Castro Valley Youth Poet a Finalist for National Award

Former Castro Valley High School alumni Zoe Dorado was announced to become the 2024 Youth Poet Laureate of the Western U.S. and a National Youth Poet Laureate finalist on January 24. She will represent Alameda County and will attend the National Youth Poet Laureate Commencement at the Kennedy Center on April 20.  

“I have mixed feelings because, on one hand, I feel really proud of myself, and I’m really grateful because this is my third time applying to the National Youth Poet Laureate program,” Dorado told the Forum. 

Dorado previously served as the Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of Alameda County in 2021. She was awarded the 2023 U.S. Presidential Scholar for high school seniors who had demonstrated artistic excellence, academic achievement, leadership, and contribution to their community last year.

“The poems that I submitted, I worked really hard on it. I feel really grateful to have the opportunity to represent Castro Valley and Alameda County,” she said.

Dorado’s poetry journey began when she performed for Poetry Cafe in her 8th-grade year. From then on, she fell in love with poetry and felt inspired by Olivia Gatwood’s poems. She has made a name for herself in Bay Area literary circles by becoming involved with YouthSpeaks since 2020.

Her work is inspired by exploring the cultural impact of villainy through digital media and literature and how it impacts public policy on marginalized communities. Her other influences in her work are from Filipino culture. Some of her recent poems include “Manananggal Meets Corporate Feminism” and “I talk to Tiktik Maria Labo after joining TikTok’s ‘POV: you stopped dressing for the male gaze trend.’”

“Through my work, I hope to shift the way stories about criminality, violence, and goodness are told,” she said.

Urban Word created the National Youth Poet Laureate (NYLP) program to celebrate youth’s artistic excellence, civic engagement, and social impact. The NYPL serves programs throughout the United States and collaborates with local art programs and literary organizations.

Poets from the NYPL programs have performed at the White House, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, and other stages across the nation. There are currently six National Youth Poet Laureates, most notably Amanda Gorman and Kara Jackson. 

“I feel very fortunate to have had access to different resources & opportunities throughout high school. I want to make sure that other young writers aren’t gatekept from being part of writer communities or feel the need to gain any kind of ‘prestige’ to feel valid or worthy of attention. I hope to use this platform as a way to help make the youth writing world more accessible — both in the spoken word and written word realm of things.”

Dorado is currently attending Pomona College, majoring in English and Public Policy Analysis in Claremont, California.