Meet Nigeria’s Daniel Umemezie, named US national youth poet laureate

Daniel Umemezie has been named the 2026–2027 US National Youth Poet Laureate, becoming the 10th young poet to hold the prestigious title and the second Nigerian-American to receive the honour.
Umemezie follows in the footsteps of Salome Agbaroji, who became the first Nigerian-American to be named US National Youth Poet Laureate in 2023.
A gifted Nigerian-American poet, Umemezie uses his writing to explore heritage, identity and the complexities of the Nigerian-American experience.
His poetry reflects the richness of his experiences while connecting questions of culture and identity with the realities of growing up between different worlds.
Through his work, Umemezie has emerged as...