Sasa Aakil
Author Fellow
Email Sasa
Sasa Aakil is a Multimedia Artist, Writer, and the 2021 Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate. She is a potter, painter, poet, print maker, and bassist living and working in Wheaton, Maryland. Sasa has been featured in the Bethesda Magazine for her work as Youth Poet Laureate. She has
also been featured in the Washington Post, as well as on WTOP for her work on the A Man Was Lynched Yesterday Project in 2020. She has won numerous awards in writing and performed poetry at the Kennedy What’s Going On Festival in 2023. Sasa is the founder of If All the Trees Were Pens Open Mic and recently published her first chapbook, the culmination of all my despair and the music that saves me. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from Howard University in 2024. More information about Sasa’s visual and written work can be found on her website www.sasaaakil.com.
Sasa contributed or edited:
Foreword by Elizabeth Acevedo. Edited by Sasa Aakil and Kathy Crutcher.
by the Young Writers of Shout Mouse Press
For ten years, Shout Mouse Press has championed the voices of young writers, publishing their authentic and necessary stories. Now, this landmark anthology of youth writing celebrates a decade of storytelling—and invites readers to pick up their pens and write the path ahead.
Spanning memoir, poetry, fiction, comics, and children’s literature, Bright Before Us, Like a Flame is more than a retrospective—it’s a creative writing resource and a call to action. Taking its title from Langston Hughes’ poem “Youth,” this collection ignites both hope for the future and the power to shape it. Through stories of immigration, identity, social justice, and resilience, young authors confront today’s most urgent topics with insight and empathy. Their words challenge, inspire, and invite readers to add their own voices to the conversation.
What’s Inside:
✅ A diverse collection of youth-authored memoirs, poetry, fiction, comics, and children’s literature, featuring underrepresented voices.
✅ Creative writing prompts and behind-the-scenes insights to inspire students and emerging writers to tell their own stories.
✅ Intergenerational conversations with award-winning guest authors, exploring the role of storytelling in social change.
✅ Discussion questions for middle and high school classrooms, book clubs, and creative writing workshops.
At a time of uncertainty and urgent global challenges, these young authors remind us: Words have power. Stories create change. And the future is yours to write.
Perfect for:
📖 Aspiring young writers looking for inspiration, mentorship, and creative guidance.
🎓 Educators and librarians seeking an engaging, diverse, and inclusive classroom writing resource for middle and high school students.
🎁 Readers who believe in the power of storytelling to spark dialogue and transform communities.
ISBN: 978-1-950807-82-6
Age: 12+
Page Count: 304