady descent from that high after I read a cookie-cutter rejection email.<\/p>\n

As a writer, you will get rejected more than you get accepted. But in a way, each time it happens you get closer to becoming whatever a \u201cwriter\u201d really is. Along the way, you discover that the people who need to hear what you have to say are out there. It\u2019s just a matter of throwing your work into the abyss and hoping it sticks to something or someone. This is easier said than done, because sometimes sharing a piece of writing can feel like baring your soul for the world to judge.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n

Beyond writing, when you share your experiences and perspectives, you leave the vacuum and realize (in a good way) that you\u2019ve really said nothing new. A thousand other books and poems have been written about this very experience, but no one has written it like you before.<\/p>\n

When it works out and you win the competition or get published, it isn\u2019t just based on the merit of a piece alone: That same poem could have been rejected 10 times before, but this time you found someone who sees themselves and sees you in your writing.<\/p>\n

For me, that feeling of one acceptance from someone who truly aligns with me is worth the many rejections.<\/p>\n

This brings me to my second point: through submitting to the Youth Poet Laureate competition, win or lose, teens can find their way to the rich literary community of Pittsburgh. Before winning the Youth Poet Laureate title, I, like many young, pretentious writers, figured culture and the literary scene was trapped in New York or LA. The existence of City of Asylum and the Youth Poet Laureate program is proof this is not the case; though, these programs are just the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a>Each year, one teen is named Youth Poet Laureate of Allegheny County, alongside a group of Youth Poet Ambassadors. Photo courtesy of City of Asylum.<\/p>\n

If you are fortunate enough to win, you\u2019ll meet other young people who are sensitive and intelligent, and if your experience is anything like mine, you\u2019ll be equally inspired and feel like you\u2019re looking in the mirror. And even if you don\u2019t win, this rich literary community isn\u2019t exclusive to winners of the YPL competition.<\/p>\n

If your teen is considering applying, then you already live in Allegheny County and have won something much more valuable than a title: a community. If you visit a Carnegie Library branch or stop in at one of the various independent bookstores, you\u2019ll find people who care, who are sensitive, who feel compelled to write about what they see, and who understand that words can be beautiful and terrible all at once.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying winning doesn\u2019t matter. It\u2019s been one of the greatest honors of my life to be the Youth Poet Laureate of Allegheny County. It has given me a platform many young authors don\u2019t get. But more important than winning is simply applying again, and again, and again. If you put yourself out there, your people will find you eventually. And if you go out into the world looking, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll find them even if you just look in your own backyard in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

If any of this has convinced your teen to at least throw their hat in the ring, encourage them to gather up their four favorite poems, give each poem one last read and make any last-minute edits, then apply (and get all the details) at this link: CityofAsylum.org\/ypl<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one bit of advice: In the online application, you\u2019ll respond to some short-answer questions about your civic engagement. For this section, think small. Most people (especially teens) haven\u2019t won Nobel Prizes or started non-profits. We all know that change starts small, on the community level.<\/p>\n

So talk about any small changes you\u2019ve made in your school, like working on community food drives or cleaning up trash at your local park. My point is, don\u2019t be intimidated. What you have to say needs to be heard. And what you contribute to your community is never insignificant.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been learning over and over: If you put yourself and your effort out there into the world, you can never truly fail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The natural approach for an article like this is to start at the beginning. But for me, there…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[33064,73,75,74,43790],"class_list":["post-291527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-city-of-asylum","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-youth-poet-laureate-of-allegheny-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}