I Have Spent the Past 6 Months Reading Hundreds of Poems by Young People — I Was Surprised to Find Hope, Not Despair
I have spent the past six months reading hundreds of poems submitted by young writers age 10 to 21. In June 2026, we will publish an anthology of writing from 177 of these young people in the 1455 Young Poets Anthology. More than 300 young people submitted their poems to a nonprofit I run, called 1455 Storytelling Arts. The poets mostly come from the U.S., but nine other countries are represented.
