Greenville's First Youth Poet Laureate, Anna Castro Spratt, uses her writing for advocacy
If Riverside High School sophomore Anna Castro Spratt could trade places with one writer for the day, she would choose Amanda Gorman.
Gorman, 24, is a Black poet and activist who writes about issues of oppression, race and feminism. She was also the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017.
Gorman made history in January of 2021 as the youngest inaugural poet in history when she wrote and delivered her poem, "The Hill We Climb," at the inauguration of Joe Biden.
Since then, the Harvard graduate has appeared on the cover of Vogue and Time magazines and has been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama.
"I really respect everything that she's done and written," Spratt said. "I wouldn't even know what a poet laureate was if it weren't for her."
Now, Spratt is following in Gorman's footsteps.
On April 24, Spratt was appointed Greenville's first Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) at a City Council meeting. She will work alongside Glenis Redmond, who is the city's poet laureate. Together, they will promote literature and literacy within the community during Spratt's two-year term.
The 16-year-old applied for the YPL position through the Arts in Public Place Commission among five other candidates. She submitted a poem, a video of herself reciting a poem and a video about the importance of poetry. She's already had one term as South Carolina's YMCA Youth Poet Laureate and she is a contender for a second term to run through 2023.
Redmond said Spratt stood out, not only because of her craft but also through her community service ― an important part of the YPL's mission. Redmond will mentor Spratt by creating strategies and plans for her poetic outreach and by helping her discover projects she would like to fulfill.
"She's a strong wordsmith. She is charismatic and has a genuine drive to be an effective literary citizen," Redmond said. "She is a great choice for our first Youth Poet Laureate of Greenville."
Here's what to know about Anna Castro Spratt
Born in Dixon, Illinois, Spratt's family moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil when she was 3 years old. Spratt finds inspiration for her poetry through her Brazilian, cultural roots.
When she was eight, Spratt's family moved to Greenville. At first, she found it difficult adjusting to new surroundings, especially speaking two different languages ― Portuguese and English. Her mother, Samantha Spratt, is of Brazilian descent, and her father, Bob Spratt, is white.
"It was really odd. I think that was when I started being interested in language and its functions," Spratt said.
While attending Buena Vista Elementary School, one of Spratt's teachers suggested she apply to the Fine Arts Center for its middle school program. She credits this decision with the discovery of her poetry and writing skills.
At the Fine Arts Center, Spratt was introduced to Natalie Diaz's poetry, which inspired her to make the transition from short fiction stories to poetry.
"Hearing her story and how she put that into poetry really connected with me because she's a Native American author, and she lived on a reservation right next to a very large white population in California," Spratt said. "She had a lot of interesting stories about myths and folklore within her indigenous community and how that interacted with what she knew about the American dream world around her."
Like Diaz, Spratt incorporates Brazilian folklore into her own poetry. Characters like "Saci," the one-legged man and "Cuca," the supernatural old hag that attacks small children who do not go to bed early, are symbolism found in her writings.
Here's what inspires Spratt's poetry
Other subjects of interest in Spratt's writing are intercommunal violence in Brazil and the culture's high beauty standards and expectations of women.
Her poem, "I Translated from the Bean Broth," is about her mother Samantha Spratt's side of the family in Brazil. In it, she tells of a cousin who experienced a home break-in and the crossfire that ensued. The poem also talks about the time she received lingerie as a gift from her aunts before she was ten years old.
"We hear within the insane, beauty-standard industry about the Brazilian wax, Brazilian butt lift, all of these things that are always credited to Brazilian women. In Brazil, that can be very harmful to women," Spratt said. "Here (the US) people think 'let's just call it the Brazilian thing because it was made in Brazil, or a Brazilian doctor made it.' But you get there and you see that it really is a standard and really is how women aspire to make themselves."
In her writing, Spratt wants young girls to break free from this pressure. Although she states her female relatives were only trying to do what they thought was best for her, it made her think about her own identity.
"Growing up a girl there, you really see how your family of women around you all want to make you into someone who's going to grow and flourish into someone that everyone wants," she said.
Greenville teen advocates for youth advocacy, minority rights and more
Today, the young poet is firm in who she is and what she wants to do for the community.
Along with poetry, Spratt is passionate about youth advocacy. She is involved in the Greenville Youth Alliance and is the Youth Lieutenant Governor for YMCA South Carolina Youth in Government. Through her poetry, she calls for change and asks that adults in positions of power listen to young people, even if they do not understand. In time, Spratt believes things can change for the better.
Spratt also advocates for women's, children's and minority rights ― exemplified through mock legislative documents and poetry she has written for Youth in Government at the state and national level. Her most recent bills and proposals have focused on reforming South Carolina's foster care system, abolishing child marriage, workplace harassment along with school and gun violence.
She is currently working on a piece to bring to the Youth Conference on National Affairs about banning female genital mutilation.
"We can still state our opinion and hope that our lawmakers will care. Lawmakers are supposed to represent the entire population of their district, not just the ones over 21," Spratt said. "So, something that I talk about a lot in my writing is 'Feeling like you're a smaller part but understanding that you are a bigger one.'"
For Youth in Government, Spratt goes to the Statehouse in Columbia with fellow members to talk to representatives and senators. This summer, Spratt will visit Washington to talk about proposals.
Next year, Spratt will attend the Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville for their Residential Creative Writing Program. Although her college plans are undecided, she knows she will continue to write and explore law.
On her writing journey, Spratt is thankful for her parents, and Sarah Blackman, her creative writing teacher at the Fine Arts Center. Her parents have been supportive of her poetry from the beginning, making sure to attend all of her poetry readings.
"Anna has a heart of gold and the soul of a poet. We're incredibly proud of her," Samantha Spratt said. "She always had a certain easiness in expressing her thoughts and ideas. Over time, this easiness became a beautiful gift for creating writing, poetry and public speaking."
Blackman mentors Spratt by showing her authors who have voices that match, provoke and oppose her poetic voice. She describes Spratt's voice as a lush interiority containing a solid understanding of the world into which she is speaking.
"Anna understands that the individual word is what she is using to build the world she writes," Blackman said. "She trusts her language, and in the two years I've been fortunate enough to be her teacher, I have seen that trust strengthen and develop into a very sophisticated relationship with the reader."
Nina Tran covers trending topics for the Greenville News. Reach her via email at ntran@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Meet Greenville's First Youth Poet Laureate, Anna Castro Spratt.
