Alameda County Youth Poet Laureates

Beast Crawl Literary Festival 2024

ALAMEDA COUNTY YOUTH POET LAUREATES

The Alameda County Youth Poet Laureate chapter is beginning its 4th year, with the incoming laureate and vice laureate announced on August 2nd. Our chapter continues to expand with more submissions and enthusiasm every year, and our laureates and finalists have been acknowledged by national, regional, and state Youth Poet Laureate competitions. Check us out at: https://aclibrary.org/youth-poet/

Zoe Dorado served as the first Youth Poet Laureate of Alameda County and currently serves as the 2024 National Youth Poet Laureate of the Western US. As a writer, she has collaborated with healthcare workers at SEIU, gun reform advocates at Brady United, scientists at UCSF, and formerly incarcerated women at CCWP to humanize public health and policy issues through poetry and journalism.

Nitika Sathiya is a 2022 Alameda County Co-Youth Poet Laureate, community organizer, and woman in STEM. She has served on the Fremont Cultural Arts Council, volunteered with SAVE, and did research for NASA. She is passionate about empowering youth and environmental justice.

Yamini Jain is an inaugural Youth Poet Laureate for Alameda County for 2022-23. She's been a finalist for the Youth Speaks Bay Area Teen Poetry Slam in both 2022&2023, hosted various workshops at libraries throughout Alameda County, and been published in various anthologies. Her work is primarily centered on the Indian-American diaspora and mental health struggles.

Lia Le-Nguyen (she/they) is a writer based in Fremont, California. She was a finalist for Alameda County Youth Poet Laureate in 2023. A strong proponent of the power of language, she is never quiet and can be found writing, reading, or annoying friends and family alike.

Jovina Zion Pradeep is a poet, freelance writer, copywriter, photographer, and editor at Blossomer Literary Magazine. Her poetry has been published or forthcoming in the Moonstone Arts Center New Voices Spring 2024 Anthology, The Dungeness Press, SeaGlass Literary, The Howl, and elsewhere. When she’s not writing, performing poems, or taking photographs, you can find her singing, reading mythology or listening to music.

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