On May 3, sophomore Kaylee Joge officially took home the title of Youth Poet Laureate for Prince George’s County. But what exactly does that mean? What is a YPL? How do you become more? I got the chance to speak to Joge and interview her about her writing process and her new title.
How long have you been writing poetry?
“Well I’ve been writing poetry sparingly over the past few years. I used to write poetry during freshman year whenever a thought occurred to me that I wanted to expand on, but this year I took it more seriously and usually give myself prompts to put into poetry!”
What is a Poet Laureate? What does it mean to you?
“A poet laureate is basically a poet appointed through competition who composed poems to be read at special events. Usually they’re hired and paid well for each poem they perform. Being a poet laureate means to me that I get to spread my message and spread awareness on topics that mean a lot to me through a creative form that may reach more people. To me, it’s super important that I show people that rhyme schemes and figurative language isn’t the only thing that makes poetry what it is. It’s the message and how it’s conveyed!”
What was the process of becoming a poet laureate?
“The process started off with an application. You submit five poems, pay an entrance fee and wait. Afterwards, you get selected as the top ten finalists. After a bunch of events such as open mic nights and writers conferences, you eventually make it to an interview and ultimately the final competition, aka a poetry slam. There, the winner is selected based on a points system that varies for each step!”
Where do you get your inspiration for your poetry? What topics and themes are in your writing?
“I get my inspiration from all around me. Sometimes it’s in the little moments of the day that I find to be so profound that I just have to write about them! Other times it’s me trying to understand myself and sort out my thoughts on paper. Creativity is a huge outlet for me, so most of my poems are personal and truly from the heart. You can usually find topics such as mental health, war, death, grief, and overcoming these things in my poetry.”
Why do you write poetry? What makes it special out of all the other creative outlets you could’ve chosen?
“Poetry is definitely an uncommon outlet among this generation. I think something that makes it stick out from other outlets is the fact that it’s in a way that is (sometimes) short and concise, and there’s so many devices that help you really get to your point (such as figurative language and poetry structure). Once you read through a poem, I think you can really relieve what was going through a person’s mind at the time and feel just how real that person was.”
What’s next?
“What’s next for me is probably going further into this. I want to try and explore all the potential I have in this position and yes, that does mean I want to try and become Maryland’s poet laureate. I think it would allow me to have that much of a bigger platform and it would be so great to have that opportunity!”
Joge is booked to do multiple poetry gigs, as well as hosting summer open mics at PG County libraries.
