The Whirl: High School Poet Laureate Reception

North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green hosted a reception with First Lady of North Carolina Anna Stein in attendance at the Executive Mansion on May 13 to celebrate the 2025-26 Orange County Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools high school poet laureates. They also honored the first North Carolina Youth Poet Laureate, Rishi Janakiraman of Raleigh. The runners-up for the North Carolina Youth Poet Laureate were Vanessa Hunter and Kenna Zhang of Cary.

Alyssa Haithcock, Rishi Janakiraman, Marie Olivia Carotenuto, Anna Stein,
Julia Tudorica, Jaki Shelton Green, Aaliyah Mendoza, Danielle Jones,
Lola King, Lesley Miranda Silva Corro

Anna Stein
Jaki Shelton Green
Rishi Janakiraman

This article originally appeared in the September 2025 issue of WALTER magazine.