“Poetry isn’t just an idea and I write it down. It’s being mindful and observant and trying to find the little flowers in your everyday life so you can make a poem.”
Katie Xin, Riverside County 2021-2022 Teen Poet Laureate
One of Katie Xin’s first memories was combing through books of classical Chinese poetry with her father. As a 4-year old, almost everything on the page likely flew way over her head. But, the beauty of this introduction to the realm of creative expression left behind seeds of artistic imagination that have sprouted into a teenager whose extraordinary wide-eyed observations of her world are only surpassed by the blue sky promise of a brilliant future.
“The first poem I remember was called “Swan Song” by Li Bai. He wrote it when he was seven years old, and he came to represent the pinnacle of Chinese poetry. But to be honest, I liked the pictures. I wasn’t a poetry connoisseur, but everyone has to start somewhere, and I still have the book.”
Over time, Katie amassed a composition book full of little drawings and comics that eventually led to poetry. Now a 15-year old sophomore at Palm Desert High School in the Desert Sands Unified School District, she describes her first forays into poetry as a rocky start to the art form.
“I remember reading a lot of fairy tales during the summer between my 3rd and 4th grade years. About that time, my mom had purchased a book of Brothers Grimm fairy tales from Costco, but had no idea how grim they really were,” Katie said. “My first poem, even looking back and being kind to my younger self, was not good. It was about willow trees, and possibly about death, but mostly, I remember it was about enjoying nature and the breeze under the willows.”
Katie admitted that poetry was initially difficult for her to embrace, but, at the age of 15, she has crafted about 80 original poems.
“For a long time after, I thought poetry was cryptic and mysterious, and that poetry was a genre of literature that was inaccessible. I thought everything had to have iambic pentameter, sound like a Shakespearean sonnet, or look and sound a certain way,” Katie admitted. “But, through education in school, and happening on to poems, I learned that it was something that everyone can do, and should do. The best part of poetry is that it’s so freeing, and poetry is what you make of it.”
In the fall of 2021, a joint project of the Riverside County Office of Education and the Inlandia Institute invited student poets from local public schools to submit their work for consideration in naming the first Riverside County Teen Poet Laureate.
A total of 318 poems were submitted by 74 different students from across Riverside County. The work from the top 26 finalists were published in a chapbook, and Katie was named the inaugural Riverside County Teen Poet Laureate.
![Teen Poet Laureate finalists pose with honors during rooftop ceremony Teen Poet Laureate finalists pose with honors during rooftop ceremony](/home/showpublishedimage/5943/637768121244170000)
Teen Poet Laureate Finalists
![Teen Poet Laureate Chapbook 2021-2022 Finalists](/home/showpublishedimage/5941/637768101665600000)
2021-2022 Teen Poet Laureate Chapbook (PDF)
Riverside County Teen Poet Laureate Event Information
Influences and Formative Moments
“Being a poet is about being observant, listening to other peoples’ voices, and understanding the diversity of voices that is inevitable when we talk about art, writing, or music.”
Katie Xin, Riverside County 2021-2022 Teen Poet Laureate
Katie describes her poetry as not fitting into one particular form—noting that "if you define what it has to look like, it takes something away from the expression.” Xin describes her current style of poetry as rewriting the typical portrayal of adolescence—embracing awkward and gauche topics, and revealing the beautiful.
Her list of influences includes classic Chinese poetry, author Virginia Woolf, and poets Mary Oliver, Olivia Gatwood, and Pablo Neruda. She credits her father for her literary background and her teacher, Ms. Claudia Lopez, for fostering her appreciation of English.
“Ms. Lopez’s motto is ‘Carpe Diem.’ In a way, it’s become my motto too,” Katie said. “It’s about realizing this day has a day after it, and you have to be willing to see what isn’t always innately visible.”
Ms. Lopez shared the Teen Poet Laureate competition with Katie—who had Katie in her middle school class and then moved to a position at the high school where she also taught Katie as a freshman.
“I remember that she was shy when she was in my middle school class, but she has come out of her shell since then. She is someone who tries to get the most out of everything in order to make her world a more positive place,” Ms. Lopez said. “Katie is a student who simply loves learning. She could go to college right now and ace everything.”
Katie’s early years took place in San Francisco with her family in what she describes as “an Asian-dominated community.” Although the family relocated to the Coachella Valley when she was six years old, she still describes the Bay Area as a formative place.
Katie’s first language was Mandarin—a language she still speaks with her parents and her brother at home. She was initially placed in English as a Second Learner (ESL) classes, but quickly learned English at school.
“Chinese is a really beautiful language, and I’d like to become fluent in reading or writing it so I can explore classical and contemporary literature that is closed off to me now because I don’t know the language,” Katie said. “I also want to learn how to write poetry in Chinese. Sometimes when you translate to a different language, it can have a different tone and context. I don’t understand how or why it happens, but I think it’s amazing.”
Katie credits poetry as helping her become a more insightful and optimistic person.
“It’s something I go to when I need to clear my mind because the beauty in poetry is everywhere,” Katie said. “I’ll be solving a math problem or studying for biology, and you can find the beauty in all those things just by being observant—by finding the beautiful in the mundane. That helps with being a better person, not just a better student, and it helps you empathize with other people.”
The Story Behind "ode to china girl"
“The scariest part about sharing your work is that when you read it, I never know if you will resonate with it, or if you will think I need help. The risk is worth it sometimes.”
Katie Xin, Riverside County 2021-2022 Teen Poet Laureate
The pandemic provided Katie plenty of time to reflect on her writing—utilizing poetry to protect from “losing yourself when it feels like there are bigger things and events occurring around you.”
One of the poems submitted in her Teen Poet Laureate application is called “ode to china girl” that grew from an assignment in Ms. Lopez’s freshman English class to write about the importance of identity.
The original poem took less than an hour to create, and Katie recalls that “it came about during a dark time when there was a lot of anti-Asian violence in the community.” After turning in the poem for the assignment, she spent all of 30 minutes to re-write several stanzas to submit for the competition.
Written during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the poem also references her immigrant experience and developing a sense of self in-between multiple cultures, traditions, stereotypes, and more.
“When I was younger, I would sometimes have to defend my parents against discrimination—even before COVID. People talk about how immigrant children mature at a different rate because of the world’s expectations put on them,” Katie shared. “Compared to others, my experience is less severe by far. But, it got me thinking about why I have to defend my existence and my parents for being who they are.”
Read Katie Xin's "ode to china girl"
Poetry and Life
“Poetry is universal. It’s especially for teenagers and young people. It’s the greatest form of expression that we have.”
Katie Xin, Riverside County 2021-2022 Teen Poet Laureate
Katie’s advice to people who don’t ‘get’ poetry reflects her belief about how poetry shapes the way she sees the world. Her appreciation of poetry isn’t just about the word on the page, it’s about living your life with a mindset.
“Poetry is learning how to see things in the world, making connections, seeing metaphors, and connecting it with our own thoughts. It doesn’t have to be formal and rigid. It’s a mindset of how you approach everything,” Katie said.
Katie’s wildest dream would be to receive the Nobel Prize for literature, but, along the way, she has lifetime goals that most 15-year-olds would not be able to articulate.
"A smaller goal would be to just continue writing poetry. Consistency is important, so if I can carry on with poetry in my life and share it with my community, and show the beauty of it, that would be the goal most important to me,” Katie said. “It’s also why I want to continue writing. As you grow as a person, your voice does also. It would be amazing if my poetry was part of the legacy I leave behind.”
Even in her free time, Katie’s embrace of beauty in the arts includes enjoying watercolor painting and playing the piano.
“Poetry is art. It’s music. It’s the everyday. It’s what you wake up and see. It’s when you go to sleep and what you think about. Poetry and the human existence are kind of the same in a way. If what you want and like doesn’t exist, then go and write it yourself.”