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A Powerful Gift



Congratulations to Oakland Mills High School student Mai-Anh Nguyen who was named Howard County’s first-ever Youth Poet Laureate yesterday at an event held at Busboys and Poets. This appointment will provide Nguyen with the opportunity to act “as an ambassador for literacy, arts and youth expression in Howard County” and comes with a modest stipend.

Nguyen is a student at Oakland Mills High School, active in the Youth Climate Institute, National Art Honors Society, National Spanish Honor Society, tennis and theater. Nguyen won the Jack Chalker Young Writer’s Contest and was a finalist for both the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest and Bennington Young Writers Awards. She received unanimous support from the Review Panel to become the first Youth Poet Laureate. - - www.howardcountymd.gov/News092424

In its first year, the Youth Poet Laureate program is a joint venture established through the collaboration of the County, the Howard County Arts Council, and local literary nonprofit HoCoPoLitSo. 

Poetry gives a significant outlet for self expression and I think it’s important to note that the Youth Poet Laureate program supports youth mental health every bit as much as fostering literary and artistic expression. I distinctly recall how much poetry meant to me during my adolescent years - - both in writing it and reading the work of others. Giving young people opportunities to express their most important thoughts and then really listening to their voices is a powerful gift. It’s bigger than a prize or a stipend. It is an investment, a planting of seeds. 

Poetry alone will not save the world, but it is a valuable part of “a balanced diet” of human endeavors that allow us to process big feelings, think through deep thoughts, and build our sense of self-worth. For young people that can mean participation in sports, the arts, community engagement, STEM/Maker activities, or entrepreneurial or philanthropic ventures. 

In comparison to those other pursuits, poetry has often had a small voice. It is after all, largely contemplative in nature. That doesn’t make it any less powerful. 

I look forward to reading Ms. Nguyen’s work and seeing how she uses her time as Youth Poet Laureate over the next year. Cheers to everyone involved.



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