Daniel Umemezie, an 18-year-old Nigerian-American poet from Cedar Falls, Iowa, has been named the 2026–2027 U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate, becoming the tenth young writer to hold the prestigious title since the program began in 2017.
Umemezie, whose full name is Daniel Somtochukwu Umemezie, was selected after months of judging among hundreds of Youth Poets Laureate from a network of more than 120 sites across the country. The honor is awarded by Urban Word, the organization that curates the national program.
A senior at Cedar Falls High School, Umemezie says his passion for poetry grew after he moved from Nigeria to the United States at age 13. Adjusting to the culture shock of a new country helped him discover writing as a way to express himself and connect with others. Growing up, he was deeply involved in the arts, exploring everything from piano to creative writing, and believes poetry and other art forms help unite people by building shared understanding.
His work explores heritage, identity and the complexities of the Nigerian-American experience, capturing the richness of his own life while grappling with questions of culture and what it means to grow up between different worlds.
Umemezie has said memory is central to much of his writing. His path to poetry began during his sophomore year, when an English teacher encouraged him to enter a local poetry competition. He won, and went on to become the Cedar Valley Youth Poet Laureate and the Iowa Student Poet Ambassador before capturing the national title this year. He also founded the Iowa Youth Poetry Council along the way.
He is only the second Nigerian-American to receive the honor, following Salome Agbaroji, who became the first in 2023. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa also recognized Umemezie on the Senate floor, noting he is the first Iowan to receive the award.
Umemezie follows in the footsteps of poets like Amanda Gorman, who became the first National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017 and later gained international attention reading “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration.
As part of his one-year term, Umemezie will travel the country for readings and workshops, aiming to champion work that spurs social justice, political participation and self-exploration. In his own words upon accepting the role: “During my tenure as National Youth Poet Laureate, I want to champion work that refuses to make itself legible on anyone else’s terms: multilingual poetry, diasporic poetry, poetry as a form of political insistence, and poetry as self.”
Umemezie is preparing to begin college, where he plans to major in aerospace engineering while minoring in creative writing. Whichever career path he ultimately pursues, he has said he hopes to keep using his writing as a form of activism and connection with others, a mission he’ll carry as National Youth Poet Laureate from 2026 to 2027.
