National Youth Poet Laureate Inspires Social Change

For ten years, the National Youth Poet Laureate program has recognized outstanding young writers across the United States. These writers use their work to drive social change. Recently, Fred de Sam Lazaro interviewed the 2026-2027 laureate in Cedar Falls, Iowa. This interview is part of the arts and culture series, CANVAS.

Fred de Sam Lazaro is the director of the Under-Told Stories Project at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. This program merges international journalism with education. Since 1985, he has been associated with the PBS NewsHour and frequently contributes to PBS’ Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.

Sam Lane, a reporter and producer for PBS NewsHour’s segment unit, also discussed this initiative.