Ailin Sha (‘25) was named the Youth Poet Laureate for the City of Boston on February 3.
Sha has enjoyed reading and writing for her entire life. During her time at Boston Latin School, she was successful in Public Declamation, which inspired her reverence for the power of words. This fall, she started as a freshman at Harvard College. Around that time, she decided to apply for the Youth Poet Laureate position.
“I love creating, learning about and sharing poetry. I also believe it’s important to expand access to and engagement with the literary arts for young people in Boston,” explains Sha, discussing what motivated her to apply for the opportunity.
The Youth Poet Laureate is responsible for writing and performing poetry around Boston, as well as being an advocate for increasing the role of poetry in the lives of Boston youth. Poetry workshops, celebrations and open mic events are commonly attended by the Youth Poet Laureate. The Laureate additionally spends their term working on a special interest project.
Sha specifically hopes that during her time as the Youth Poet Laureate, she can create a pen-pal poetry project aimed at connecting Boston youth from different Boston Public Schools and that she can work with the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services to interact with incarcerated youth.
The position of the Youth Poet Laureate was created in 2022 by the City of Boston Department of Arts and Culture. This came alongside the Poet Laureate and a general push by the City to improve Boston’s poetry scene. A new Youth Poet Laureate is selected every two years. Sha is the fourth Youth Poet Laureate, succeeding Parker-Vincent Alva (I).
BLS students can certainly anticipate more poetry-related events in the next few years, as Sha emphasizes, “I’m very honored and grateful to carry on the legacy of the Boston Youth Poet Laureate, and I look forward to working with young people across the city!”