If you wrote a poem about Brockton, what would it say? Youth poet laureate to be chosen
BROCKTON — Brockton's first youth poet laureate will be selected from three finalists on Saturday, May 7, at Lingos Auditorium in the Brockton Public Library.
"We have some great artistic people here in poetry and music and dance, and they're not really appreciated like they should be," said Philip Hasouris, Brockton's current poet laureate.
The selected student for the new position will work alongside Hasouris to help make poetry, literature and creative expression more accessible to the city's youth through various community events.
The three finalists — Ayanna Blake and Michael Creed of Brockton High School and Hannah Baptiste of Cardinal Spellman High School — will read an original poem at Saturday's event, and discuss their vision for the new role. Three judges, who are all English professors at Massasoit Community College, will select one of them for the position.
The new youth poet laureate will serve a term of one school year starting in July, and will help plan and recite their original poems at several events throughout the year, the first of which will be a Juneteenth celebration on June 19.
"I want to challenge the youth poet laureate to write a poem about Juneteenth, and represent the city and the library with that poem," Hasouris said.
Hasouris hatched the idea for the position when he became Brockton's first poet laureate in August 2021. He then brought the idea to the Brockton City Council.
Six students applied for the position by submitting one original poem, a second original poem about Brockton, a short biography and their plans for the role should they be selected. The judges then blindly read through the applications and selected three finalists.
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The runners-up who were not selected as finalists will still read their original work at Saturday's event.
The tradition of youth poet laureate began in the United States in 2017, when Amanda Gorman, who recited her original poem at President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021, was selected as the country's first youth poet laureate.
The selection event starts at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Lingos Auditorium located at the main branch of the Brockton Public Library.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton: First ever youth poet laureate to be selected
