RI Youth Poetry Initiative

The Center partners with the Rhode Island Poet Laureate to select a RI high school student to serve as a youth poetry advocate to bring more poetry to our state’s youth and to inspire young people through example.

The current Youth Poetry Ambassador, Catherine Sawoski. Here she is reading one of her poems:

Rhode Island Poet Laureate, Tina Cane, and the Rhode Island Center for the Book, are partnering to launch the Rhode Island Youth Poetry Ambassador initiative. This program seeks to establish a youth poetry advocate position to be filled by a high school student (grades 9-12) who resides in the state of Rhode Island. It will be filled on an annual basis, with this year’s application period taking place between November 1, 2019-December 15, 2019.

This initiative is designed to bring more poetry directly to our state’s youth and to inspire young people through example. Just as the State Poet Laureate position symbolically affirms Rhode Island’s support of poetry, the Youth Poetry Ambassador is meant to validate and support the creative potential of our young people. A Deputy Youth Poetry Ambassador will also be selected to perform on-site, in-state duties when necessary or desirable.

A Youth Poetry Ambassador and Deputy Ambassador will be chosen in a blind-submissions process by RI Poet Laureate, Tina Cane, and announced in early January 2020.

The selected Youth Poetry Ambassador will receive (some or all of) the following opportunities–contingent upon the student’s ability and availability:

The selected Youth Poetry Ambassador have the following opportunities–contingent upon the student’s ability and availability:

• a $250 cash prize
• a guest-writer spot in the Providence Journal “Second Sunday” Poet Laureate column
• the opportunity to have his/her/their poetry featured through the Poetry in Motion, RI on RIPTA busses state-wide

• an Instagram account to manage as RI Youth Poetry Ambassador through which to share with RI youth visual prompts for poetry writing and poetry items of interest
• a reading with other youth at a Providence Community Library branch or at another Rhode Island library branch
• an opportunity to record an episode for Poetry Dose, the poetry podcast produced by Atticus Allen and Tina Cane

Applicants may submit the following materials TOGETHER, via email or post, between November 1, 2019 and December 15, 2019:

• a one or two-paragraph statement on why s/he/they would like to be considered for this position
• a letter of support from a teacher or librarian
• a letter of support from a peer
• two original poems

Send by email to:  Kate Lentz, Director of Rhode Island Center for the Book at [email protected]

Send by mail to: Rhode Island Center for the Book, Pell Center, Salve Regina University, 100 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, RI 02840 – Attn: Kate Lentz, Director

More info at www.ribook.org