The Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center (MoSt Poetry), in partnership with the Stanislaus County Library, Stanislaus County Office of Education, and MJC’s School of Language Arts and Education, has opened the contest for the 2025 Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) program.
Applications for the program, which brings Stanislaus County youth the opportunity to create positive change in their communities through activism and art, opened Jan. 21, 2025 to students ages 15 to 19 who reside or attend schools in Stanislaus County.
The application period for the inaugural Stanislaus County YPL program closes on Monday, March 3, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Youth interested in applying are asked to submit a YPL Application. Included in that application packet are a request for a summary of civic and social engagement experience, a portfolio of three to five poems, a five-minute video with the applicant discussing why they seek the laureateship and performing a few poems, and a letter of recommendation.
Submission guidelines and an application are available on the YPL webpage (https://www.mostpoetry.org/contests/ypl/ypl2025/). Applicants with questions may email Stella Beratlis at ypl@mostpoetry.org.
Submissions will be judged by a panel of local working poets and other selectors connected with partner organizations. The selected Poet Laureate will receive a $500 scholarship. Altogether, the YPL program will engage Stanislaus County youth in literary arts programming for one year, beginning June 1, 2025. and ending May 31, 2026.
In addition to the scholarship, the YPL will be provided with the mentorship and resources needed to bring their community projects and vision of Stanislaus County’s future to life. These resources will include access to MoSt Poetry’s organizational infrastructure and board members as well as support from partnering community organizations and the local literary arts community. By the end of the program year in May 2026, the YPL will have made personal connections with organizations and individual partners throughout the region and will have had the opportunity to create a countywide literary initiative serving youth.
For more information, visit https://www.mostpoetry.org.
The Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center (MoSt Poetry) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in January 2013 by poet, educator, and Modesto poet laureate emeritus Gillian Wegener and a group of community-minded poets. MoSt Poetry’s mission is to promote poetry throughout Stanislaus County and to promote Stanislaus County through poetry. To that end, MoSt Poetry organizes a variety of activities and events to serve the public, including monthly readings online and quarterly readings at the Carnegie Arts Center; Poetry on the Spot with typewriters; readings for residents of senior care facilities and retirement communities; the “Poetry Everywhere” initiative which has served over 65 local schools including juvenile hall with donations of new poetry collections; free summer writing workshops; quarterly book discussions at the Modesto Library and local establishments, an annual Poetry Festival featuring noted poets from across California; and more. MoSt Poetry is partnering or has partnered with the Modesto Branch of the National League of American Pen Women, the Carnegie Arts Center, the Friends of the Modesto Library, and the Stanislaus Library Foundation. Members of MoSt Poetry serve on committees for the City of Modesto’s Poet’s Corner Contest, the Stanislaus Arts Council, and more.