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Our Schedule

All are welcome to attend! BIPOC and LGBTQ youth encouraged!

Below you will find everything that’s planned and when it’s all taking place. Feel free to reach out with questions.

Kick-off event!

Saturday, January 29th, 2022
3-6:30pm

3:00-4:00pm Youth Poetry Writing Workshop hosted by our SCC Vice YPL Mahder Aklilu

4:30-6pm: Poetry Showcase; hosted by Sarah Mohammed and Sophia Smith!

Featuring: 

Arlene Biala, Anouk Yeh, Janice Lobo Sapigao, Mahati Ramakrishnan, Myesha Phukan, Tshaka Campbell

Register HERE 

Youth Writing Workshops

February & March 2022

Students will work with a local poet as a mentor as they develop their writing and/or performance skills. 

Please save these dates!

Saturday, 2/19/2022 

3-4:30 p.m.

Zoom Writing Workshop Instructor: James Salanga

“on loving littler things”

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What are the little things you’ve picked up from others? What are the little things you do for yourself?

This workshop is about, as Mitski sang in “A Burning Hill”, loving the littler things. Or as Sister Joan said to Lady Bird in Lady Bird (2017), “Don’t you think maybe they are the same thing? Love and attention?”. It’s about looking at details, things baked into everyday life, as a reminder that love exists — and a reminder that even in solitary things, we are not alone, we are part of a community. We will talk about love without using the word, explore how writing can be a way to build with others in one’s own voice, and discuss art, imagination, and community as acts of resistance. Bring one of your favorite songs or poems that reminds you of the little rituals & habits other people have shared with you & vice versa. Participants can expect to contribute to a community poem, with space to create and share original work if they’re called to!

Register in advance for this meeting with your first and last name:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIlcemsrTIiG922TDwyQeqGs4zzMIG43l0F

Friday, 2/25/2022 

4:30-6 p.m.

Zoom Writing Workshop Instructors: Anna Yang & Helen Li

Led by two Santa Clara County Youth poets! 

Register in advance for this meeting with your first and last name:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUodeGoqTIiH9BpB6tFpbnU_X13wSdyg2GE

Saturday, 2/26/2022

3-4:30 p.m.

 Zoom Writing Workshop Instructor: Jaelyn Galasinao Sanidad

"The youth is the hope of our future." — Jose Rizal

A better world is possible, and we are in the midst of creating it. Every day we are making history, and some of the most important people at the frontlines are our very own youth. Where are you from? Who raised you? What does community mean to you? Join us for our poetry and writing workshop titled "youth with the mic and the pen" — which takes place on Saturday, February 26th, 2022, @ 3 pm — where we will cultivate our own healing space to express ourselves through our voices.

Register in advance for this meeting with your first and last names:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUuf-2rrDkoHdL2CYCCLB6tN2Xeh9NcJGYW

Saturday, 3/5/2022

3-4:30 p.m.

Workshop Instructor: Sarah Fathima Mohammed & Sophia Smith

Applications Due on this day!

REMEMBERING OUR BREATH — Poetry To Slow Time 


In this youth-led, communal workshop, we will explore topics of space, distance, and how to slow down and hold what is around us in a world of social media and classes that often feels like it is moving very quickly, passing by before we have a chance to rest, to see. During the 1.5 hour workshop, we will free write, discuss, and respond to prompts using writing as a reprieve, a way to refocus our lives. We invite you to join us and explore how writing can ground us, calm us, excite us, and help us reconnect with ourselves.

Register in advance for this meeting with your first and last names:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcuduCqqjosHNU4ZC7byT-iC_fQfzYwkiR8

Applications Close

Saturday, March 5th, 2022 (11:59pm)

Finalists Notified

early April 2022

All applicants will be notified via email about the status of their applications.

Finalists will be announced & invited to a panel interview with fellow finalists. 

Judges will select the winners based on this rubric.

Reading with the Finalists

Friday, April 29th, 2022
5-6:30pm

All Finalists will read their work to an audience, hosted by the Santa Clara City Library!

Host: Danny Thien Le, Librarian

Commencement Ceremony

Saturday, April 30th, 2022
5pm-7pm

Finalists will do a final reading; we'll learn who will become the 2nd Santa Clara County Youth Poet Laureate!

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