WHAM Community Arts Center in Surprise expanded its literary arts program by selecting Nathaniel George as the inaugural Maricopa County Youth Poet Laureate.

Throughout his 2023-2024 term, George will advocate for greater representation of youth in literary arts and build a diverse catalog of MCYPL Program opportunities to encourage all interested youth poets across the Valley to apply, regardless of geographic location.

According to a news release, his talent as a poet, passion for poetry and literary education, and his leadership have been instrumental in revitalizing the MCYPL Program.

Nathaniel George is a senior at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix and was first introduced to the world of creative writing through the Percy Jackson novel series as a child. He then fell in love with poetry through the work of poets like Audre Lorde, Alok Menon, Ntozake Shange and Ocean Vuong.

George has submitted his poetry to contests such as the Foyle Young Poet of the Year Award, MONO Poetry Prize, Bowseat Poetry Contest, Poetry Nation Contest and Rattle Weekly Poetry Prize. His works have been featured in the Tempe Writers Forum, Brophy Literary Arts Magazine and Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine.

Outside of poetry, he is interested in youth entrepreneurship, social activism and public policy.

Opportunities for Maricopa County Youth Poet Laureates will span the entire Valley and West Valley, working with the Phoenix Arts and Culture, Surprise Arts and Culture, Peoria Arts and Culture, Buckeye Arts and Culture, Glendale Arts and Culture, Avondale Arts and Culture and Goodyear Arts and Culture commissions, as well as local high school districts and other Valley arts organizations.

WHAM will accept applications from youth poets in spring 2024 for the 2024-2025 Maricopa County Youth Poet Laureate Program. Applicants must be ages 14-18 and reside in Maricopa County.

Details on MCYPL applications will be available soon at www.wham-art.org.

For more than six years WHAM has hosted bi-monthly open mic/poetry nights and in July 2022, added the monthly Write Club PHX, a spoken word event featuring local, regional, and national talent.

In addition to these programs, WHAM has now added Peoria Oral History, with several other regional cooperative literary outreach programs in the works.

The official induction of Nathaniel will be on the same night as the monthly Write Club, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16 at WHAM Galleries, 16560 N Dysart Road.

The induction is at 7:30.

WHAM Art Association is a community oriented 501(c)(3) organization that is bringing the arts to people of all ages, race, abilities, and economic status in many of the West Valley cities.

WHAM‘s mission is to provide innovative, multidisciplinary, arts-inclusive programming, exhibits, and projects.