The Saint Louis Youth Poet Laureate Program aims

to identify youth writers and leaders who are

committed to civic and community engagement,

poetry and performance, human relations, diversity

and education across Greater St. Louis.

CALLING ALL POETS, SPOKEN WORD ARTISTS,

EMCEES & WRITERS

WIN A CHANCETO REPRESENT ST. LOUIS AS THE FIRST EVER ST. LOUIS YOUTH POET LAUREATE

The Twelve Finalists will perform and be honored at the St. Louis Youth Poet Laureate Commencement Performance on October 14, 2016 during the St. Louis

Brick City Poetry Festival at: UrbArts, 2600 N. 14th Street, St. Louis, MO, 63106Free Admission.

WIN A BOOK DEAL TO PUBLISH

YOUR FIRST BOOK, PERFORM &

TOUR THE CITY

CONTEST RULES/HOW to APPLY2016 Saint Louis Submission Guidelines:1. Applicants must be residents of Greater St. Louis, which includes St. Louis City and neighboring communities in Missouri and Illinois, and between the ages of 14-19 years old.

2. Starting August 22, 2016, please submit 5 original poems / raps / performances (and / or YouTube Links to your poems).

3. Submit at least one poem that speaks to the theme of "Crossing the Divide" in Saint Louis, Missouri.

4. Include a resume that states your name, address, phone # and email, as well as details of your accomplishments, community service, after school programs, volunteer experiences and awards. If you prefer to submit online, please visit UrbArts.org to access the online application.

5. ONCE you are ready, you can submit your documents via email to laureate@urbarts.org or online at UrbArts.org. Your entire application is due October 3, 2016. The 2016 Saint Louis Youth Poet Laureate will win a book deal from Penmanship Books, conduct a reading tour and make special appearances throughout Saint Louis, Missouri for one (1) year, beginning with the Youth Writing Festival on October 20th.

The Saint Louis Youth Poet Laureate is a joint program of Urban Word NYC and UrbArts with support

from the Gateway Writing Project, the St. Louis Brick City Poetry Festival, Regional Arts Commission,

Penmanship Books, the Academy of American Poets, Poetry Society of America and Cave Canem.

The Youth Poet Laureate Program aims to identify young writers and leaders who are committed to civic

and community engagement, poetry and performance, diversity and inclusion, human relations, and

education across Greater St. Louis.

During the months of August and September, UrbArts will accept submissions from young poets, rappers,

leaders and activists ages 14-19 from across Greater St. Louis who are interested in representing the

metropolitan area as the inaugural Saint Louis Youth Poet Laureate. A group of esteemed judges will

choose twelve finalists, named Poet Ambassadors, with one teen honored as the Saint Louis Youth

Poet Laureate during the commencement ceremony at UrbArts during the St. Louis Brick City Poetry

Festival on October 14, 2016.

Along with winning the prestigious title of Saint Louis Youth Poet Laureate, the winning poet will also win

a book deal from Penmanship Books to publish their first collection of poems, as well as a library tour.

The Saint Louis Poet Laureate and Saint Louis Poet Ambassadors will have numerous

opportunities and platforms to share their powerful voices, their leadership, and love

of Greater St. Louis at numerous events across the region. Urban Word, UrbArts

and our other partners recognize the importance of empowering youth to share

their voices and engage in the community to affect positive changes in their

communities and beyond. Local and national partners include the Gateway

Writing Project, the St. Louis Brick City Poetry Festival, Regional Arts Commis-

sion, Penmanship Books, the Academy of American Poets, Poetry Society of

America and Cave Canem.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Note: This RESUME Template is to help you in the process; however, if you want to use your own, feel

free to email that (+ your 5 poems or YouTube links) to laureate@urbarts.org. This resume is an opportunity

to share everything you have done, so put it all in there. Feel free to BRAG about yourself and

your accomplishments!

Please write CLEARLY or Type All Information

NAME: ____________________________________________________________ AGE: ________________________

SCHOOL: ________________________________________________________________________________________

IF APPLICANT IS UNDER 18, PARENT/GUARDIAN NAME:____________________________________________

PARENT/GUARDIAN__________________________________ EMAIL:_____________________________________

APPLICANT EMAIL, IF APPLICABLE:_______________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: ______________________________________________________________________________________

PHONE:_________________________________________________________________________________________

AWARDS/ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

VOLUNTEER/COMMUNITY SERVICE:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

CLUBS/SPORTS/AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES/EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

ANYTHING ELSE?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

APPLICATION

PLEASE EMAIL this form (or use your own Resume/CV) as an ATTACHMENT

+5 poems and/or YouTube links to laureate@urbarts.org.

GoodLuck!

Please submit all materials by September 16, 2016Submission materials can be EMAILED: laureate@urbarts.org

or MAILED to: Saint Louis Youth Poet Laureate UrbArts, 2600 N. 14th Street, Saint Louis, Missouri, 63106

Gregory M. Harris Jr. was born and raised in the City of Saint Louis, Missouri. Greg, aka “Greg The Poet,” began to write poems in 6th grade. In 2012, Greg The Poet was the 5th poet on the UrbSLAM Team traveling to Tampa, FL for the Southern Fried Poetry Slam as an Indie Poet. In 2013 Greg The Poet joined the UrbSLAM Team again. Continuing to strive, Greg The Poet has returned to be on the 2016 UrbSLAM Team. Greg The Poet is currently working on his one-man stage play entitled, “Black Man, Come Back” along with working on his chapbook and music album. He also facilitates youth poetry workshops.

Lizzy Petersen served as the Managing Editor at River Styx for 2 years and teaches at Fontbonne University. Previously, she worked as the Poetry Co-Editor of Sycamore Review at Purdue University, where she received her MFA in Poetry. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Coldfront, FWJ Plus, RHINO, the Harriet blog, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Zócalo Public Square.

Mari Carter, EmCee, is a Chicago native who got her start in spoken word on the Saint Louis poetry scene. She was a part of the 2012 UrbSlam team as well as the 2015 Grand Slam Champ of the Dope Poets Spit Tournament. She went on to represent Saint Louis at the Individual World Poetry Slam in Washington, DC. As well as continuing to travel to share her work with audiences, EmCee will be venturing into entertainment public speaking, releasing her first solo poetry project, and writing her first monologue play centered on the lives of women.

Michael Castro has published ten books of poetry, most recently How Things Stack Up (2014). He has translated, with Gabor G. Gyukics, more than sixty modern Hungarian poets, and the team have produced an anthology and three books by individuals, including A Transparent Lion: Selected Poetry of Attila Jozsef Castro is the co-founder of the literary organization and magazine River Styx. He hosted the Poetry Beat radio program for fifteen years. His collaborations with musicians are recorded on six CD albums. Castro has performed his poetry on three continents. He has been honored as a Warrior Poet and Guardian Angel of St. Louis Poetry, both awards for lifetime achievement. In 2014 he was named one of St. Louis’s top fifty writers by the Missouri History Museum In 2015 he became St. Louis’s first Poet Laureate.

Diane Scollay, former director of the Gateway Writing Project (GWP), an affiliate of the National Writing Project (NWP), has devoted her life to teaching students and teachers. Before her 12-year tenure as GWP director, she worked for 29 years in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, serving as a high school English teacher, a reading specialist, the district’s staff development specialist, and the director of the Ferguson-Florissant Writers’ Project. Most recently, she has served as a judge for the past six years for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s “Express the Music” writing contest.

Dwight Bitikofer, has been involved in the St. Louis poetry community for a dozen or so years. He discov-ered the pleasure of open mic readings about that time. Bitikofer organizes “PoJazz” readings with local “spiritual jazz” performer Raven Wolf C. Felton Jennings II. He emcees a monthly open mic for St. Louis Writers Guild at the train station in Kirkwood. Bitikofer’s poems have appeared in Natural Bridge, Flood Stage, Mid-Rivers Review and Untamed Ink. He was the 2013 winner of St. Louis Poetry Center’s James H. Nash contest. Bitikofer has just begun a term as president of St. Louis Poetry Center. Professionally, Bitikofer is publisher of three community newspapers: Webster-Kirkwood Times, South County Times and West End Word.

Cathy Beck, a Gateway Writing Project (GWP) Teacher Consultant and retired public school educator, taught middle school English for 28 years where she shared her love of poetry with her students. She also brought her joy and passion for writing to her students at the university level and to fellow educators overseas in Dublin, Ireland. Throughout her career, Cathy has sought out opportunities to work with elementary and secondary teachers in several St. Louis area districts, to examine best practices to engage students in the craft of writing.

For more information or to support this work email: laureate@urbarts.org or visit UrbArts.org.

ESTEEMED JUDGES

URBARTS, GATEWAY WRITING PROJECT & URBAN WORD would like to thank our partners: