Prince Georgeβs County Office of the Poet Laureate
The Prince George's County Office of the Poet Laureate serves as a platform to celebrate and promote the literary arts within the community. It aims to elevate the role of poetry and literature in the cultural landscape of the county, fostering creativity, expression, and connection among residents.
Whatβs New
The Impact
The Office of the Poet Laureate orchestrates a diverse array of literary and cultural initiatives, fostering dynamic dialogues through programs, forums, and engaging conversations. These events feature poets, spoken word artists, and artisans spanning various disciplines, inviting the community to participate in rich and extended discussions.
Through a blend of live and virtual interactive sessions, our programming cultivates connections across generations, offering both artists and residents avenues for cultural exploration and bridge-building opportunities. Join us in nurturing artistic growth and enhancing the quality of life for all Prince Georgeβs County residents.
Meet Our Poet Laureates
Khadijah Ali-Coleman, Ed.D
Poet Laureate
October 2023 - April 2025
Kaylee Joge
2025 Youth Poet Laureate
Prince Georgeβs County Poet Laureate - Khadijah Ali-Coleman, Ed.D
Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman, Ed.D., is the second poet laureate of Prince George's County, Maryland. She is a multidisciplinary artist who not only writes plays, poems, and films, but also performs as a singer, actor, and visual artist. Her work has been featured at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Capital Fringe Fest, Anacostia Playhouse, STABLE Arts Gallery, Artscape, and more. She was a Scholar-in-Residence at the Prince George's County African American Museum from 2019-2020, a Theater Alliance Quadrant Playwright from 2019-2021, a 2019 Fulbright-Hays scholar, and a recipient of a 2015 Maryland State Arts Council Independent Artist award. She is currently a Watering Hole poetry fellow.
Dr. Ali-Coleman is author of the poetry collections For the Girls Who Do Too Much (2024) and The Summoning of Black Joy (2023), the childrenβs book Mariahβs Maracas and co-editor of the book Homeschooling Black Children in the US: Theory, Practice and Popular Culture. Her work is featured in multiple publications, including Clarion, The Skinny Journal, two volumes of the book anthology The Fire Inside: Collected Stories and Poems from Zoraβs Den, and Afro-Futurism in Black Panther: Gender, Identity and the Remaking of Blackness (Rowan & Littlefield, 2021). Dr. Ali-Coleman is founder and artistic director of the performance group Liberated Muse, founder of the 501(c)3 nonprofit Black Writers for Peace & Social Justice, Inc. and currently an Associate Professor in the Humanities department at Coppin State University. For the past decade, she has presented over 100 public presentations and/or performances in the areas of literature, theater, education, music, and social justice. She holds a doctorate in education from Morgan State University, a Master of Arts in Mass Communication from Towson University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Writing from UMBC.
Prince Georgeβs County Youth Poet Laureate -
Kaylee Joge
Fifteen year old Kaylee Joge of Riverdale, Maryland is the 10th Youth Poet Laureate of Prince George's County. Kaylee has been writing seriously for just under 3 years, but began venturing out to perform publicly in September 2023. She says, "From the moment I wrote my first, real poem, I realized it was my way to understand myself and get a grasp at this quickly changing world around me". Her poems read like instant classics on paper, but when she takes the stage, she breathes a vibrant energy into every stanza. Kaylee and her supporting cohort of Youth Poet Ambassadors will embark on a reading tour at county libraries & perform across the DMV, addressing issues impacting teens today.
The Prince George's County Youth Poet Laureate Program is a joint venture of Urban Word of NYC, DIALECT of Prince Georgeβs, and Lyrikal Storm, with support from the Prince Georgeβs Arts & Humanities Council, M-NCPPC Department of Parks & Recreation, the Prince Georgeβs County Office of Community Relations, and generous support from county residents.
