Each year we have not only an Oakland Youth Poet Laureate and Vice Laureate, but we also welcome all of our Finalists into this amazing community of young poets.
Meet this year's poets below. See them perform, and learn a bit about them.
Meet the 2025 OYPL Poets
Bios are current as of May, 2025.
Lola Christ, Finalist
Lola Christ is an 11th grader at Oakland School for the Arts.
She has attended art school since sixth grade and is on the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company dance team.
Lola uses poetry and writing as a form of expression that has allowed her to heal and process her childhood trauma whilst helping her redefine who she is. She accepts that you can’t change the past, but can choose to be better tomorrow.
Cael Dueñas-Lara, Oakland Youth Poet Laureate
Ninth grader, Cael Dueñas-Lara, is a second-generation Mexican-American, born, raised and currently residing in the vibrant and diverse community of East Oakland.
Cael, a 2024 and 2025 OYPL Finalist, feels that writing has allowed him to strengthen his voice and take back preconceived ideas of himself and others who may share parts of his identity. He strives to educate and inspire both his elders and peers through writing and to debunk the dominant narrative of black and brown young men living in Oakland whose narrative has often been set forth by societal perceptions.
His writing is inspired by his lived experiences in Oakland. He knows that his people and his city are often viewed through the lens of deficit and lawlessness. Within his writing he allows himself to speak on breaking out of preconceived stereotypes and bring awareness to those who want to maintain a system of oppression.
It is his goal to move the societal conversation to what the experiences of young males of color who have been damaged by marginalization, racial profiling, and over-surveillance look like, as well as inspiring them to break free from this system.
Serafina Mackintosh, Finalist
Serafina Mackintosh is a sophomore at Oakland School for the Arts who has learned to love poetry with all of her heart.
Serafina is an active participant in the Oakland Youth Poet Laureate program as a 2023, 2024, and now 2025 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Finalist.
All of her life she has been inspired by writing from famous writers to the unknown amazing writers in her own family. Right now, in these times, art is extremely important as a political and emotional act of work. She believes that we need to use our words to express the realities of our world today.
Serafina is excited to move into this new year with hope and strength in herself and her world. She is thankful for the opportunities to write that she has had and will have.
Zara Quiter, Finalist
Fourteen-year-old Zara Quiter thinks that poetry can shed light on the complexities of our world, whether that be inside of our heads or on the outside.
The whole world is an overwhelming place, and she finds that writing is an outlet for her, a way to comb through her feelings so that she understands herself and things happening around her better.
She believes that writing can be a symbol of bravery, a way to find joy hidden deep within oneself, but it can also be terrifying to look at your heart and your soul and dig for whatever needs to be put into words. For her, once that process is complete, and she has a poem in front of her, she feels more free, and also, more strong and empowered.
Isabel Shen, Finalist
Isabel Shen is a 16-year-old storyteller who is inspired by language, mythology, and community.
To her, poetry is self-expression, helping her make meaning and draw connections in the confusion of this world, and capturing moments of feelings and beauty. She feels that as a perfectionist, poetry is an intriguing addiction, where no poem is ever finished, and thus, worth continually striving for.
She is also a Reporter, Senior Illustrator, and Photographer for Youth Journalism Internationalism, Co-President of her school’s Book Club, and Co-President of Poetry Club, where she founded and is currently launching the arts magazine (called One Thousand Faces of Head-Royce).
Sehinne Yohannes, Vice Oakland Youth Poet Laureate
16-year-old Sehinne Yohannes is a Habesha poet, and a junior in the Social Justice Academy of San Leandro.
She has used poetry as a catalyst of her activism, as well as a means of comfort when the planet feels like it wasn’t meant for her. Her poetry describes the reality of the world we live in, as well as the fantasies she hopes can one day come true.
Poetry has helped her break out of her shell immensely since she began writing, and has given her the confidence to be her true authentic self.
Delilah Young, Finalist
Delilah Young is a freshman at Bishop O'Dowd High School.
Since she was little she has always found an interest in words. Whether it be language, calligraphy, or writing, words seem to follow her wherever she goes, and this led her naturally towards poetry.
She finds poetry to be an art, a practice, and a skill where words mean more than just words. It offers her a place to express and process the things going on around her, and turn those thoughts into something with meaning.
She finds that there is something so beautiful about how poetry manages to take the ugliest most dull things, and turn them into art.
