Youssef Alaoui-Fdili is an Arab-Latino, born in 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. There, he studied Classical Arabic, Spanish Baroque and Contemporary Moroccan poetry. He is also well versed in the most dour and macabre literature of the 19th Century. His poems have appeared in Exquisite Corpse, 580 Split, Cherry Bleeds, Virgogray Press, Red Fez, Big Bridge, Dusie Press, Paris Lit Up, The Opiate, and nominated for a Pushcart at Full of Crow. Youssef is an original creator 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.
Sponsored Delegate, International Festival of Poetry, Toluca, Mexico 2017, 2018
Delegate to the Ministry of Culture, Cairo for Tanta festival of poetry 2018
Honoree, Lake Jackson Fellowship 2017
Nominee, Pushcart Prize 2015
Associate Editor, Big Bridge Press and Magazine 2013
Founder, Paper Press Books & Assoc. Publishing Company 2012
Founder, Beast Crawl Poetry Festival, Uptown Oakland, CA 2012
Library Archivist, Founder of Special Collections Dept, New College of California, Mission District, San Francisco, CA. 2001-2006
Visiting Student with Honors, Université Catholique Des Lettres et Sciences Humaines, Lille, France1990
