Allegheny County has a new Youth Poet Laureate: Meet Oluwatobiloba Olaore

A senior at Pittsburgh CAPA, Oluwatobiloba has loved literature since she was young. As a teenager, she uses poetry to express and advocate for issues she is passionate about, such as social justice, identity and mental health.

“As someone who tends to be reserved, I always found it difficult to locate spaces where I could speak up and feel comfortable,” Oluwatobiloba said. “This all changed when I entered the world of poetry. It’s a place where I can speak my heart, and though I may be anxious, I am comfortable because writing poetry is one of the few places where I find myself to be whole.”

During her one-year term as the Allegheny County Youth Poet Laureate, she will receive a cash prize, artistic support, paid performance opportunities, entry into the National Youth Poet Laureate competition, and access to summer sessions at the national Youth Poet Laureate Institute.

Oluwatobiloba is the vice president of her school’s Black Student Union and a member of Stand Together, a club that advocates eradicating stigmas surrounding mental health. She also started a book club at her school called Reading to Freedom: An Anti-Racist Book Club, which focuses on reading, understanding, and learning more about Black literature and Black history. In 2023, she was chosen as a Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador.

This year’s Youth Poet Laureate Ambassadors are:

Vanshika Jain, a sophomore at Mt. Lebanon High School and a second-generation immigrant whose Indian and South African heritage profoundly shapes her work. She is the author of the upcoming “Letters to the Empire,” a historical fiction novel that explores the personal struggles of individuals during British colonial rule. Vanshika has also published two research papers examining how historical events contribute to the spread of epidemic disorders across generations.

Linda Kong, a senior at North Allegheny and a poet fascinated by apocalypses. Her poetry often explores girlhood, diasporic identity and human responses to momentous change. A Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, her work has been recognized in the 2024 Ralph Munn Creative Writing Anthology and the Ligonier Valley Writers Student Poetry Contest. In addition to writing, Linda is the co-editor-in-chief of her high school’s literary magazine and enjoys playing the violin.

Monroe Law, a junior at Winchester Thurston and a passionate social activist and creative writer, believes that in today’s age the most powerful thing a person has is their voice. “With globalization unlike any other generation, it’s so critical that young people use their resources and their voices to speak out about the injustices that happen daily,” Monroe says. “The way I choose to speak out is through writing. It paints the world in a more beautiful lens, while talking about dismal truths. I want to use my pen, or more accurately, keyboard, to talk about things that matter.”

Sarah Voigt, a senior at Shady Side Academy, began writing creatively when she was little and has since experimented with flash fiction, short stories, and poetry. Some of her recent literary projects include starting a seasonal poetry competition at her school and co-hosting “The Young Poets Society,” a podcast featuring young writers in Pittsburgh. Sarah is also a member of SLB Radio’s Youth Media Corps and a Kidsburgh contributor.

The panel of judges who chose the honorees included Hallie Dong, the 2023-24 Pittsburgh Youth Poet Laureate; Dmitra Gideon, Director of Youth-Centered Programming and Community Collaboration at Write Pittsburgh; and Gaia Rajan, author of “Killing It” (Black Lawrence Press, 2022), who is also an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon University and runs youth poetry workshops at City of Asylum.

In August, City of Asylum hosted a workshop for youth interested in applying for this year’s Poet Laureate award. The workshop included poetry practice, a Q&A session, and application assistance. “Following the successful workshop, we received the largest number of applicants in the program’s five-year history, making the selection one of the most difficult since the program’s inception,” said City of Asylum’s Youth Poet Laureate coordinator Alexis Jabour.