Kaviya Dhir is the 2025-2026 Houston Youth Poet Laureate and a proud Houstonian. True to her namesake, Kaviya originates from the Sanskrit word for poetry. A 2025 commended Foyle Young Poet, Kaviya first discovered her love for poetry in the local classrooms of Writers in the Schools and J Mark Price’s Writing Workshop. Her work reflects her family’s rich background and experiences—spanning the regions of South America to South Asia—as well as her passion for community service and the commonality of human emotion. She is an alumna of the Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program, the Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop, and the Juniper Institute for Young Writers. Her work has appeared in Columbia Journal, the Oxonian Review, Wildness, and elsewhere.

Jada Luciano is a poet/spoken word artist based in Houston, Texas who has given voice to her testimony. Debuting in the vibrant Houston Arts scene January of 2021, she committed to and succeeded in performing over 50 times in her first year. She grew in her craft of storytelling at such a tremendous rate, because of her ability to weave her life lessons into enthralling tapestries, simultaneously encouraging, and entertaining a diverse range of audiences. From your regular home town open mics to larger stages such as The Houston Improv, Voices In Power, and Write About Now (WAN) Poetry-Jada is and has been a beautiful example of what passionate and relatable poetry looks and sounds like.

Colin James Sturdevant is a poet and writer living in the melting pot city that is Houston, TX. He founded pass the salt presse, a nonprofit literary arts org and small press, in HTX.  His work has appeared in Crab Creek Review, Bluestem Magazine, The Bayou Review, Peach Fuzz Magazine, and Mid/South Sonnets. He is an MFA in Creative Writing - Poetry candidate at the low residency program at Western Colorado University. He's more interested in your story.