Agna Yami: World’s youngest published female poet and child literacy advocate

As the colourful kite soared, it caught the imagination of a five-year-old who had come to the park accompanied by her mother. Enraptured by the rainbow-hued object’s vagaries and flight of fancy, she poured her emotions and feelings into verse. She sang the lines out aloud to her mesmerised mother, who recorded it. This marked the birth of Agna Yami as a poet.

But, Agna is no mere dreamer. Besides being the youngest published female poet in the world, her compassion for fellow children suffering from life-threatening diseases drove her to launch ‘Aksharakoottu’, an initiative that envisages making available reading material for children undergoing treatment for cancer in hospitals, as per a report by The New Indian Express.

“I came to know about the plight of children suffering from cancer from my mother,” says the second-standard student of Kozhikode Venappara Little Flower UP School. 

“She works for an organisation called C For CCCI. From her, I came to know about the children who have been undergoing treatment for cancer. She told me how these children are unable to attend school. This made me think about donating my books. The first stop was Kozhikode Medical College Hospital’s cancer ward,” she told TNIE.

Giving back through books

Besides her books, she went on to donate tomes that she bought with money from her piggy bank. And that was just the start. Since then, she has been donating books to cancer wards. Agna has roped in friends and acquaintances for this initiative. Now seven, she also conducts online classes for children afflicted by cancer.

“I had been doing that since I was two. I have around 30 students from Kozhikode, Kannur, Kasaragod, Malappuram, Palakkad, and Thrissur.” She was recently felicitated by General Education Minister V Sivankutty for her initiative.

A record-breaking journey

“I received the title of youngest poet in the world for my anthology of thirty poems titled ‘Varnappattam,’ which was published when I was studying in UKG,” says Agna.

She even illustrated the pages and cover of the book. Varnappattam was released on March 5, 2023 in Kozhikode.

Soon, the accolades flowed. She was awarded the title of ‘Grand Master’ by the Asia Books of Records on April 19, 2017. And in June of the same year, she was recognised with a certificate and medal by the International Book of Records. On July 3, 2023, she was recognised by the World Book of Records, London, as the world’s youngest poet author.

Agna, who can read in 12 languages, wrote and published her second book Pencil and Jalaraani — a collection of 20 short stories — as a first grader. “I can read in Malayalam, English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Spanish, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish, and Romanian.”