The youth-centered arts organization UrbArts recently announced the 2020 St. Louis Youth Poet Laureate is Sarah Abbas, a 16-year-old junior at Marquette High School. Abbas will serve as the city’s fourth Youth Poet Laureate.
UrbArts also bestowed awards for Youth Poetry Ambassador to Antigone Chambers Reed, Lara Wulff, and Darius Jackson. Wulff and Jackson attend Central Visual and Performing Arts, and Chambers-Reed is home schooled.
As the lead ambassador of youth poetry in St. Louis, Abbas will conduct numerous local performances, host open mic events, and compete for the Midwest regional Youth Poet Laureate. A Pakistani American, Abbas addresses a number of social and cultural issues in her poetry, including the treatment of Muslims in the U.S.
“The most exciting part of the laureateship is all the people I will be able to meet and all the perspectives I will be able to change,” Abbas said. “Being given this opportunity means I have the platform to heal and impact lives through spoken word.”
Abbas holds a 4.2 GPA and is captain of her school’s poetry team, co-editor and chief of yearbook, and captain of interpretation events. Both of Sarah’s parents were born in Pakistan. Abbas was born in Toronto, then later moved to England then later finally settled in America.
“Her work is urgent, powerful and necessary,” said UrbArts Founder MK Stallings. “I look forward to seeing what she does with the laureateship this year.”
In her poem “Clock,” she writes:
“America declared war on my body—
Signed a Muslim Ban to keep my body locked away—
Loaded a bullet for anybody who looks like me—
Presses their palms together in prayer like me.”
For a full performance by Abbas, visit https://youtu.be/tg3xgFJB0o8.
