Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate

08/26/2026

Thank you to the Loudoun Times Mirror for this article on our 2026-2027 Teaching Artist Margaret Banks.

The Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate Program recently announced that Margaret Banks will serve as its 2026 Loudoun Youth Laureate Teaching Artist, according to a news release.

08/21/2026

Mark your calendars for the Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate's next poetry workshop with Teaching Artist Margaret Banks! Free to youth interested in poetry. To register, email [email protected]

08/12/2026

The Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate Program is pleased to welcome Margaret Banks as its 2026 Loudoun Youth Laureate Teaching Artist. Banks will provide poetry workshops and mentorship for the 2026 Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate and Ambassadors, as well as Loudoun teens interested in participating in the National Youth Poet Laureate program.

Banks will lead two poetry workshops at the Brambleton Library on September 8 and October 13 from 5 to 6 p.m. Teens of all levels of writing and performance are invited to attend. To register, please email [email protected]

About Margaret Banks

Margaret Banks is a lifelong poet whose work has been
published by Cellar Door and the Poetry Society of Virginia, where she received first place in the Robert S. Seargant Memorial contest and third place in the Ana Sanderson Memorial contest. She graduated with honors from UNC-Chapel Hill with a focus on English and Creative Writing, and currently works in the
communications department of the Northern Virginia Science Center Foundation. A North Carolina native, Margaret also lived in St. Louis and Long Beach before her current home in Reston, Virginia. She loves science fiction, bread baking,and owning too many plants.

06/05/2026

Thank you to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors Loudoun County Government for recognizing the power of youth voices and the literary arts. We are grateful for this resolution at the June 2 meeting.

The County Board of Supervisors has recognized the Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate Program for inspiring young people to “use their voice as a means for change while teaching beauty within poetry.” The Board’s resolution also recognizes the winner of the program’s recent annual ceremony and the Loudoun Youth Poet Ambassadors. Read the full resolution: https://bit.ly/4dJDJCU

05/01/2026

Congratulations! Jasmine Arisandy has been named the 2026 Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate for the 2026 Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate Program (LYPL). Additionally, the Loudoun Youth Poet Ambassadors include: Amanda-Pearl
Omoigui, Gia Mehta, Rebecca King, Pranavi Chilukuri, Nishant Varala, and Tvisha Seelam.

The winner of the 2026 Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate Program received a $1,000 scholarship and publication of their poetry with the National Youth Poet Laureate Program. Arlington Poet Laureate Emerita Holly Karaptakova hosted the commencement and served as a judge. Virginia Senator Kannan Srinivasan, Supervisor Laura TeKrony, and Margaret Banks of the Virginia Poetry Society served as program judges and made remarks at the commencement.

04/10/2026

Thank you to the Loudoun Times-Mirror for featuring the Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate Program during National Poetry Month and shining a light on the importance of youth arts and storytelling in our community.

Now in its second year, the Loudoun County Youth Poet Laureate program seeks to build a community of writers and critical thinkers in the literary arts community, according to the