Buddy Wakefield

Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on June 4, 1974, Buddy Wakefield is an American poet, three-time world champion spoken word artist, and history's most-toured performance poet. In the spring of 2001, Buddy left his position as the executive assistant at a biomedical firm in Gig Harbor, WA, proceeded to sell and donate everything he owned, move into his car, and set out to live his life with meaning. He aimed to tour North American poetry venues for two years. In 2004, he won the first Individual World Poetry Slam Finals thanks to the support of anthropologist and producer Norman Lear. Thereafter he went on to share the stage with nearly every notable performance poet in the world in over 2000 venues internationally, from The Great Lawn of Central Park, Zimbabwe’s Shoko Festival, and Scotland’s Oran Mor to San Quentin State Penitentiary, House of Blues New Orleans and The Basement in Sydney, Australia. Wakefield founded Awful Good Writers and is the producer and host of Heavy Hitters Festival 2020, a summer-long series of online shows and workshops featuring thirty of the most beloved performance poets alive. The inaugural author released on Write Bloody Publishing and an original Board of Directors member with Youth Speaks Seattle, Buddy is published in dozens of books internationally with work used to win multiple national collegiate debate and forensics competitions. His first short film, Farmly, directed by Jamie DeWolf, won Best of Texas at the Literally Short Film Fest and the USA Film Festival. Wakefield continues to deliver raw, rounded, disarming performances of humor and heart.