William Lohier, The 2018 NYC Youth Poet Laureate

Passion is an intrinsic force that serves as fuel for the flames that perpetuate our beliefs. And on a stage, when performing a slam poem, passion enables one’s performance to stand out from the rest. In a short time interval, all that exists is the speaker and the stage. The New York City Youth Poet Laureate (NYCYPL) hosts a competition with competitors persuading all New Yorkers that their votes hold significance. The victor is declared to be the NYCYPL of the year. With his winning poem that encourages civic engagement through the perspective of the African-American community, “Voting In A Black Hole,” junior William Lohier holds the accolade for 2018.

And while the message of his work is straightforward, his source of inspiration is not.

“Whatever’s going on in my life, or in the world. I don’t actively look for stuff to write about, I just stumble upon it. Usually my process of writing a poem is not formulaic at all,” Lohier said. His inspirational moments are sporadic, but they create concrete works that are anything but fleeting. He added, “I think of something; I think of a metaphor or an image, and then I make connections. I think of writing poetry as making connections. It’s not like an analytical piece where you’re taking the reader from Point A to Point B. It’s about the economy of language: how can you convey the most possible meaning in a 3 minute poem?”

That leads him into his own response: “Through metaphor [and] through cultural references. Some of the best slam poetry isn’t necessarily accessible but accessible to your audience. It’s things you know you understand that you bring out of your arsenal, because you know that other people will understand that too; [they’ll understand] the illusion or vibe that you’re trying to set.” While poetry is meant to be interpreted in different ways, it still holds a mutual understanding among readers.

Lohier did not apply to the NYCYPL competition on a whim; his interest in working with writing was apparent even before he had entered high school. However, it was editing that initially caught his interest. “My first editing experience was with this magazine called ‘KidSpirit,’ because a lot of my friends did it and it was near Brooklyn, where I live. It’s an international magazine that has editorial boards. And so I was in that, and I was with all these high school juniors and seniors when I was in the eighth grade; that’s how my interest started,” he said.

His appetite for writing was able to flourish in Stuyvesant’s environment, where he found his niche in the Arts & Entertainment department of The Spectator, first as a writer, then as an editor. When inquired as to whether his involvement in The Spectator has influenced his creative work, he responded that “The Spectator has improved my writing more than school has. I think it applies to both creative writing and analytical writing, because a lot of the things that make good creative pieces make good analytical pieces too. The argumentation has to be there (the rhetorical devices and whatnot). I think it’s been really helpful.”

Initially, he was hesitant to accept his accolade for the Youth Poet Laureate. “Have you ever heard of Imposter Syndrome?” he asked in response to being asked of his own emotions over earning the title. “For the next couple of days [after getting the award] I was like, ‘I do not deserve this’.” Part of this belief was due to Lohier’s faith in the abilities of his competitors, and the other part was due to the fact that he had not spent the full interval of time given to him in the completion of his winning poem.

Even when presented with the possibility that his competitors may have dedicated even fewer hours on their final works than he did, Lohier was still convinced of his belief in the talents of his contenders. He eventually came to terms with his inner hesitance.

“I think all of us are trying to accomplish the same thing. In the end, it happened, and you just [have] to own it, and you just have to do justice to the platform. How you use it is up to you. You have to do justice to what the position is, and it’s your responsibility to use it, to give back to the community, to spread the truth, to show that you have a voice.” When questioned as to whether he is interested in continuing a pursuit in writing, Lohier believes that regardless of what profession one pursues, writing is inevitable. “I think that whatever profession you go into, writing is probably going to be an aspect of it. We think, ‘Oh, if you’re a doctor or if you’re an engineer, you don’t need to be a good writer.’ I think that’s false. I think that [regardless of] whatever you want to pursue in life, writing is an important skill to have. To be able to formulate an argument [and] to be able to convey meaning in an accessible way is an important skill to have.” Regardless of where life takes him next, Lohier will always be on the heels of a writing pursuit, be it on or off the stage.