NYC Votes! congratulates Ashley August on winning the Youth Poet Laureate Voter Poet Final Slam to become the 2013 Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) for New York City. As the Youth Poet Laureate, Ashley will appear throughout the five boroughs to perform, speak about the importance of voter participation, and conduct voter drives. She will also have a book of poetry published at the end of the year. The remaining finalists will serve as Youth Poet Ambassadors and work with the winner to represent NYC Votes! in their outreach to potential youth voters throughout the city.
Ashley won the annual competition with the poem "Lines," where she said, "Our generation's vote is stronger then any others to change our future and our now / If you do not vote, you do not have a right to complain / You can smell Election Day in the air / I know which line I’m going to be standing on, / Do You?" She will perform this poem at the Voter Assistance Advisory Committee public hearing on Monday, November 26.
Ashley is a 19-year-old from Brooklyn and a sophomore at Mercy College. She has been part of Urban Word NYC since 2009, when she joined the Youth Leadership Board and participated in several poetry competitions. She is currently working on her one-woman performance piece, entitled "Sea."
Onida Coward Mayers, Director of Voter Assistance at the New York City Campaign Finance Board, said, "Ashley is a wonderful young woman with such a vibrant voice. I am excited that she will represent the Youth Poet Laureate Program in 2013. It is an important year when New Yorkers will have a chance to elect new leaders in local government."
The Youth Poet Laureate Program is a partnership between Urban Word NYC and NYC Votes. Urban Word NYC presents literary arts education and youth development programs in the areas of creative writing, journalism, college prep, literature, and hip-hop. It provides writing workshops to teens year-round and hosts the Annual Teen Poetry Slam.
NYC Votes! is the non-partisan voter engagement campaign of the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) and its Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC). In addition to promoting voter registration, participation, and civic engagement in New York City through its many programs and partnerships, NYC Votes! sponsors the city’s official Debate Program and produces the citywide Voter Guide.