Prince George’s County welcomes its first ever Youth Poet Laureate to their new platform and the winner is well on her way to success.

For two months, poets were scouted from Sept-Nov at various youth events across the DMV, from PG Extreme Teens events to youth open mikes at Busboys & Poets to Words Beats & Life poetry workshops for Prince George’s County residents interested in representing the county abroad, through their art. After narrowing the 50 applicants down to 13 finalists, it was revealed that Dominique Holder now holds the title of Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate.

On, Dec. 21, organizers Patrick Washington, Executive Manager at DIALECT of Prince Georges County and Neville Phoenix Adams, storyteller and history teacher at Parkdale High School held an event to reveal which one out of the 13 finalists of poets, rappers and youth leaders, ages 14-19, would be named the winner.

This was no ordinary poetry slam that the audience may have heard before. The finalist’s words were powerful, their feelings were expressed but the microphone was shown no mercy as they spurted out words of their unstoppable movement.

The judges featured representatives from the Prince Georges African American Museum, American Poetry Museum and Collective Voices. The judges were given a scoring rubric sheet which gave points for writing, presentation, originality, as well as how their bios reflected their dedication to community and social issues. They scored each application and Holder ranked the highest.

“I knew that Dominique would do well. Washington mentored her for the past two years. She is a passionate writer who follows her heart and has a strong structure set up around her in family, church and her school poetry club, which she is the president of. I’m very proud of her and excited to see her develop as an artist,” said Washington.

Holder received a publishing deal with Penmanship Books and will spend the next year creating her first collection of poems, which will be released nationally in December of 2016 at the next Laureate finals. As the county’s first Laureate she will also put on a performance/reading tour of various county libraries and community centers.

“I’m very shocked but very happy about winning because there’s so many amazing poets in PG County. Not everything is competition, there’s love here with this poetry and I enjoy the feeling of being truthful and vulnerable onstage during a performance,” Holder said.

She began writing poetry during her freshman year in high school and said she did not expect to win the title. Holder represented the city of Oxon Hill and is currently a senior at Oxon Hill High School.

“This event is important for our young people’s voices to be heard,” said EZ Street, the 93.9 WKYS radio host and emcee of the event . “They came on the radio with me a couple of weeks ago and we had an opportunity for them to talk about things that are on their mind and their hearts.”

According to EZ Street, “We know the importance of the spoken word and getting these voices out there. Sometimes these voices exist but they’re not heard and an event like this gives them an opportunity to express themselves. Usually I have to go to DC for something like this but to have it in our own backyard, I’m so glad to be apart of it.”

EZ Street also revealed that the remaining 12 will stand as ambassadors of cities such as Laurel, Greenbelt, Bowie, Riverdale, Mount Rainier, College Park, Largo, Hyattsville, District Heights, Upper Marlboro, Clinton, Fort Washington, Oxon Hill, Landover Hills and Suitland. DJ Stylus on the ones and twos kept the finalists and audience members bouncing in their seats during this epic poetic ensemble.

According to Washington, a laureate is someone worthy of note or of praise. The Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate competition is a service-based contest, which includes dedication to the craft, good presentation and a dedication to the community around them.

“I feel that our youth poet laureate is just as deserving. I created this title in our county not only to shed light on the wonderful things our youth are doing, but to develop a real relationship between our young artists and county officials,” Washington said.

Washington is a nationally known performance poet as well as an emcee, and a writer who has spent the last twenty years spreading love for the spoken, written and rhythmic word across the country. Patrick has worked participated in projects with The American Poetry Museum, America Scores, Youthbuild, and Words Beats & Life, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and the NFL Network. He was commissioned to create a poem dedicating the monument to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King on the national mall on Oct.16, 2011.

Washington said 2016 will be a busy year for our remaining 12 finalists, who as poet ambassadors for their cities will now have various opportunities and platforms to share their talents at events across the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area. The program will focus on each poets’ personal artist development and establishing relationships with their city officials.

The Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate program also received a proclamation drafted by the Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker naming the 4th week in December Youth Poet Laureate Week in Prince George’s County.

Holder said she will continue to create and write poems that will encourage young people in the D.C. metropolitan area. Her advice to other poets on the come up is to not doubt your own work. Be your biggest supporter because the worst thing you can do is always make excuses. Your poems are always good because there is no such thing as bad poetry.”