IRPD Student Recognized As a YoungArts Winner with Distinction in Writing

IRPD elder Giljoon Lee was named a 2026 YoungArts Winner with Distinction in Writing/Poetry in November 2025. It is considered one of the most prestigious and selective art competitions for youth in the nation. Out of nearly 13,000 applications across 10 artistic disciplines, only 171 were selected as Winners with Distinction; in the Writing discipline, a panel of esteemed writers selected 22 Winners with Distinction from over 3,500 applications.

Giljoon was recognized for his poetry, which he has been pursuing since his freshman year. In IRPD, he worked on MEARI Magazine, an online literary magazine that publishes poems alongside their drafts to showcase the writing process and serve as a resource for young writers. He founded it after struggling with revision at the beginning of his poetry journey, hoping to make the form more accessible to new writers.

As he led a team of seven young writers and artists to run MEARI, the project grew to have over 4,500 readers in a year from 62 countries. Additionally, it was one of eleven magazines recognized in Chill Subs' "Promising New Magazines of 2024" listicle. 

As part of the prize, Giljoon attended National YoungArts Week in January, an all-expenses paid program where he presented his work to peers and a public audience, received mentorship from leading artists, and was considered for additional awards of up to $10,000. 

“What I loved most about YoungArts Week wasn’t just the mentorship and classes we had, although they were invaluable and eye-opening,” Giljoon shared, reflecting on the experience. “It was the community of incredible artists, ranging across disciplines, that I was able to meet and join. That community really embodied, in an artistic way, IRPD’s interdisciplinary approach of housing and supporting student projects of several academic disciplines inside a single classroom.”

In college, he plans on studying English to continue developing his writing, as well as using his IRPD experience to continue building literary communities and resources through projects like MEARI, making creative writing more inclusive for all ages and skill levels.