This year, Portsmouth High School senior Ella Mcgrail was named youth poet Laureate for New Hampshire. Mcgrail has been an active member  in the community, finding time both to show her political voice and protest corruption, while creating art that reflected her beliefs and genuine talent. 

When did you start writing poetry?

Always, I was always writing. My mom used to have  a wall in her room where it was just pasted poetry that  I made her ,and it would just be little rhymes like “ I see the bumblebee”. When I discovered rhyming it was the greatest thing ever.  When I was three or four I would just rhyme.

Do you read a lot of poetry? Are there any particular poets who influence you or are you influenced by music?

I don’t actually read a ton of poetry which is really funny. I would like to read more, but I just don’t think I’ve been exposed to a whole lot. I love writing it and I’ve always just written it. I have been reading more poetry in the last couple of years and I love Billy Collins. He’s my favorite poet as of now. When I was younger I really loved Emily Dickinson. I still love her. Something that’s been very inspiring that I lately discovered was spoken word poetry .I love slam and it’s incredible.It’s a great median and it’s really been an inspiration.

What’s your favorite book?

That would have to be The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson. It’s a kid book, but it’s an extremely universal story and that’s what I love about it.

Have you tried or published any novels? Could you tell me anything about them?

Yeah, I’ve written two novels. One of which was that I just needed to write something to get it out of my system. And that will never see the light of day because I was like 12 and it was awful. Then the one that I’ve been working on since I was 13 is called The Trick of the Dark. It’s a fantasy novel and I really love it. I’ve been trying to get it published, but I did what writers should never do and I’ve read it back. So now it’s going to have to go through another round of editing. But yes, I’m trying to get that published right now.

How did you feel when you were announced youth poet Laurent?

Well I was very surprised, just because I’m the least organized person in the world. I was also really happy because it’s just my kind of thing. I love social justice, and I’m very into activism. I love poetry and I love writing. The program seems like the perfect opportunity for people to get out their frustrations in an organized way. It’s just a great opportunity for people to promote poetry and just writing in general among young people. Even in the form of organized writing for advocacy.

What are your poems about? Yourself? Your experiences? Social activism? Are they just fiction?

A lot of poetry is very political. I do believe that art is a form of advocacy. It’s one of the best kinds. Art is about telling the truth. When my art is partisan it’s because that’s what I believe, that’s what’s true to me. Other people don’t have to agree with me or my art. I write poetry to tell the truth and when I really need to tell the truth that’s when I write poetry. That may be about politics, or describing a friend.  

You also did a four day march to protest lobbying in Government. Can you tell me a little about that?

When people say money based corruption in American politics you’re basically asleep by the third syllable. But what it’s about is that in government the more money you have the more voice you have, the more free speech you have. And that’s completely wrong. It’s a matter of equality. We worry so much about race equality and sex equality ,and that’s incredibly important and huge. But another big huge thing is inequality based on income. I really have gotten into it because no young people get into income equality.

Can you tell me about the poetry reading you’re doing at Riverrun bookstore this month?

I will be doing some poetry that I’ve written before, but I’ve also been working on some that I hope to have prepared for then. I would like anyone who’s a young poet or who’s young and likes poetry, or really anyone to come! I want it to be a space for people where they can share their writing especially their writing and have it critiqued if they want. It’s just about sharing though.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Well I’m probably going to attend Bard College for the next four years. Which I’m very happy about. But, I really want to get enough grant money so I can travel. I want to study and help people get their necessities like food,water and housing in a sustainable way. I want my life’s work to be about solving poverty and water crises in earth-conscious ways. I want to just collect people’s stories and just learn about the world.

Where are you planning on traveling to?

Anywhere I can really. I would like to be gone for three years and  just see the whole world.

Who’s your role model?

I think my artistic role model is definitely Lin-Manuel Miranda who wrote Hamilton and In the Height. He’s a play writer and also a poet because rap is basically poetry. But he does exactly what I want to do he creates art, art that makes people want to do something. I want to create art that makes people want to act.