Youssef Biaz | |
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Born | Youssef Biaz June 14, 1994 |
Years active | 2010–present |
Youssef Biaz (born June 14, 1994) is a spoken word artist and Google software engineer from Auburn, Alabama. He was the 2011 national champion of the poetry recitation contest Poetry Out Loud. [1]
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. [2] 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. [3]
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. [4]
A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery.
Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. As a member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president in U.S. history. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.
Rita Frances Dove is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the position was created by an act of Congress in 1986 from the previous "consultant in poetry" position (1937–86). Dove also received an appointment as "special consultant in poetry" for the Library of Congress's bicentennial year from 1999 to 2000. Dove is the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1987, and she served as the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. Since 1989, she has been teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where she held the chair of Commonwealth Professor of English from 1993 to 2020; as of 2020, she holds the chair of Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing.
Auburn High School is a public high school in Auburn, Alabama, United States. It is the only high school in the Auburn City School District. Auburn High offers technical, academic, and International Baccalaureate programs, as well as joint enrollment with Southern Union State Community College and Auburn University. Auburn High School is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
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The Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest was created in 2006 by the National Endowment for the Arts under chairman Dana Gioia and The Poetry Foundation. The contest seeks to promote the art of performing poetry, by awarding cash prizes to participating schools. It includes representatives from the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S Virgin Islands.
Livingston High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Livingston, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Livingston Public Schools. It receives all eighth grade graduates from Heritage Middle School and is the only district's only high school. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1958.
Bob Jones High School is a public high school in Madison, Alabama, United States. The school is a part of Madison City Schools. Despite its name, it is not affiliated with Bob Jones University of Greenville, South Carolina; rather, it is named after Robert E. Jones, Jr., who served the area in the United States House of Representatives from 1947 until 1977.
Auburn High School is the only public high school in Auburn, Massachusetts, United States, a town approximately five miles south of Worcester. It has an enrollment of 722 students in grades 9-12 and 107 preschool attendees, as of the 2022–2023 school year. Founded in 1935, the original school building served the town until the spring of 2006. In August 2006, the town of Auburn opened a new facility directly behind the original building.
The Auburn Tigers swimming and diving program is Auburn University's representative in the sport of swimming and diving. The Tigers compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The program started in 1932 when the pool was in the basement of the gymnasium. The program had to telegraph their timed results to other schools and compare as the pool was too small for competitions.
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Robert Lane Gibbs is an American communication professional who served as executive vice president and global chief communications officer of McDonald's from 2015 to 2019 and as the 27th White House Press Secretary from 2009 to 2011.
Christopher Lukezic, known simply as Chris Lukezic, is an American retired middle distance runner. He represented the United States in the men's 1500-meter at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and the men's 1500-meter at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Whitney M. Young Magnet High School is a public 4–year magnet high school and middle school located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Opened on September 3, 1975, Young was the city's first public magnet high school.
Reginald Dwayne Betts is an American poet, legal scholar, educator and prison reform advocate. At age 16 he committed an armed carjacking, was prosecuted as an adult, and was sentenced to nine years in prison. He started reading and writing poetry during his incarceration. After his release, Betts earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College, and a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School. He served on President Barack Obama’s Coordinating Council of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. He founded Freedom Reads, an organization that gives incarcerated people access to books. In September 2021, Betts was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. He is currently working on a PhD in law at Yale University.
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The following is a timeline of the presidency of Barack Obama, from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. For his time as president-elect, see the presidential transition of Barack Obama; for a detailed account of his first months in office, see first 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency; for a complete itinerary of his travels, see list of presidential trips made by Barack Obama.
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Xabiso Vili is a South African poet, new media artist, author, and speaker who has performed his poetry nationally and internationally. He earned the title of World Slam Poetry Champion in Brussels in 2022. He is also noted for his poetry, which has been published in various anthologies, and his interactive multi-media projects. Owing to the work he has done in the arts sector of South Africa, he was named one of the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans in 2022.