Loudoun Community Press

08/26/2026

Thank you to the Loudoun Times Mirror for this article on our 2026-2027 Teaching Artist Margaret Banks.

The Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate Program recently announced that Margaret Banks will serve as its 2026 Loudoun Youth Laureate Teaching Artist, according to a news release.

08/21/2026

Mark your calendars for the Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate's next poetry workshop with Teaching Artist Margaret Banks! Free to youth interested in poetry. To register, email [email protected]

08/12/2026

Loudoun Community Press, which sponsors The Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate Program, is pleased to welcome Margaret Banks as its 2026 Loudoun Youth Laureate Teaching Artist. Banks will provide poetry workshops and mentorship for the 2026 Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate and Ambassadors, as well as Loudoun teens interested in participating in the National Youth Poet Laureate program.
Banks will lead two poetry workshops at the Brambleton Library on September 8 and October 13 from 5 to 6 p.m. Teens of all levels of writing and performance are invited to attend. To register, please email [email protected]

About Margaret Banks

Margaret Banks is a lifelong poet whose work has been
published by Cellar Door and the Poetry Society of Virginia, where she received first place in the Robert S. Seargant Memorial contest and third place in the Ana Sanderson Memorial contest. She graduated with honors from UNC-Chapel Hill with a focus on English and Creative Writing, and currently works in the
communications department of the Northern Virginia Science Center Foundation. A North Carolina native, Margaret also lived in St. Louis and Long Beach before her current home in Reston, Virginia. She loves science fiction, bread baking,and owning too many plants.

06/07/2026

LCPS, through participation in the USDA Summer Food Service Program, will be providing free meals this summer for all students ages 18 and younger throughout Loudoun County. For important information about the summer meals program for this year, go to: https://lcps.pub/4viz6W3

05/01/2026

Now open! Creative Communities Project Fund.

The Creative Communities Project Fund is now offering grants of up to $1,000 to support creative projects in the arts and literary arts led by young people. This fund is intended to support a more inclusive and vibrant community in Loudoun County. The application will remain open through August 15, 2026 and awardees will be announced by September 30, 2026.

Apply here: https://loudouncommunitypress.org/

05/01/2026

Jasmine Arisandy has been named the 2026 Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate for the 2026 Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate Program (LYPL). Additionally, the Loudoun Youth Poet Ambassadors include: Amanda-Pearl
Omoigui, Gia Mehta, Rebecca King, Pranavi Chilukuri, Nishant Varala, and Tvisha Seelam.

The winner of the 2026 Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate Program received a $1,000 scholarship and publication of their poetry with the National Youth Poet Laureate Program. Arlington Poet Laureate Emerita Holly Karaptakova hosted the commencement and served as a judge. Virginia Senator Kannan Srinivasan, Supervisor Laura TeKrony, and Margaret Banks of the Virginia Poetry Society served as program judges and made remarks at the commencement.

04/10/2026

Thank you to the Loudoun Times-Mirror for featuring the Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate Program during National Poetry Month and shining a light on the importance of youth arts and storytelling in our community.

Now in its second year, the Loudoun County Youth Poet Laureate program seeks to build a community of writers and critical thinkers in the literary arts community, according to the