Cedar Valley Youth Poet Laureate | Fall 2026 Workshops

After a successful three years, the North American Review is pleased to continue the Cedar Valley Youth Poet Laureate program! Based on the National Youth Poet Laureate Program, we are encouraging local students to participate. The goal is to identify and celebrate exceptional young poets who use their voice to inspire change. We believe that young people are capable of creating important works of art, and deserve a venue to both develop and share these works with the world.

Daniel Umemezie of Cedar Falls, Iowa, won the title of 2025 Cedar Valley Youth Poet Laureate. Earlier in 2026, he won the Midwest regional competition, then went on to Omaha, Nebraska to compete for the National title. He won! After only two years since the start of this program, a student from the Cedar Valley is now the Youth Poet Laureate of the United States! To learn more about Daniel, visit Pass the Mic, the Cedar Valley Youth Poet Laureate program's Substack blog.

This program is free and offers scholarships to the University of Northern Iowa. Teens aged 13-19 living in one of eight counties that comprise the Cedar Valley (Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Chickasaw, Fayette, Grundy, & Tama) are welcome. Additionally, participants may see their work published in the North American Review’s online publication: Open Space.

Join editors from the North American Review for two writing workshops in November. Students can register for either workshop-or both! The generative workshop on November 3rd will focus on metaphor-making. The workshop on November 24th will focus on writing and performance with a collaboration with UNI SLAM, a slam poetry student group.

Registration is encouraged, but not required.

Other 2026-2027 programming will include spring writing workshops, a submission window to compete for the title of 2027 Cedar Valley Youth Poet Laureate, and a Commencement Program in April, at which a panel of judges will name the winner after the finalists read their work. Watch this space for further details, and follow CVYPL on Substack and Instagram.

Register here via Google Forms.