A video interview with Houston Poet Laureate Emanuelee “Outspoken” Bean
Defunkt Magazine is a Houston-based hybrid-publication (online/print) that showcases compelling, accessible, and culturally relevant work. As an organization, they seek to offer an authentic reflection of the contemporary, and most importantly, to uplift the voices and works of marginalized peoples in a fiercely honest way. They often feature, promote, interview/review artists and authors that they feel align with this mission.
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This interview was held in person, with a limited audience, in Houston, Texas, in a space courteously provided by Writers in the Schools (WITS) Houston, and was grant funded by Poets & Writers.
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Outspoken Bean is a New Jersey-born, San Antonio-raised, H-Town-based military brat who was introduced to the arts and world cultures at a very young age and has not let go of it. “An energetic pioneer for poetry, in all its different sizes and shapes, Bean is dedicated to making sure that poets get heard,” Emily Hinds of Arts and Culture Magazine wrote of Bean. Bean uses poetry to engage different mediums and institutions to create new and engaging art, such as being the first poet to perform on Houston Ballet’s main stage with their production “Play.” He has also been commissioned to write and perform a national campaign on diversity for Pabst Blue Ribbon and VICE while creating/producing his own festival, Plus Fest: the EVERYTHING plus POETRY Festival. In 2008, Bean helped develop Texas’ largest youth poetry slam organization and slam team, Meta-Four Houston, with Shannon Buggs and DiverseWorks. In which he stills coaches and uses it as a vehicle today to mentor Houston’s youth. He started performing spoken-word in 2005. Outspoken Bean is a true renaissance man and culture bearer through poetry; Bean willingly seeks, finds, collaborates, and creates new ways for people to experience poetry through multiple mediums.