Sixteen-year-old William Lohier has been named the city's 2018 Youth Poet Laureate of New York City -- or top young writer in the Big Apple for the upcoming year.

"It's a great vehicle for speaking your truth," Lohier says of writing. "It's about raising those voices and making sure that the youth of New York City have a voice and are heard, because we definitely have something to say."

The Brooklyn native won the title for a poem he wrote called "Voting in a Black Hole."

He will recite his poem throughout the five boroughs and also receive a book deal.

The program behind the designation promotes voting and civic engagement through creative self-expression, says Onida Coward Mayers, the director of voter assistance for NYC Votes.