FIND YOUR VOICE AND 

Here are scenes from last years event - We can't wait until we can all meet again in person!!

ON THURSDAY FEBRUARY 11TH, our Dialect crew partnered with radio WKYS, the PG County Office of Community Relations and PG Xtreme Teens to present the  "No Excuse for Dating Abuse" poetry show & teen summit which was streamed live on Facebook & Youtube.  Hosted by WKYS personalityDeja Perez & our very ownProject MC, This was a teen-run event discussing self love & knowing the signs of relationship abuse.  

 

WE ARE INTERNATIONAL! Here, our 2019 & 2021 Prince George's Laureates are interviewed by BBC News about The Amanda Gorman Effect

Sainey Ceesay is the 2021 Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate and a student at Prince George's Community College where she has an arts concentration and is recipient of the Dual to Degree Scholarship.  She is Alumni of Eleanor Roosevelt High School's class of 2020, And Joe's Movement Emporium’s Creative Works Class of 2020. She has performed for Brave New Voices Youth Poetry Slam, the Kennedy Center, and the Smithsonian and has been featured in several virtual slams and open mics during COVID.
Sainey was also a 2020 Youth Poet Ambassador representing Greenbelt, MD and the Winner of the 2020 Words Beats and Life slam season, becoming a part of their DMV slam team. Not only a published poet, Sainey also has interest in sewing and photography, and works with the media collective known as “The Media Buru”. Recently she has been working with Prince George's Mutual Aid as a way to help better her community.​

...AND ON OCT 15th our 2021 Youth Poet Laureate, Sainey Ceesay was the Inaugural Poet for Glenarden Mayor Cashenna A. Cross' (center) Inaugural Ball!

RAISING LAS VOCES

​​Meet the Ambassadors

POETS, EMCEES & CREATIVE WRITERS AGES 13 TO 19, here is your springboard to launching a career in creative writing, performance poetry & community activism! We are searching for youth leaders who are committed to civic and community engagement & promoting change through the arts. We also partner with various county entities & non profits to create opportunities for our young artists. for more info, Contact us at dialectofpgcounty@gmail.com

YPL PROGRAMS ARE SPROUTING EVERYWHERE! In his new role as Poetry Director for Words Beats & Life, Patrick Washington is helping to craft new Laureates for other areas outside of Prince George's County.  Let's welcome these new young leaders!

The Inaugural Arlington County, Virginia

Youth Poet Laureate

Charlotte Maleski

 This exhibit will remain on display at Art'stination Gallery at the National Harbor until November 2021.  with a FINAL ART EXHIBIT & LIVE PERFORMANCE SATURDAY, OCT 30th,  2021
FROM 2PM-4PM featuring renown Nuyorican Poet & Diaspora Scholar SHAGGY FLORES! The Raising Las Voces project teaches about the intersectionality between various groups & how our problems – and solutions - aren’t that different

One Youth Poet Laureate. Nine Ambassadors. Ten youth poets who are paving the way to the future.

LEARN MORE

EXPRESS YOURSELF!!

IS A MOVING exhibition of visual & spoken word art which aims to celebrate Hispanic/Latino heritage and encourage cross-cultural understanding between black & brown communities.  Led by poet Yanina Chicas & poet & digital artist Marissa Michel, our Dialect Youth Poets & County Youth Poet Ambassadors have come together to craft a powerful series of colorful posters addressing various issues affecting our communities – issues like the effects of diaspora on various cultures, human trafficking awareness and mental health, as well as celebration of our unified community. Each poster consists of lines & stanzas from a poem, as well as imagery to support the issue described in the poem.

HERE IS SAINEY'S Inaugural interview as Poet Laureate - Many Thanks to the brother CHRISTOPH JENKINS and THE POET LIFE PODCAST

Youth Poets

SAINEY CEESAY, OUR 2021 YPL, has hit the ground running already - lending her voice for multiple virtual events & speaking engagements.  She has performed for the Maryland Black Mayors Association & County Executive Alsobrooks' yearly Women's History Month Luncheon. She's even been in the recording studio working on a spoken word album. Is there anything she CAN'T do?? 

SAINEY IN ACTION!

PAST LAUREATES:

Marissa Michel (2020) Mi'Jan Credle (2019) Michaela Lacy (2018) Samantha Jackson (2017) and Dominique Holder (2016)

CONGRATULATIONS ALSO TO OUR NEW YOUTH POET AMBASSADORS

ARIANNA JOY BOSLEY - Upper Marlboro

​DEJA EPPS - Upper Marlboro

JORDAN CULMER - District Heights

​SAINEY CEESAY - Greenbelt

​SHEMAR COOKE - Riverdale

JORRIN ELLISON - Clinton

​DEAUN COLEMAN - Hyattsville

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NOW THE WORK BEGINS as our YPL & Ambassadors begin traveling the county sharing the stage with county officials at festivals, town hall meetings and other community events in need of a youth perspective.  This is the first step to a professional career as a writer & public speaker - any organizations interested in booking any of our youth poets for  any functions, please contact Patrick Washington at 301 237 6684 or Neville Adams at 240 426 2629

OUR 2020 YPL, Marissa Michel was invited to perform for Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, at her annual BBQ held at Newton White Mansion in September

of Prince George's County

The Inaugural Montgomery County, Maryland

Youth Poet Laureate

"Sasa" Aakil

SAINEY CEESAY - THE 2021 PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY YOUTH POET LAUREATE

SISTAH JOY ALFORD & the PG County Office of the Poet Laureate presented THE FESTIVAL OF LITERARY ARTS, or F.O.L.A. from Friday April 16th to Sunday April 18th.   This weekend event not only featured not only our Dialect Poets with EVERY Youth Poet Laureate since the beginning - it also featured a special teen poetry workshop with THE Maryland State Poet Laureate, GRACE CAVALERI!!