Young woman with long red hair reading poetry at a microphone on stage during open mic night, audience seated facing her in a small indoor venue with string lights and cream curtains.

2025 Vt Youth Poet Laureate: Emma Paris
Photo: Tina Picz Photography

Vermont Youth Poet Laureate

We’ve partnered with the National Youth Poet Laureate® Program to celebrate Vermont’s next generation of poets

The Program

The Vermont Youth Poet Laureate contest is a program of Sundog Poetry in partnership with Urban Word and in collaboration with the Flynn Center, Ruth Stone House, and Young Writers Project. This national program celebrates our nation’s top youth poets who are committed to artistic excellence, civic engagement, and social impact. Teen writers (ages 13-19) submit a portfolio of their original poetry and CV info that showcases their artistic excellence and community impact. State Youth Poets Laureate participate in dozens of national convenings, workshops and performances each year.

Currently, the National Youth Poet Laureate Program serves programs in more than 70 cities, states, and counties, and has been featured in every major news outlet in the country including CNN, PBS, NPR, BBC, NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, and The Guardian. Youth Poets Laureate have graced the stages of City Halls, the Library of Congress, the White House & the U.S. Capital.

How it works

Questions?
Email us at hello@sundogpoetry.org

Submissions open in February each year

A panel of judges will select a group of finalists and the eventual Youth Poet Laureate, to be announced in late April.
The Laureate receives:
• $500 cash prize
• Invitation to regional competition
• Public readings in Vermont
• Broadside edition letterpress print of an original poem with Ruth Stone House
All finalists receive:
• Invitation to participate in national workshops with some of America’s most celebrated poets
• Age 13 - 19 at the age of submission
• Vermont resident
Submissions are open February 1 - 28
Submit at youthlaureate.org
Submissions must include
• 3 poems in one document
• cv/resume information: this could include school/extracurricular participation, community and civic engagement, awards and accolades, and more. We encourage creativity here as you communicate your interests and activities both inside and outside of school.
*A cv or resume is not needed as a separate attachment. There will be space to add this information in the online application.
Judges for the 2026 Vermont Youth Poet Laureate contest are
- Megan Buchanan
- Rage Hezekiah
- Rick Agran

2025 WINNER

Emma Paris

Emma Paris (she/her) is a first-year student at Bennington College, where she’s studying Poetry and Ecology with a focus on environmental data interpretation for creative works. Her poetry has appeared in VTDigger, Zaum Magazine, the Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast, the Northern New England Review, MORIA Literary Magazine, Harpur Palate, and more.

Keep up with her on instagram at @vt_youth_poet_laureate_2025

Learn more about Emma’s poetry, inspirations and motivations from an interview with Sundog Poetry intern Kenzie Ribera.

Read the Interview