Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center

Welcome 2025-2026 Youth Poet Laureate: Reading & Reception
2025-05-31 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Modesto Junior College West Campus, 2201 Blue Gum Avenue, Modesto, CA, 95358, United States
We’ll be celebrating our incoming youth poet laureate, Valentina Zeff, at a reading/reception at Modesto Junior College’s Science Community Center. Come listen to a few poems, meet youth poets, and learn about the youth poet laureate program.
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.
Zeff is active within her community and school through social and environmental activism, extracurricular projects, and volunteering. She was selected to be 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.
Please welcome our incoming Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate, Valentina Zeff!
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.

Author Bio Workshop & Youth Poet Laureate Q & A
2025-10-25 13:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Mini Author Biography Workshop & Youth Poet Laureate Q & A
Valentina Zeff, current Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate, answers your questions!
Join us on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. as Youth Poet Laureate Valentina Zeff shares tips on how to write an author bio. This is great to have when you’re submitting poems to anthologies and poetry journals, entering poetry contests, and when you’ve been asked to feature at a poetry reading.
Feel free to drop in and meet Valentina and learn about the Woven Words: Teen Voices from the Central Valley Anthology and how you can submit poems for that.
Zoom Meeting Link

Mini Workshop for Teen Poets: How to Write a Tiny Poem
2025-12-13 13:00 - 13:30 | CA
Woven Words Tiny Poem Contest: Teen Voices from the Central Valley, presented by MoSt Poetry’s Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate program, is now open for submissions from Stanislaus County high school students grades 9-12.
Poets are invited to submit 1-3 very short poems (3-5 lines). The contest is free and open to anyone living in or attending high schools in Stanislaus County.
The author of the winning poem in each of the five categories wins $50. Poets are also invited to submit poems to the anthology without connecting them to the contest themes. The contest deadline is January 31, 2026. Stanislaus County YPL Valentina Zeff will weave the short submissions together to create one book-length poem, to be published as an anthology and distributed to participants.
Zeff will be conducting a mini-workshop on writing a tiny poem and will discuss the contest on Saturday, December 13, 202, at 1:00 pm on Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81498958531
The Stanislaus Youth Poet Laureate program is presented by MoSt Poetry in partnership with SCOE, Stanislaus County Library, MJC’s School of Language Arts & Education and the Library & Learning Center, and the Stanislaus Library Foundation.

Mini-Workshop for Teens: Write a Tiny Poem - Contest Deadline Jan. 31
2026-01-17 13:00 - 14:00 | CA
Mini Workshop & Youth Poet Laureate Q & A
Valentina Zeff, current Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate, answers your questions!
Teens are invited to join Valentina on Zoom on one (or both!) of these two dates: Saturday, January 17 and Saturday, January 24, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. Valentina shares great tips on how to write a tiny poem for the Woven Words Teen Contest.
Then you can easily submit your poems to our contest! Deadline for that is January 31, 2026.
Feel free to drop in and meet Valentina and learn about the Woven Words: Teen Voices from the Central Valley Anthology.

January 17 Zoom Meeting
January 24 Zoom Meeting

Write a Tiny Poem Workshop Postponed until February--date TBA
2026-01-31 13:00 - 14:00 | CA
Mini Workshop & Youth Poet Laureate Q & A

Zoom workshop has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstance. Please return to this page to see future workshops during the month of February!
WOVEN WORDS Youth Poetry Contest deadline extended: February 28, 2026.

Valentina Zeff, current Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate, answers your questions!

Join us on Saturday, January 24, 2026 January 31, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. as Youth Poet Laureate Valentina Zeff shares tips on how to write a tiny poem for the Woven Words Teen Contest.

Then you can easily submit your poems to our contest!

Feel free to drop in and meet Valentina and learn about the Woven Words: Teen Voices from the Central Valley Anthology and how you can submit poems for the contest.

Write a Tiny Poem: Workshop with Youth Poet Laureate Valentina Zeff
2026-02-28 13:00 | Zoom
Tiny Poem Workshop With Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate Valentina Zeff. All are welcome!
Learn how to write a tiny poem + enjoy a Q&A with the Youth Poet Laureate. Find out how to submit your poems to the contest. The Woven Words Tiny Poem Contest is FREE and open to teens who live in or attend high school in Stanislaus County. The contest is a publication opportunity–the entries will be woven into a larger poem and published in a book, and we will celebrate together a bit later in the spring!
PLUS YOU CAN WIN PRIZES–top poem in each theme wins $50. Note: all poems will be accepted for publication. Please see contest guidelines for details.
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85093492645

Aileen Jaffa Young Poets Contest Deadline
2026-04-03 | CA
Co-sponsored by Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center and National League of American Pen Women, Modesto Chapter
Cash awards will be given in each of four categories: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12
Stanislaus County students in grades K-12 can submit up to 3 poems with an entry fee] of $1 per poem. Each poem must be the student’s original creative work, 24 lines or less in any style. Submit 2 copies of each poem, one without the student’s name and one with the student’s name plus an attached entry form. Poems entered in the Aileen Jaffa Young Poets Contest cannot be simultaneously submitted to the Poets’ Corner Contest or any other poetry contest. Submissions must be postmarked by the April 3, 2026 deadline.
Please visit Aileen Jaffa Young Poets Contest for full contest rules.

Poetry on Saturday with Sheila Landre and Cleo Griffith
2026-05-16 14:00 | Carnegie Arts Center, 250 N. Broadway, Turlock, CA, 95380, United States
Join us Saturday May 16 as we welcome Sheila Landre and Cleo Griffith to our Poetry on Saturday series! Both have new collections of poetry, from which they will share poems.
