Every year, Woodland Pattern selects a Milwaukee Youth Poet Laureate through a competition.
Last summer, the non-profit book center crowned Angela Wang with the literary honor. She's a senior at the University School of Milwaukee and wraps up her service this upcoming May.
As the 2025-2026 Milwaukee Youth Poet Laureate, Wang receives a paid summer internship and mentorship from Woodland Pattern, shares her poetry throughout the city and helps guide other young poets through writing workshops.
Milwaukee County high school freshmen, sophomores and juniors have until March 29, 2026, to apply to be the city’s next youth poet laureate. Judges will select finalists in April to compete at a juried event in May.
Lake Effect’s Xcaret Nuñez spoke with Wang about what inspires her poems and what she has learned in the year-long role.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Where does your love for creative writing and poetry stem from?
Growing up, I was a pretty quiet person, and a lot of the time, I had so many thoughts in my head, but I just couldn't find the opportunity to say them. So that's when I really turned to writing. I had this Hello Kitty diary that I would write in every single day, and I'd write about everything that I saw that day, everything I wanted to say but didn't, and slowly, those writings kind of turned artistic. I started writing stories, and then I found poetry in middle school, and that's when I really started exploring all the different forms of poetry and trying to find my voice through it. I also started to realize how powerful poetry can be. That's really how I got into it, and how I continue writing it — to express my emotions and also use it to connect with other people.
How does your poetry speak to your identity or your life experiences?
Definitely one of my biggest influences for my poems is my family and my culture. I think that, as an Asian American, it often has to do with the two sides of my identity. Being Asian, but also being American, both identities I'm very proud of, but sometimes I really feel like I have to pay tribute to all the stories I've been told growing up. Storytelling is a big part of my family — both real stories of my grandmother and my mother, but also mythology. I think my most favorite story is about Nüwa, which is who formed the Earth in Chinese mythology. There are a lot of powerful female characters in Chinese mythology that I’m really drawn to, and I feel like I try to emulate some of the characteristics. So that's definitely what shaped me and my voice in poetry.
You are Milwaukee’s third youth poet laureate. What does this role mean to you?
This role is a way for me to reach out to people who are like me, who are really quiet, who sometimes don't really know what to say at what time, and to show people that you can express your emotions. Not through just speaking, but through writing. Like you can be seen, heard and understood in a sort of silent language. It's to show other people who might look like me, who might act like me, that they're heard and have a space to grow and find their own identities.
You can see Wang read at the 2026 Tabi Po Poetry Series & Open Mic on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 3 p.m. Wang will also read alongside previous laureates from 12-1 p.m. on Saturday, January 24, at Woodland Pattern’s 32nd Annual Poetry Marathon & Benefit.
Visit Woodland Pattern’s website to learn more about the Milwaukee Youth Poet Laureate program.
