Howard County’s first ever youth poet laureate will be named next week, filling an honorary post that aims to inspire young people and creative expression.

County Executive Calvin Ball will join the Howard County Arts Council and Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, also known as HoCoPoLitSo, to make the announcement Monday during an event at Busboys and Poets, 6251 Mango Tree Road in Columbia, from 4:30-6 p.m.

The Youth Poet Laureate will act as an ambassador for arts, literacy and youth expression at local public readings and at civic events. They will receive an honorarium of $500 from the arts council.

The application was open to young writers who are county residents between the ages of 14 and 21, according to the program’s guidelines. Applicants were required to prepare digital and video work samples, a brief biography and statement about what poetry means to them and a description of their community engagement in any aspect of the arts.

An independent panel of three literary arts professionals and educators with expertise and experience in poetry reviewed each eligible application and recommended finalists. Panelists included Naomi Ayala, Steven Levya and Joseph Ross.

The county executive made the final decision and will announce his choice for Youth Poet Laureate on Monday.

Tara Hart, co-chair of the board of directors for HoCoPoLitSo said the program will help support young poets in the county.

“Poetry is such a powerful means of expression in that it is a way of using language that’s full of possibility,” she said. “It can go beyond the usual rules of grammar and syntax and correctness and allow people, especially young people, to speak in their authentic voice and to be creative with language in ways that other kinds of written expression may not make possible.”