Tova Ricardo Named 2015 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate

On Saturday, July 11, 2013, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced Tova Ricardo as the 2015 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate. Ricardo was one of 53 applicants to compete in the program, which is open to youth between the ages of 13-18 who live or attend school in Oakland. Ricardo was awarded with a $5,000 scholarship and will have the opportunity to officially represent her community through poetry, media, and public appearances. The Oakland Youth Poet Laureate is the top literary honor for both the city and its hometown hero. 16-year-old Ricardo returns to Bentley School this fall for her junior year. She is the Student Body Co-Treasurer, an avid writer, athlete and musician.

Past Winners: Sophie Elkin (2014), Obasi Davis (2013), Stephanie Yun (2012)

Now in its fourth year, the Youth Poet Laureate Program is a partnership between Youth Speaks, Oakland Public Library, ProArts and more than a dozen community partners. The program is an unprecedented citywide effort to celebrate literacy through poetry and connect young writers to far-reaching opportunities. The program welcomes all poets, from the page to the stage, to represent the City of Oakland. Applicants submitted three to five original poems showing excellence, originality, creative risk-taking, and authenticity. These talented young poets made it through a highly competitive first round juried by esteemed judges, including accomplished authors, educators and community leaders.

About Youth Speaks: Founded in 1996, Youth Speaks is a multi-faceted organization that understands and believes that the power, insight, creativity, and passion of young artists can change the world. Through the intersection of arts education and youth development practices, civic engagement strategies and high quality artistic presentation, Youth Speaks creates safe spaces that challenge young people to find, develop, publicly present, and apply their voices as creators of societal change. Youth Speaks exists to shift the perception of youth by combating illiteracy, alienation, and silence, creating a global movement of brave new voices bringing the noise from the margins to the core.