Saturday, September 9th, 7:00 p.m.
School of Arts & Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza
1700 Alum Rock Avenue, San José Whatever it is, For tickets visit Eventbrite
The 9th Annual San José Poetry Festival presents the 2023 Santa Clara County Youth Poets Laureate and finalists!
This is Day Three of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 9th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events. Visit bit.ly/pcsjtix.
Admission: Free for all youth 19 and under. $20 for general public, $15 for PCSJ members.
It is with great pride and smiling joy that we present the newly appointed 2023 class of teen poets to represent Santa Clara County for next year. Hosted by 2022-23 SCC Poet Laureate Tshaka Campbell.
Thy Hope Luong, 2023 Youth Poet Laureate, is a Vietnamese-American poet and advocate based in the Bay Area. Her writing and art have been recognized by the New York Times, the YoungArts Foundation, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and various local galleries. Thy is very enthusiastic about superhero films, youth civic engagement, and taking walks even when you don't feel like it.
Emma Zhang, 2023 Co-Vice Youth Poet Laureate, reads, writes and attends Branham High School. Her work has been recognized by The Adroit Prizes as well as the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers as a National Best in Grade Winner, and appears in Peach Mag, Kissing Dynamite, Evocations Review, among others. She is the EIC of Aster Lit, an international youth literary magazine sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the co-founder of Love Letters to San Jose (https://loveletters2sj.carrd.co/), a zine (now open for submissions!) and artist promoting platform working with San Jose Strong.
"Matthew" Kim, 2023 Co-Vice Youth Poet Laureate. Bio coming soon.
Our poetry ambassadors are Sage Cobb and Nisha Shenoy.
Sage Cobb (they/them) is a 15-year-old disabled, queer and non-binary poet who loves to express their thoughts in words. They often write poetry about the hardships of being different, but also the joy that it brings. They hope to share their poetry with the world, and inspire others.
Nisha Shenoy bio coming soon.
Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.
Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.
COVID NOTICE: If a venue cancels, the San José Poetry Festival event will be broadcast to PCSJ’s Zoom channel. All ticket holders will receive a link to the Zoom. Refund requests for unattended individual events moved online due to a venue cancellation will be reviewed and considered.
San José Poetry Festival 2023 is presented by Poetry Center San José and is sponsored in part by: Festival and Cultural Affairs grants from the City of San José; a grant from SVCreates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council and also supported in part by a SVCreates National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan grant; support from the offices of San José City Council Members David Cohen (D4) and Peter Ortiz (D5); Literary Arts Emergency Fund supported by the Mellon Foundation; and with support from Anne & Mark's Art Party, Applied Materials Foundation, Brandenburg Family Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. We thank Four Points by Sheraton for hotel accommodations. We would like to acknowledge and offer our deepest gratitude to past and current venues worthy of your support: Art Boutiki, Books Inc., Caravan Lounge, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, First Unitarian Church of San José, History/San José, MACLA, Mama Kin, Recycle Bookstore, Tabard Theatre, Willow Glen Public Library and Works/San José. Please support these spaces however you can. And we thank all our volunteers whose time and effort make this festival possible.