Poetry In the Raw Salutes Shawn William

Shawn William-

Feature date: April 29, 2019

“When I first met Shawn William, it was at the Oakland Poetry Slam in March 2019. His comfortable yet on point demeanor came with a rapid fire level of verbal interaction that could heard and felt, instantly. The audience wavered from rapt silence to riotous applause, fingersnaps and laughter. Poetry in the Raw was honored to feature him on our first guest spot, when we relaunched on the Queendom Network under Uprising Radio on April 29^th, 2019. Soon after our show, he would MC for David Banner and his evocative lecture series, “The God Box” when it arrived at Laney College in Oakland, California where Shawn was raised.. Shawn has continued to be at the forefront of the spoken word renaissance and has reached beyond it with the sheer extent and breadth of his experience. In addition MCing for David Banner and hosting numerous Bay Area Spoken word events, Shawn has toured with Jill Scott when he was 1/5 of the critically acclaimed spoken word group, Fiveology. Fiveology were be featured on Arsenio Hall and had numerous appearances on TVOne’s spoken word showcase “Verses and Flow”. He has performed across the country and at both historic and grassroots venues.

My talents are a blessing, dreams that wake me up in the middle of the night to create visual and verbal artistry. If I cannot spark dialogue and make people feel something, then why should I waste their time and my talent?”

Shawn William’s visit to Poetry in the Raw was one of the most attended feature shows and was filled with powerful spoken word pieces, rich storytelling and one gem of wisdom after another. He has used his extensive experience in spoken word as well as life to educate though rich social media content, unique workshops and appearances at spoken word events.

HOSTING

·         THE GOLDEN STATE SLAM

(OAKLAND 2009-2013)

·         NATIONAL POETRY SLAM GROUP PIECE FINALS

(OAKLAND 2015)

·         NATIONAL POETRY SLAM SEMIFINALS

(OAKLAND 2014)

·         THE COLLECTIVE FEAT. BILAL

(OAKLAND 2008)

·         THE COLLECTIVE FEAT. ERIC ROBERTSON

(OAKLAND 2008)

SPOKEN WORD

·         THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW (CBS)

·         VERSES AND FLOW (TVONE)

·         MCDONALD'S 365 AWARDS (BET)

·         THE APOLLO THEATER, NYC

·         ESSENCE MUSICAL FESTIVAL

·         RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NYC

·         STEVE PERRY S.O.S. (SAVE OUR SONS) TOUR

 WORKSHOPS

·         CREATIVE WRITING (UCLA)

·         'MAKE THE POETRY JUMP OFF THE PAGE' (OHIO STATE)

·         'BUSINESS & ARTISTRY: HOW TO BALANCE BOTH' (CAL STATE)

·         'HOW TO BE BIGGER ON STAGE' PERFORMANCE POETRY (UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON)