Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate

New Youth Laureate for 2025-2026

We are so happy to announce Modesto High School student Valentina Zeff as Stanislaus County’s Youth Poet Laureate for 2025-2026!

About Valentina Zeff

Valentina Zeff is a sixteen year old poet from Modesto, California who is currently enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program at Modesto High School. Zeff has been writing free verse and ballad poetry since her freshman year of high school.

Valentina is active within her community and school through social and environmental activism and extracurricular projects and volunteerism. She was selected as a member of the Park’s Youth Committee (April 2024-current), Modesto Youth Commission (October 2024-current), and student representative for Modesto High School’s Student Senate for both ninth and tenth grade. During the 2023-2024 Speech and Debate season, she was a top finalist for Original Spoken Word Poetry at State Qualifications. She is also the founder and Co-President of Modesto High School’s Book Club where she leads discussions on novels and poems of interest. Additionally, she is the Secretary and head layout editor/designer of the Panther Press, Modesto High School’s monthly newspaper.

Supporters and Partners: 

The Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate program is administered by Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center (MoSt Poetry) with partners MJC Library & Learning Center & MJC School of Language Arts & Education, Stanislaus County Office of Education, Stanislaus County Library, and Stanislaus Library Foundation.

ABOUT THE YOUTH POET LAUREATE PROGRAM

Are you a teen? Are you SUPER into poetry? We want to hear from you! 

The process for choosing the Youth Poet Laureate for Stanislaus County:

Teens ages 15–19 who reside or go to school in Stanislaus County may submit up to five original works of poetry demonstrating their commitment to the mastery of the art and craft of poetry. 

RULES 

The application packets consists of 4 items: (1) The application, (2) a Word or PDF file containing original poems, (3) a video of yourself explaining why you want to be Youth Poet Laureate and reading one or more of your poems (not more than 5 minutes total, and (4) a letter of recommendation from a community member/teacher who is familiar with you and your work as a student/poet/volunteer.

APPLICATION:

● Tell us all about yourself here. Part A consists of your personal info as well as a bio/artist statement .

● For the bio/artist statement, describe why you want to be a Youth Poet Laureate. Who are you, where do you live, what do you write? What or who inspired you to write poetry?  What topics do you love writing about? What issues do you care about? Where can we find your writing online? Do you have a website, blog, or social media presence? Share those with us. (GoTeenWriters has a great page on how to write a bio when you haven’t published much yet.)

● For Part B, please tell us about your achievements! How have you been recognized at school, in your church, in community organizations? In what other literary events or activities have you participated? This is where you can make a list of awards/honors, activism or community organizations, and literary achievements and participation.

POEMS:

● Please attach a Word or PDF doc with a sample of your poems: at least 3 but not more than 5.

● Poems may be in any style or form. 

● Poems must be the original creative work of the poet. Plagiarism will result in immediate disqualification from this and all future Youth Poet Laureate opportunities. 

● All poems must be typed. Single or double spaced, 12 pt Times New Roman preferred unless the poem’s form dictates the format (example: blackout poetry, erasures, visual poetry, spoken word, etc.) 

● No gratuitous violence or sexual content. No hate speech. No slander. 

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION:

Ask a teacher or other adult who knows your work to write this letter–the sooner the better. If you need extra time for this part, let us know–email us at ypl@mostpoetry.org.

VIDEO:

Make a video of yourself–using your phone is fine! In the video, introduce yourself and tell us why you’re seeking the laureateship and what you would do with the platform. In addition, read us a few poems. The video should be no longer than 5 minutes long. Please share the video with ypl@mostpoetry.org in whatever way works best for you–email attachment, link to YouTube or iCloud, etc. If you need help with that, please email us at ypl@mostpoetry.org.

Submission Dates: 

For 2026-2027, submissions open October/November 2025.

IF SELECTED, POET: 

• will receive $500 honorarium
• serve a one-year term from June 1 – May 31
• must be available for public appearances throughout Stanislaus County and have a form of transportation to locations in other county cities
• must either live in or be enrolled in a school in Stanislaus County at time of submission and for the entire term if chosen 
• must attest that their work is solely their own original creative work
• will work with a mentor from the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center; display their poems in the Young Adult section of the Modesto Library (or other branch while the Modesto Library is closed for remodeling in 2025 and will mentor others
• will write at least 3 poems during their term and present these at events to be decided
• will be asked to participate in at least two poetry events in the community focusing on engaging other youth in poetry. Examples of these possible Youth Poet Laureate activities are as follows:
  • If they’d like to create a poetry-related project of their own, the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center will offer assistance/support; 
  • feature at a reading as part of the Second Tuesday Reading Series at the end of their term; and/or 
  • write a poem for the City of Modesto’s Poet’s Corner event.
• May be asked to serve a second term as YPL upon mutual agreement.