Jordan Campbell, executive director of the Gateway Regional Arts Center in Mount Sterling, was interested in creating a youth poet laureate program for Montgomery County, so he contacted Urban Word, the New York-based organization that administers the National Youth Poet Laureate Program, to find out how to get started.
Campbell received a reply from Michael Cirelli, founder of the National Youth Poet Laureate Program, asking him to “think bigger.”
Urban Word was piloting a new program for statewide youth poet laureates, Cirelli wrote, and asked Campbell if the Gateway Regional Arts Center would be interested in being the statewide sponsor for a Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate Program.
The “yes” was immediate, though Campbell admitted he wasn’t sure the national program had found the right organization to lead the charge in Kentucky. “In a phone call, I said, ‘Are you sure you want to go with us? We’re less than a million-dollar organization, and we’re growing, but there are larger organizations in the state that I think would have more clout in the literary arts world,’ ” Campbell said.
The National Youth Poet Laureate Program organizers believe organizations like the Gateway Regional Arts Center have more capacity to administer the statewide youth poet laureate programs than some state-level organizations. “Some of those [state level] organizations, or government organizations, are often overrun, or they already have a really strong poetry initiative,” Campbell said. He cited as an example the Kentucky Arts Council, which administers the statewide poetry recitation competition Poetry Out Loud and leads the selection process for the Kentucky Poet Laureate program for adult professional writers.
“So, they said they actually seek out organizations like ours that can handle the capacity of the youth poet laureate program, and also where it would sort of be a flagship program for us,” Campbell said. “And so, we were very grateful and excited to take that on.”
Campbell was interested in bringing a youth poet laureate program to Kentucky long before he became the Gateway Regional Arts Center’s executive director in 2022. As a graduate student at Harvard University in October 2018, he met Amanda Gorman, who had been named the first United States Youth Poet Laureate a year earlier.
Gorman entered the national spotlight more than two years later reading her work at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. But in October 2018, Gorman, then a Harvard undergraduate, was making an impression on Campbell. “We were there in Harvard Yard, and Amanda Gorman spoke, and I was like, ‘Oh my god. She’s going somewhere. She’s amazing,’ ” he said.
Campbell spoke with Gorman after and found out she was the National Youth Poet Laureate and learned a little more about the program from her. When he returned to his hometown in 2022, he brought with him the intent to shine a light on the young writers there.
More Than Words
The Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate Program operates under guidelines set forth by the national program. Applicants must be between the ages of 13 and 19. Applications may be submitted through Feb. 28. The youth poet laureate usually is announced in April to coincide with the announcement of the National Youth Poet Laureate and Kentucky Writers’ Day.
Campbell said that after the inaugural year, 2023, the number of applications has decreased, but the quality of applicants’ submitted work has improved. “I think that means people know it’s an opportunity now, which is great,” he said. “The word is getting out, and those people who are the cream of the crop across the state—who are really excited and interested in poetry and the written word—are getting ready for this throughout the year. They’re honing their craft, they’re editing their poems, they’re really figuring out what they want their portfolio to be when they submit.”
Literary excellence, though, is only 50 percent of the application. Being the youth poet laureate involves more than good writing. The program wants to see applicants demonstrate community involvement and leadership. “A core tenet of the program is identifying students who will represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky in a manner that will bring honor and pride to us through poetry but also through their leadership,” Campbell said.
Being youth poet laureate carries with it a component of ambassadorship for the literary arts. Like the Kentucky Poet Laureate, the youth poet laureate must travel, as their schedule allows, to libraries, community centers, schools and other venues across the state. “I think that this program is saying it’s not just about your poetry,” Campbell said. “It’s about the person behind the poetry, and we want you to be a good citizen as well, if you’re going to represent the state.”
The Youth Poets Laureate
Since its inception in 2022, Kentucky has produced three youth poets laureate. The inaugural Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate was Amy Roblero-Perez of Bardstown, who served from 2023-24. She was succeeded by Maira Faisal of Florence for 2024-25. The current Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate is Esme Morris, a junior in Lexington’s School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where she studies in the literary arts program.
Faisal and Roblero-Perez currently are undergraduate students at Northern Kentucky University and Swarthmore College, respectively. Faisal is a senior, double majoring in biological sciences and English, and Roblero-Perez is a sophomore majoring in sociology and anthropology. Serving as Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate gave them insight and validation that each said they might not have gained otherwise.
Faisal said the honor helped allay a sense of impostor syndrome. As she began taking stock of her literary accomplishments, the identity as a writer and poet took root. It also made her realize that, even though her academic leanings are toward biological sciences, she still has things she wants to say as a poet. “I had always really loved [studying English], and I never wanted to neglect it, but I didn’t want to make it into a career,” Faisal said. “So, it kind of made me reflect and say, ‘No, this is really important to me, and I’ve put a lot of time [into it], even though I didn’t have to at all.’ So, I think it just made me more appreciative of my accomplishments and of my appreciation and love for English as a whole.”
Roblero-Perez said that being named youth poet laureate was the deciding factor—“the final sticker label” as she put it—that nudged her into identifying as a writer. She also learned what it looks like to be a working artist in Kentucky by traveling to places like the Hindman Settlement School in Knott County, a frequent destination for professional writers seeking continuing education and inspiration. “I think getting to meet all these other people that also are working—whether it be in a different art form, dance or theater—helped me to definitely appreciate what’s going on all over Kentucky,” she said.
For current youth poet laureate Morris, the honor has been a validation. “I felt like I was actually a professional poet, because I was getting up there, and I was reading my stuff, and I was explaining everything, and people were looking at me like my words mattered,” Morris said. “It’s not something you experience, especially if you’re writing for a grade.”
Both Faisal and Roblero-Perez, having completed their terms, count their attendance at Kentucky Writers’ Day as highlights of their respective tenures. Each of them read from their work, Roblero-Perez in 2024 and Faisal in 2025. In addition to meeting Gov. Andy Beshear and several of Kentucky’s former poets laureate, Faisal spoke with then-incoming Kentucky Poet Laureate Kathleen Driskell at the luncheon after the 2025 ceremony.
“I got to sit with her for an hour and just, like, talk to her about poetry and life and writing and what inspires her,” Faisal said. “You don’t get that anywhere else. So that was really cool. She’s talking to me like an equal.”
Roblero-Perez said she remembered the positive reaction she got to her reading from the former poets laureate in attendance, including Frank X Walker, Crystal Wilkinson and George Ella Lyon.
Morris, who will attend and read at Kentucky Writers’ Day in May, is excited for the opportunity. “I’m just gonna fangirl over everyone there,” she said. “It’s gonna be great.”
Faisal, now more than a year after her term concluded, recognizes that the title will follow each of them forever. She continues to accept invitations to open-mic events and poetry discussions in the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati area. Similarly, Roblero-Perez has taken her experience into spoken-word clubs at Swarthmore and is exploring the intersections of English and sociology in her studies.
For Campbell, those trajectories—from impostor syndrome to confidence, from student to ambassador, being able to have a conversation about their work and that of others—are precisely the point. “How do you share with people who may disagree with what you’re writing about or your interpretation?” Jordan asked. “How do you have the conversation around work that sparks tension?
“We want to create artists who are thinking about all of those things.”
To learn more about the Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate Program, visit grackentucky.org/ky-ypl or contact Jordan Campbell at director@grac.org.