Beyond Baroque, one of the nation’s leading literary arts centers, is proud to announce the winners of the inaugural Amanda Gorman Future Voices Poetry Prize and Scholarship. This prize continues Beyond Baroque’s legacy of nurturing some of California’s finest poets, including Wanda Coleman, Amy Gerstler, and Amanda Gorman herself. This year’s three Scholarship winners are Simone Wesley, Lucia Kornzweig, and Indigo Eatmon. The Prize winners are Tina Mai, Jessica Kim, Fiona Lu, and Anna Yang.

The Amanda Gorman Future Voices Poetry Prize and Scholarship was created in honor of Beyond Baroque alumna and U.S. Presidential Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman, who, like many other California poets and artists, spent the earliest days of her career attending workshops at Beyond Baroque. Through this opportunity, Beyond Baroque seeks to recognize poets enrolled in grades 9-12 in California, and who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color.

Simone Wesley, a recipient of the scholarship, said about her writing, “I’ve learned to use the emotions brought up by my circumstance to create poetry that not only serves as an outlet for myself, but provides an emotional conduit for others, as well.” About receiving the award, first place prize winner and O.C. Youth Poet Laureate Tina Mai said, “it’s always surreal to find out that my work is reaching people and being recognized – not just tucked away in a document on my laptop.” Amanda Gorman’s relationship with Beyond Baroque is also special to Mai, who has read Amanda’s latest poetry collection “a dozen times.”

The fund consisted of $10,000 in scholarship and poetry contest money for 9th, 10th, 11th, and college-bound 12th graders, an age range that reflects the early days of Amanda’s journey in poetry within the Beyond Baroque Student Poets’ program. College-bound students in 12th grade were eligible to apply for a scholarship award, and 9th, 10th and 11th graders were eligible to submit to the poetry contest. Beyond Baroque received approximately 130 applications across the scholarship and prize tracks, from students all over the state of California. The winners were selected by a panel of poets and writers.

“The volume of applicants, and the quality of their work, only confirms what we already know: the future of poetry is incredibly bright,” said Beyond Baroque’s executive director, Quentin Ring. “Beyond Baroque would like to thank and recognize all of the applicants who shared their writing with the organization. It was an honor for our panel to read each student’s work, and to be able to recognize seven talented, admirable young people whose talent and dedication to poetry all exemplify Amanda Gorman’s legacy.”

Beyond Baroque will host a reading with the scholarship and prize winners on October 1, 2022. More information about the event will be announced in the coming weeks, and can be found at beyondbaroque.org, and on all social media platforms at @bblitarts. The opening of applications for the next Amanda Gorman Future Voices Poetry Prize will be announced in 2023.

"Writing has always come naturally to me. As a shy, introverted, child, I enjoyed that writing was a way for me to express myself and my thoughts without being the loudest kid in the room. As I started to grow older I discovered poetry, which I fell in love with. Poetry was a way for me to express my artistic side, and things that I didn't know how to say with my mouth. I really began to develop my poetry in high school with the help of my English teachers and creative writing club. I am now starting college in a few days where I will be majoring in journalism, excited to continue exploring the different ways I can use my writing and poetry!"

"Currently, I write about my observations connected to human themes, such as the meaning of home and living in a city. Poetry is an incredibly meaningful tool for exploring these themes. I use poetry to give shape and texture to my life experiences. I use words and ideas to express the lens through which I experience the world.

To be recognized with this award is both incredibly rewarding and encouraging. This award will help me with my academic endeavors in college, and share my voice."

My name is Simone Wesley, and I am a born-and-raised San Francisco native. My work mainly consists of experiencing grief and of coming to terms with juxtaposing aspects of my own identity, primarily race and class. I’ve learned to use the emotions brought up by my circumstance to create poetry that not only serves as an outlet for myself, but provides an emotional conduit for others, as well.

Tina Mai is a 17-year-old writer from California and the inaugural OC Youth Poet Laureate. Her work has been published or awarded by the New York Times, the Library of Congress, UNICEF, the American Library of Poetry, the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Awards, and more. She is also the youngest recipient of the Atlanta Review International Poetry Award, in addition to being a Best New Poets nominee and a two-time Scholastic National Gold Medal winner in poetry. As a high school student, she developed an app to help visually-impaired youth write stories with their voice, which was awarded by the U.S. Congress; she is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Visions, a literary & arts magazine. Currently, she is working on a new poetry collection titled “Spacetown,” set to be published in September 2022.

For me, poetry is a powerful medium to tell the stories behind my culture and heritage. Having grown up as an immigrant in a trilingual household, I started writing before I was even fluent in English because I was always drawn to the power of words. This award means so much because it’s always surreal to find out that my work is reaching people and being recognized (not just tucked away in a doc on my laptop). Besides, I’ve always been the biggest fan of Amanda Gorman and have already reread her poetry collection a dozen times.

Jessica Kim is the author of L(EYE)GHT, the runner-up for Animal Heart Press' Chapbook Prize. She is the 2021-22 Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate, 2022 National Youth Poet Laureate runner-up, and a Youngarts Finalist in Writing (Poetry). She writes poetry as a revolution against one-dimensional stereotypes and hatred in our country. Now, and in the future, she hopes to create a communal space for young poets to engage in civic discourse, challenge systemic barriers, and empower one another.

For me, poetry is a powerful medium to tell the stories behind my culture and heritage. Having grown up as an immigrant in a trilingual household, I started writing before I was even fluent in English because I was always drawn to the power of words. This award means so much because it’s always surreal to find out that my work is reaching people and being recognized (not just tucked away in a doc on my laptop). Besides, I’ve always been the biggest fan of Amanda Gorman and have already reread her poetry collection a dozen times.

I've been writing for as long as I can remember. I still remember my first story, a crudely stapled together packet of paper with messy crayon scribbles and a main character I so cheekily named "Fiona." I think the ability that creative writing gives us—to make people, places, and worlds out of nothing but our own two hands—is incredibly underrated. Whether it be a poem, play, comic, or novel, all my life, what mattered to me was that I was telling a story.

Along the way, I've picked up so many idols and inspirations, too many to name in just a short statement such as this! Some of the writers that come to my head first are Carmen Maria Machado, Ocean Vuong, K-Ming Chang, V. E. Schwab, and Franny Choi!

I was delighted to be recognized by the Future Voices Prize—the announcement helped me gain a little more confidence in my own words, and I'm so grateful for the team at Beyond Baroque for making this possible. My writing journey definitely won't end here, and I'm excited to see where my stories take me in the future!

Poetry is important to me because, in the words of Audre Lorde, “Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence.” Thus, I write poetry because it has the power to give a voice to those who go unheard, spinning thoughts into stanzas and bridging divisions with the unveiling of a common humanity. Receiving this prize is an honor, and I am grateful to be able to share my poetry with others so that it may inspire and relate with others. Reading the work of other Asian poets, like Ocean Vuong and Victoria Chang, has helped me develop my confidence and voice, so I hope to help other writers feel less alone in their experiences and poetry.

Amanda Gorman is the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. She is a committed advocate for the environment, racial equality, and gender justice. Amanda’s activism and poetry have been featured on the Today Show, PBS Kids, and CBS This Morning, and in the New York Times, Vogue, and Essence. After graduating cum laude from Harvard University, she now lives in her hometown of Los Angeles. In 2017, Amanda was appointed the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate by Urban Word – a program that supports Youth Poets Laureate in more than 60 cities, regions and states nationally. Gorman’s performance of her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the 2021 Presidential inauguration received critical acclaim and international attention. Amanda appeared on the cover of TIME magazine in February 2021 and was the first poet to grace the cover of Vogue in May 2021. She was Porter Magazine's July 2021 cover star and received The Artist Impact Award at the 2021 Backstage at the Geffen Awards. Amanda was one of 5 Variety Power of Women honorees and cover star, one of three cover stars for Glamour's Women of the Year, and one of four cover stars for Harper’s Bazaar’s Icons issue 2022. The special edition of her inaugural poem, “The Hill We Climb,” was published in March 2021. Her debut picture book, Change Sings, released in September 2021 and her poetry collection Call Us What We Carry in December 2021, all debuting at #1 on New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists. Please visit https://www.theamandagorman.com.