The winner of the 2023 New York City Youth Poet Laureate was announced on Tuesday. Stephanie Pacheco, 18 years old, has been crowned as the winner during the commencement ceremony at the Federal Hall, in downtown Manhattan.
Stephanie and other young adults were part of a paid fellowship sponsored by Urban World. The program selects fourteen writers and advocates, between age thirteen and nineteen, who seek to build a fairer world through poetry. After working with the all the finalists, the committee has chosen Stephanie as the winner. She will soon begin a one-year tour of appearances in literary (and non) events, around the New York City metropolitan area.
When proclaimed as winner, Pacheco affirmed that she was “so honored to have this title and be able to represent the communities that [she loves] so dearly.” She continued by noting that the win is “for all of us. We are supposed to dream this big.”
The issues that Pacheco holds most dear are those regarding social justice and equal rights to education. She explains how the desire to focus on these themes has been influenced by her life growing up in the Bronx.
When it began, in 2008, The Youth Poet Laureate was as a local event in New York. Due to its incredible success, it has spread to other US cities. Notable members of the Program have been 2017 winner Amanda Gorman, who read her poem “The Hill Will Climb” at President Biden’s 2021 Presidential inauguration.
