2020 local & state youth poet laureates

Cydney Brown - 2020-2021 Philadelphia Youth Poet Laureate

Read Ferris Wheel, Capitol Hill, and Beautiful but Fleeting

Cydney Brown is Philadelphia’s 2020-2021 Youth Poet Laureate, a program supported by the Free Library of Philadelphia. The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, 6abc, Philadelphia Citizen, and Fox29 featured Brown. She is a Gold Award Ambassador Girl Scout who is active in improving her community.

Destinae Butler - 2020-2021 Baltimore Youth Poet Laureate

Read Silencer, Mother Nature, and Airbender

Destinae Butler (she/her) is a 2021 graduate of Western School for girls in Baltimore City and the current and 2 time (2020/2021) Baltimore Youth Poet Laureate. (The only poet to hold the position twice.) She is continuously trying to better herself and find new ways to bring awareness, encourage and evoke positivity and change. Poetry has given her the opportunity to build new goals to strive to meet and build relationships that would’ve never happened otherwise.

Marissa Michel - 2020 Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate & 2022 Youth Poet Laureate of the U.S. South Runner-Up

Read Eulogy For the Childhood of Black and Brown Boys, Benediction, and Redamancy

Marissa Michel served as the 2020 Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate, a program supported by Dialect of Prince George’s. She is a two-time American Voice Nominee, the Diaz-Mattison Poetry Prize winner, and the recipient of multiple national gold medals for poetry in the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards. She was named runner-up for the position of 2022 Youth Poet Laureate of the U.S. South, and her newest works can be found in the Art’stination Art Gallery (located in the National Harbor), Maryland State Arts Council Regional Exhibitions, and elsewhere. www.marissamichel.com

Greer Nakadegawa-Lee - 2020 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate

Read Dear America, The Will, and The Body

Greer Nakadegawa-Lee is a writer and illustrator from Oakland, California. She has written a poem every day for nearly four years now, and she was the 2020 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate. Her first chapbook, "A Heart Full of Hallways" is out now with Nomadic Press.