Poetry Out Loud

Youssef Alaoui-Fdili is an Arab-Latino, born in San Luis Obispo, California. His mother is Colombiana. His father was Moroccan. The Alaoui-Fdilis are originally from Fez. His brothers and aunts and uncles and cousins are today mostly in Casablanca and Rabat. His family and heritage are an endless source of inspiration for his varied, dark, spiritual and carnal writings. He has an MFA in Poetics from New College of California. Alaoui travels extensively to perform in Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Mexico City, Paris, Cairo. His poems have appeared in Exquisite Corpse, Chestnut Review, Oyster River Poetry, Virgogray Press, Red Fez, Big Bridge, Dusie Press, Paris Lit Up, The Opiate, Maintenant, Le Menteur, and nominated for the Pushcart prize three times. Youssef is Founder of the East Bay literary arts festival “Beast Crawl.” In 2012 he created Paper Press Books & Associates Publishing Company. This press offers several important books of poetry and one poetry and art compendium.

Marlie Schmidt is a recently retired public school educator. She has been an advocate for the arts throughout her life. The mother and daughter of talented artists, she learned early on how the arts, both performing and visual, enrich our lives in immeasurable ways. During her 30 years in the classroom, and later in administration, she supported and ensured that her students would have opportunities to engage in performing and visual art experiences. In her last position she led a school-wide collaboration where 400 students and staff created a huge mosaic mural, beautifying the school for generations to come.

Marlie is honored to be part of the SLO County Arts Council’s Poetry Out Loud experience. We are fortunate to have Poetry Out Loud on the Central Coast, an inclusive event for all students and an opportunity to illuminate poetry for all.

Caleb Nichols is a queer poet and musician from a working class family in California. His poetry and prose has been published in places like the New England Review, 14 Poems, Poetry Wales, Redivider, 45th Parallel, Talkhouse, and Truthout. His Kelp Book chapbook “Teems/Recedes” was called “a gorgeous abundance” by Chen Chen and his Bottlecap Press chapbook “Chan “Says & Other Songs” was called “marvelously queer” by Eduardo Corral. Caleb’s critically acclaimed rock opera “Ramon” was released on iconic indie label Kill Rock Stars in 2022. A best of the net nominee, and a recipient of an Academy of American Poets University prize, Caleb is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at Bangor University in North Wales.