Alyssa Gaines is the 6th National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, the 2022 Midwest Youth Poet Laureate, and was the Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of Indianapolis. An 18 year old bilingual Black girl poet and writer from the eastside of Indianapolis, Alyssa emphasizes the balance between hardship and triumph with attention to natural and religious images and the musicality of language from a desire that her communities are documented and represented. She has partnered with the NBA in their Team up for Change campaign, worked with the Indianapolis Public Library, and is particularly interested in educational equity and fine arts access & accessibility, delivering workshops across her community. She has worked to increase fine arts access, teaching with local youth writing organizations, leading workshops, and developing courses to intentionally bring in more diverse students. She was a National Student Poets Program Semi-finalist, a recipient of both the national Best in Grade Award and American Voices Award, has received five National Scholastic Gold Medals, and has had the opportunity to perform her work at the Library of Congress and accept awards for her writing in Carnegie Hall. Gaines has been published both locally and nationally. In addition to her poetry Gaines has won awards for her one-act play Fireworks, a production of which she directed at a local theater.
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