The Santa Barbara County Youth Poet Laureate program seeks to amplify the voices of youth poets and to provide them with platforms that allow them to use their art to actively work for the betterment of their communities.

Santa Barbara Youth Poet Laureate Bio

Madeline Miller was born in Mexico City, Mexico and raised in Santa Barbara, California by her father, a pastor, and mother, an educator, and like her parents, she has always valued language arts and education. She is the president of the San Marcos Writer’s Society and Vice President of the San Marcos Gender and Sexuality Alliance. She is also the Vice President of her school’s advanced women’s choir, Enchanté. 

Madeline has competed in a number of poetry slams, including two first place titles at the 2021 San Marcos High School Poetry Slam and the 2021 Santa Barbara County Poetry Slam. Her poem “Bird Song” was published by the Santa Barbara County Arts and Culture Office. 

Madeline works as an assistant at a local law firm, and recently completed an internship with the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. She is involved in the Way Collective and other community activism, and will continue to be involved in the community during her gap year. 

Santa Barbara Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador Bio

Kundai Chikowero is in the University Honors Program, double majoring in Psychology and Philosophy, and holds several awards at California Lutheran University. She is a proactive activist for social justice, community empowerment of underserved populations, and anti-racism. Kundai was awarded the Outstanding Youth Leader - the City of Santa Barbara in 2018. She is a published poet who has won the Martin Luther King Jr. Essay and Poetry competition six times since 7th grade. Her two volumes of published poetry are grounded on equality, peace, and determination, among other themes. Her poems have been featured in a 2021 collection of poetry edited by the former Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Laure-Anne Bosselaar. The 2021 collection titled While You Wait: A Collection by Santa Barbara County Poets was published by Gunpowder Press. Kundai has read her poems at various venues in Santa Barbara. With an understanding that racism is a taught social ill, Kundai tackles this rampant problem in the Santa Barbara and California school systems by actively communicating with school administrations whenever she notices such cases by students in daily practice, particularly on social media. Kundai plans to continue her social justice work by studying law in college through poetry and creating platforms for youths to use poetry as an avenue to promote peace and equality in society.

 CONTACT US

Michelle Pittenger
Coordinator, YPLSBC
yplsbc@gmail.com