Mercer Island High School student named National Student Poet, recognized by First Lady Michelle Obama

October 14, 2013 –Mercer Island High School (MIHS) senior Nathan Cummings was recently named a National Youth Poet, the highest honor offered to youth poets presenting original work. Cummings was one of only five students throughout the country to be recognized.

The 2013 National Student Poets were appointed to yearlong terms at a ceremony during the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington D.C. Cummings and the other honorees met with First Lady Michelle Obama and celebrated author Joyce Carol Oates in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House.

“What these young people learn through reading and writing poetry doesn’t just spark their imagination, it also broadens their horizons, both today and for the rest of their lives,” said Honorary Chairman of the President’s Committee, First Lady Obama. “Our National Student Poets are seeing, hearing, experiencing and shaping a vision of the world around them, and they are motivating others to do the same. With this award, we celebrate their passion, dedication and creativity.”

“It’s like a crazy fever dream,” Cummings told KPLU of the experience. He says much of his inspiration for poems comes while reading. “I’ve been writing for almost my entire life. I think my love of writing grew out of an early devotion to reading, which is pretty common for writers.”

At MIHS Cummings serves as the editor-in-chief of the school’s literary magazine Pegasus and has served on staff for the national teen literary magazines Polyphony and Adroit.

“That was what really gave me my epiphany. Working with other teenagers – people my age who could appreciate Macklemore and T.S. Eliot in the same breath – that, for me, is what really excites me most about poetry. It’s a convergence of old and new,” says Cummings.

Click here to watch Nathan Cummings speak about his passion for literature.

Over the next year, these young poets will participate in a variety of workshops and make appearances in their respective regions while creating community service projects to expand youth engagement in the literary arts. Follow this link to invite a National Youth Poet to make an appearance at an event.

The award was presented by the National Student Poets Program, which is a partnership between The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, in coordination with the Library of Congress and the U.S. Department of Education. Winners also receive a $5,000 academic award provided by the Bernstein Family Foundation.

National Student Poets are chosen from among the national medalists in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards by a jury of literary luminaries and leaders in education and the arts.