2026 Berkeley Youth Poet Laureate Winners
PICTURED FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Berkeley 2026 Vice Youth Poet Laureate Rachel Dunn and Berkeley 2026 Youth Poet Laureate Nolawit Ketema, at the Youth Poet Laureate Kickoff Celebration at the Central Library on January 13, 2026. Credit: Zac Farber/Berkeleyside
Berkeley Youth Poet Laureate Nolawit Ketema
Writing, especially poetry, is how I make sense of emotions and experiences I don’t yet know how to say out loud. It allows me to slow down, to sit with what I’m feeling, even when those feelings are uncomfortable or unresolved. Through writing, I give myself permission to notice, to feel, and to understand.
Most of my work is rooted in genuine emotions and lived experiences. When I write poetry, I also write for the little girl in me who loved reading and dreamed of becoming a writer. For a long time, that dream felt unrealistic, something better hidden away. When people asked what I wanted to be, I learned to give safer answers. Now, every poem is a way of honoring that younger version of myself, the one who felt the need to conceal a true part of who she was. I write for children who are told, directly or indirectly, that their dreams are impractical or not enough. I write for the people who have walked with me through both joy and hardship, shaping the person I am today.
I know that many people, especially young children, don’t always feel drawn to reading or writing so my hope is to create work that feels honest and approachable. Poetry shouldn’t demand perfection or expertise, only openness. If even one piece makes someone feel seen, understood, or less alone, then the words have done what they were meant to do.
Berkeley Vice Youth Poet Laureate Rachel Dunn
Rachel Dunn is in the ninth grade, attending Berkeley High School. She has been writing for most of her life and enjoys reading books as well as poetry. She has been inspired by those around her who read, write and pursue their passions. She writes about her life and personal experiences, as well as her observations about the world and the people around her.
Read the 2026 Berkeley Youth Poet Laureate Chapbook!
Each year, the Berkeley Youth Poet Laureate Committee publishes a contest chapbook, featuring poems from the applicants. Each applicant is invited to contribute poems, before the chapbook is released at the annual Kickoff Party, announcing the winners to the public.
2026 Berkeley Youth Poet Laureate Judges
Kim Shuck
Photo Credit: 2019 Douglas A. Salin
Kim Shuck is the 7th Poet Laureate of San Francisco Emerita. Author of ten solo books, co-author of two others, and editor, co-editor, assistant editor and edit-curious of over a dozen others. Shuck has won awards, collected degrees, been to conferences and many of the other expected literary pocket lint that pertains to poetics. She is also fascinated by shiny objects. Her latest book of poetry is Pick a Garnet to Sleep In.
Zac Farber
Zac Farber is editor-in-chief of Berkeleyside, where he has worked as a newsroom leader since April 2021. Before joining Berkeleyside, Zac was editor of the Southwest Journal, a 30,000-circulation biweekly community paper in Minneapolis.
Kent Puckett
Professor Kent Puckett is an English Professor at UC Berkeley. He teaches courses on Critical Theory, Narrative & the Novel, 19th-Century British literature, Poetry, and Film.
Sabrina "Sab" Kim
Sabrina “Sab” Kim is a fourth-year student at UC Berkeley studying History with minors in Creative Writing and Gender & Women’s Studies. As co-president and editor-in-chief of the Berkeley Poetry Review (BPR) for the past three years, Sab has overseen the publication of four editions of BPR. Sab is also a member of Phi Alpha Theta (Chi Chapter) at Berkeley, a national history honors society and will be graduating this spring. Currently, Sab is in the process of working on her senior thesis, which will explore the relationship between spectacle forms of mass culture, urban struggle, and political movements.
William Rumelhart
William Rumelhart is co-president and co-editor of the Berkeley Poetry Review. His work has appeared in Reed Magazine, Coe Review, and the anthology Quilted Remnants. In 2023, he received the Karen Osney Brownstein Writing Prize & Scholarship for literary achievement. He is currently at work on his debut poetry collection, “Disquietude.” William is a senior at UC Berkeley, majoring in English and Political Science and minoring in PPL (Politics, Philosophy & Law). He is writing an honors thesis on the aesthetics of awe and majesty in Renaissance literature.
Aditi Malhotra
Aditi Malhotra is an accomplished bilingual journalist and spoken word artist, fluent in Hindi and English, with a career spanning India and the United States. She is currently based in Oakland, California. With over a decade of editorial writing and multimedia production experience, she has contributed to major publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, PBS Newshour, Chicago Sun-Times and others, focusing on research, reporting, and storytelling at the intersection of gender, migration, mental health, education, and identity. Aditi’s work combines narrative strategy with deep social insights, highlighting human experiences across cultures and continents. During COVID-19, Aditi started expanding her creative practice writing spoken word poetry, and performing at notable events in the San Francisco Bay Area, like the South Asian Literature & Arts festival and Words & Stories at Salesforce Park, featuring readings by members of The Writers Grotto. Aditi is passionate about supporting BIPOC writing communities and fostering safe spaces for creative expression. Aditi is the co-author of an upcoming community health guidebook on epilepsy and seizures, approaching it from a global health and social justice perspective, soon to-be-published by Hesperian Health Guides.
Aniya Butler
Aniya Butler is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, organizer, and seed grown in Oakland, CA. Nourished by New Afrikan resistance and lineage, her work blooms at the crossroads of generational trauma, memory, environmental healing and sustainability, stewardship, and resistance—all influenced by the historical conditions of displacement, genocide, and refusal to be erased. She is currently a student at Wesleyan University studying medical anthropology. Aniya believes in the total freedom of all oppressed peoples and the earth. Find her reading alongside natural wombs of memory and on IG @a.alchxmist and substack @tmrsseeds.
Questions?
Contact the BYPL Committee by email, and we'll be happy to answer any questions you may have: youthpoet@berkeleyca.gov
The Berkeley Youth Poet Laureate program is supported by an alliance of community partners. These community partners include the City of Berkeley Civic Arts Commission and Berkeley Public Schools, with support from Urban Word.
