National Student Poets Program 
The National Student Poets Program honors student poets and showcases their achievements for a national audience, inspiring other young people to excellence in their creative endeavors. The program draws on the expertise of each of its partners: It reflects the national imprimatur of the President’s Committee, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, community-based network of libraries and museums that will connect the national student poets with audiences and resources in their neighborhoods, and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers ’s long-standing work with educators and creative teens through the prestigious Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Each year, the five National Student Poets will be chosen from a pool of outstanding writers, grades 9-1l, who have received a national Scholastic Art & Writing Award for poetry. A national jury of literary luminaries, including poet Terrance Hayes, Kenyon Review Editor David Lynn, Alice Quinn, Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America, and Robert Casper, head of the Poetry and Literacy Center at the Library of Congress, will evaluate and select the National Student Poets.
During their year of service, the National Student Poets will promote the appreciation of poetry and the importance of creative expression through readings and workshops at libraries, museums and schools in communities in the five different regions represented by the awardees. Student poets will be announced each summer and introduced at the Library of Congress’s National Book Festival in Washington, DC in September. Each National Student Poet will receive an academic award of $5,000 and an acknowledgement of their accomplishment.
