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Amanda Gorman, the first National Youth Poet Laureate and the youngest inaugural poet in US history, captivated millions during her performance at Joseph R. Biden's presidential inauguration in January of 2021. Her performance serves as a reminder that poetry by young people has the power to transform our national thinking and inspire social change. From award-winning works like Jacqueline Woodson's memoir in verse Brown Girl Dreaming and Elizabeth Acevedo's verse novel The Poet X that depict young poets coming of age and beginning to hone their craft, to the hundreds of young people who participate each year in youth slam poetry, children's literature and culture are filled with youth who choose poetry as their mode of expression.
This special issue examines the relationships, both contemporary and historical, between youth and poetry. Exploring poetry written and performed by, for, or about youth, the articles featured in this issue present a wide range of young poets writing about social justice through topics including race, gender, immigration, and sexual assault. Whether discussing the poetics of freedom developed by young Black poets of the 1960s or the limiting nature of the discourse surrounding the DREAM Act as expressed by a young slam poet in 2012, the scholars included here treat the writing and performances of youth poets as valuable and worthwhile...