The White House has named the five winners of the 2015 National Student Poets Program (NSPP).
The five teen poets were hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama in the White House this week where they did their first public readings and received the award. “It takes a level of bravery to be that vulnerable . . . and share something so personal and so precious,” said Obama said in the ceremony. “But that is also the beauty of poetry—how it helps you take all those complex and confusing thoughts and emotions and put them into words.”
In its fourth year, the program is in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. More than 20,000 students from around the nation applied this year. The winners came from all over the country. We’ve got the complete list of young poets after the jump.
2015 National Student Poets
- Chasity Hale, age 16 of Miami (Southeast Region)
- De’John Hardges, age 16 of Cleveland (Midwest Region)
- Eileen Huang, age 15 of Lincroft, N.J. (Northeast Region)
- Anna Lance, age 17 of Anchorage, Alaska (West Region)
- David Xiang, age 17 of Little Rock, Ark. (Southwest Region)