The U.S. Mission to Pakistan, in collaboration with Urban Word, hosted a special event at the Alhamra Arts Center to announce the winners of the first-ever Pakistan Youth Poet Laureate program. Out of 19 finalists, two young poets—one writing in English and the other in Urdu—were crowned as Pakistan’s inaugural Youth Poets Laureate.
The winners will travel to Washington D.C. in April 2025 to perform at the Kennedy Center. The event also saw the release of Jashn, an anthology featuring poems by the program finalists.
The program, launched in February 2023, invited Pakistani writers aged 16-25 to submit original poetry in English or Urdu. It received over 1,400 submissions from across the country. After months of mentoring by award-winning poets, the finalists presented their poetry portfolios for evaluation by experts in Pakistan’s arts and literary communities.
The U.S.-funded initiative mirrors the U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate Program, which began in 2008, and aims to inspire young Pakistani writers to share their unique stories.
U.S. Consulate Lahore’s Public Affairs Officer, Sandeep Paul, expressed admiration for the poets’ creativity, while Urban Word founder Michael Cirelli and Project Director Sara Zaidi praised the strong collaboration and the remarkable talent emerging from Pakistan.