The prize, created in honor of Beyond Baroque alumna and U.S. Presidential Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman, will accept applications until May 1, 2022.
“We're very excited to start receiving submissions from young poets of color, and for the opportunity to foster their growth as artists,” said the nonprofit's executive director, Quentin Ring.
“The Amanda Gorman Poetry Prize is an important opportunity for young poets of color to be recognized for their poetic talent,” added Shonda Buchanan, President of Beyond Baroque's Board of Trustees.
“We hope it will inspire them to follow Amanda's lead in creating a legacy in which poetry and social justice work combine to infuse America with a richer human agency.”
The Amanda Gorman Future Voices Poetry Prize will award scholarships to college-bound student poets of color. As a special feature of the debut of the fund, there is a poetry contest for 9th, 10th and 11th graders, the same age at which Gorman began her development as a poet in the Beyond Baroque Student Poets' program. All told, $10,000 in scholarship and contest money will be awarded in 2022.
The prize continues Beyond Baroque's long history of nurturing some of Los Angeles' most prominent poets, including Wanda Coleman, Amy Gerstler, and Amanda Gorman herself. Gorman describes Beyond Baroque as the place “where a young poet found the love of her life” and shared more about her history with Beyond Baroque on the recent ABC 20/20 Special Amanda Gorman: Brave Enough with Robin Roberts.
The Future Voices Poetry Scholarship is open for all poets currently enrolled in grades 9-12 in California, and who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color. College-bound students in 12th grade can apply for a scholarship award, and 9th, 10th and 11th grade can submit to the poetry contest.
Prize winners will be announced by July 1, 2022.
Afro Poetry Times
