Youssef Biaz
Encyclopedia
Youssef Biaz is a spoken word
artist from Auburn, Alabama
. He was the 2011 national champion of the poetry recitation contest Poetry Out Loud
.
Biaz began competing in the competition in 2010 as a junior at Auburn High School under the direction of coach Davis Thompson. He won the state championship and competed at the national competition in Washington D.C.. He finished the 2010 competition as one of the nine finalists.
Biaz competed again in 2011 as a senior at Auburn High. He became the recurring state champion and returned to the national competition. Biaz finished the finals on Friday, April 29 with the poem Filling Station by Elizabeth Bishop
. Biaz won the competition and received a reward of $20,000 as well as a $500 stipend for Auburn High School for the purchase of poetry books.
Biaz was invited to a celebration of poetry at the White House
attended by President Barack Obama
on May 11, 2011. He recited the poem Mrs. Kirkorian by Sharon Olds
. Other performers present included Billy Collins
, Steve Martin
, and Common.
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
artist from Auburn, Alabama
Auburn, Alabama
Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama with a 2010 population of 53,380. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area...
. He was the 2011 national champion of the poetry recitation contest Poetry Out Loud
Poetry Out Loud
The Poetry Out Loud: Recitation Contest was created in 2006 by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation. The contest was created to increase awareness in the art of performing poetry, with substantial cash prizes being awarded to schools that participated as well as...
.
Biaz began competing in the competition in 2010 as a junior at Auburn High School under the direction of coach Davis Thompson. He won the state championship and competed at the national competition in Washington D.C.. He finished the 2010 competition as one of the nine finalists.
Biaz competed again in 2011 as a senior at Auburn High. He became the recurring state champion and returned to the national competition. Biaz finished the finals on Friday, April 29 with the poem Filling Station by Elizabeth Bishop
Elizabeth Bishop
Elizabeth Bishop was an American poet and short-story writer. She was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949 to 1950, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1956 and a National Book Award Winner for Poetry in 1970. Elizabeth Bishop House is an artists' retreat in Great Village, Nova Scotia...
. Biaz won the competition and received a reward of $20,000 as well as a $500 stipend for Auburn High School for the purchase of poetry books.
Biaz was invited to a celebration of poetry at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
attended by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
on May 11, 2011. He recited the poem Mrs. Kirkorian by Sharon Olds
Sharon Olds
-Life:Sharon Olds was born in 1942 in San Francisco. She was raised as a “hellfire Calvinist”, as she describes it. She says she was by nature "a pagan and a pantheist" and notes "I was in a church where there was both great literary art and bad literary art, the great art being psalms and the bad...
. Other performers present included Billy Collins
Billy Collins
Billy Collins is an American poet, appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He is a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York and is the Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Winter Park Institute, Florida...
, Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
, and Common.
External links
- http://poetryoutloud.org/news/nationalfinals.html Poetry Out Loud
- http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/05/11/president-obama-poets-white-house President Obama and Poets at the White House
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/youssef-biaz-a-student-from-alabama-wins-2011-poetry-out-loud-contest/2011/05/03/AFkDWpgF_blog.html The Washington Post
- http://www.poetryfoundation.org/article/241926 Poetry Foundation