2025-26 Kenmore Youth Poet Laureate Jadie Hwang

Congratulations to Kenmore’s 2025-2026 Youth Poet Laureate Jadie Hwang.

Jadie is a sophomore at Inglemoor High School.  Her awards and activities include three Awards of Merit in the PTSA Reflections, publication in literary magazines Abobo Zine and Deal Jam Magazine, two Silver Keys in the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition, a member of the Foyle Young Poets Network, and service on Northshore School District’s Student Justice Collective.

Excerpt from “Self Portrait” by Jadie Hwang

Do the postulates and theorems of geometry
Still hold true?
Congruence and symmetry, reflect me
Across the y-axis
Lines are an infinite series of points
Maybe I am a line,
Thin and delicate
Branching off into infinity.

Meet Kenmore’s 2025-2026 Youth Poet of Distinction Miki Hoe.

Mikaela (Miki) Hoe is a sophomore at Woodinville High School.  She is a creative soul, a wordsmith, and a poet.  She typically writes about topics such as family, death, inequality, love, and her own identity, but she also enjoys playing with words in fun ways.  She is passionate about the environment and hopes to study wildlife biology in the future.
Excerpt from It’s Dark by Miki Hoe.
I’m scared
I will become another
broken car
in a graveyard.
just a skeleton
of parts
that will one day be forgotten.
Just like me
Miki Hoe Youth Poet of Distinction

The Arts of Kenmore’s Youth Poet Laureate Initiative (AOK/YPL) is a pathway supporting youth building arts portfolio for career & college readiness: including publishing, leadership, and performance opportunities, and community engagement.

One applicant will be selected by a jury panel to serve for one year.

The position of Kenmore Youth Poet Laureate is open to all students who plan on attending a Northshore area school.

Submission Requirements

  • Submit five (5) original poems by the April 14 deadline (via the form on this page).
  • Confirm that submitted works are unpublished and not under consideration elsewhere.
  • Attend the live audition and interview.

Awards

  • The selected applicant will receive the title of Youth Poet Laureate for one year.
  • $100 honoraria sponsored by Griffith H. Williams & East Point West Press
  • East Point West Press publication of a chapbook of YPL’s original poetry
  • Mayoral Proclamation by Kenmore City Council
  • Solo exhibition at City Gallery in Kenmore City Hall, during April, National Poetry Month
  • Invitations to perform at City of Kenmore and community events

SERVICE PROJECT

Selected applicant will create a service project that supports poetry in the community

JURY PANEL

The following panel will adjudicate written submissions and spoken audition:

  • Griffith H. Williams, East Point West Press poet, publisher and retired NSD English teacher
  • Terry Busch, local editor and poet
  • Chris Jarmick, poet and owner of Kirkland’s BookTree bookstore,
  • Elizabeth Wang, Youth Poet Laureate 2024-25

Submissions Reopen Spring of 2026

Empowered by AOK | Sponsored by East Point West Press.