Soledad Alfaro-Allah was sitting in her poetry teacher’s class at Science Leadership Academy when the e-mail arrived. It said she would be named Philadelphia’s new Youth Poet Laureate.
“I got up and I just screamed,” said Alfaro-Allah, 16, who lives in Mount Airy.
So loudly that her teacher thought something was wrong.
But in fact, things were very, very right for the teenager, who had already proven herself as a poetry MVP at her school and now would step onto a larger platform.
“It means I will be an ambassador of art for the city I was born and raised in my entire life,” she said. “It’s a huge honor for me, and I’m just really excited to be part of this revolution we have with art and youth.”
Alfaro-Allah was named to the post Monday by Helen Haynes, the city’s chief cultural officer, and Philadelphia poet laureate Frank Sherlock, with whom she will study.
The youth poet position was created in 2013 as a way “to give a young person an opportunity to develop and showcase his or her talents in poetry with the guidance of an experienced poet,” the city said in a statement.
Sixteen-year-old named Philadelphia Youth Poet Laureate (via Philly)
