Adhya Kona, a junior at Nikola Tesla STEM High School, will be joining a collective next school year that will showcase her talents in poetry. Adhya was invited to join the Seattle Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) cohort for the 2022-23 school year. The YPL program aims to identify youth writers and leaders committed to poetry, performance, civic and community engagement, education, and equity across the Puget Sound region. A group of judges chooses eight finalists from the application pool. They then select one teen to be honored with the title of Youth Poet Laureate at the annual Commencement Performance.

The YPL, along with their YPL cohort, has numerous opportunities and platforms to share their powerful voices, their leadership and love of Seattle at regional events throughout the course of the year.

The YPL also publishes a poetry collection, released in May by Poetry NW Editions, when the next Youth Poet Laureate of the following year is announced. All students selected as finalists will also be invited to be part of a year-long cohort of poets working together in workshops, on collaborative print projects and at public readings.