Teen Tidbit 10/19/25: Cate Dixson

(Grad. 2019)

Since her role as the 2018-2019 Teen Poet Laureate, Cate Dixson earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. She studied creative writing and visual arts, with a primary focus on poetry and painting. Cate lives in Boston, where she works as a freelance illustrator and at Brookline Booksmith, an independent bookstore and community hub. Between recommending her favorite poetry collections, assisting with author events, and sketching, Cate keeps her writing practice blossoming and enjoys exploring the Boston poetry scene. Her visual art and writing can be found at catedixson.com

Below is a poem by Cate:

On Men’s Poetry

When I’m told my writing is feminine

I wonder what it means to write like a man,

oh to have that Godly, guided hand

To write like all wars have commenced at once

then ceased at my doing

And tell stories of fine, dark hotels

with forgotten fishnet stockings

I’m falling in and out of spaces

Full of graffiti walls

And folded napkins

I won’t have cigar smoke wrinkles

Or watch my broad shoulders

sink into collarbones

But I can buy you a drink at the bar,

Still be sober enough to walk you home,

and write that Godly, gilded poem.