Announcing the 2025-26 NYS Youth Poet Laureate

May 9, 20225 — Vanessa Y. Niu, a high school senior from New York City, was named the 2025-2026 New York State Youth Poet Laureate at the National Youth Poet Laureate Commencement on May 2^nd.  The runner-up is Aarna Tyagi, a high school junior from Jericho, NY. They were selected among 50 young poets, ages 13-19, from across the state who applied for the honor.

“Over the next year, I’m excited to connect with people through the offering of poetry,” Vanessa stated, “intimate pieces of myself, scrimshaw I’m bringing back as a memento of what it’s like to live today as part of an Asian-American culture that is still learning about its own beauty and joy.”

The New York State Youth Poet Laureate program is offered as a partnership between Urban Word and Teachers & Writers Collaborative. The title of Youth Poet Laureate recognizes both poetic excellence and demonstrated commitment to civic engagement. Applications were reviewed by a distinguished panel of judges, supported by Urban Word staff:  Alan Semerdjian, the Nassau County Poet Laureate; Stephanie Pacheco, 2024 National Youth Poet Laureate, and Asari Beale, Executive Director of Teachers & Writers Collaborative.

Alan Semerdjian described the strength of Vanessa’s poetry: “Vanessa Niu’s deft and imaginative explorations of self and identity are invitations for all of us to contemplate our own tethers and how to release them and how poetry is the vessel for this human voyage. Her compositions are masterful in their design and execution.”

Vanessa Niu will be the third person to hold the position of NYS Youth Poet Laureate. She follows OlaRose Ndubuisi (2024-2025). OlaRose Ndubuisi is a poet and ardent advocate for scoliosis awareness. She will be starting this fall at Syracuse University’s BS/MD program where she will be studying Biology and Journalism. She shared the following thoughts about her time as the state Youth Laureate:

“Being the 2024-2025 New York State Youth Poet Laureate has been a meaningful way for me to share my love for poetry with the community, raise awareness of scoliosis, and teach kids the power of creative self-expression through writing. I wish the new NYS YPL the best of luck, and I look forward to seeing how her platform is used to fulfill her unique mission, advocating for causes important to her.”

OlaRose will be a featured at a reading hosted by Teachers & Writers Collaborative at the Guggenheim Museum on Saturday, May 24^th.

Along with the official title of NYS Youth Poet Laureate and a cash prize of $500, Vanessa will have performance and learning opportunities and the chance to apply to be the National Youth Poet Laureate.

About Vanessa Y. Niu:

Vanessa Y. Niu is a writer and classical mezzo-soprano from New York City. Her writing has been recognized by the Kennedy Center, Teen Vogue, the Guggenheim, and NYFW. She is a 2025 Best New Poets nominee, a two time Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, Adroit Prize for Poetry 2024 Finalist, and commended Foyle Young Poet. She’s been published in Frontier Poetry, Up the Staircase Quarterly, The Adroit Journal, The Harvard Advocate, and more. Off the lined page, her work has been set to music in collaborations with Juilliard and Interlochen composers. She is in the graduating class at Special Music School in New York City and an incoming student at Princeton University.

Inquiries/invitations to have the NYS Youth Poet Laureate visit your school can be made to Asari Beale, [email protected].