Rudy K. Francisco (born July 27, 1982) is an American

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

poet and writer. He has won several poetry slams and written six books of poetry: ''Getting Stitches'', ''Scratch'', ''No Gravity'', ''No Gravity Part II'', ''Helium'', and ''I'll Fly Away''. He made an appearance on TV One's ''Verses and Flow'' and performed his spoken word poems "Complainers" and "Rifle" on the ''

Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

''.

Early life

Rudy Francisco was born and raised in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and is of

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

an decent. He wrote a love poem as part of a writing assignment in his senior year of high school and received high marks for it. Francisco was inspired watching HBO's

Def Poetry Jam ''Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry'', better known as simply ''Def Poetry Jam'' or ''Def Poetry'', is a spoken word poetry television series hosted by Mos Def and airing on HBO between 2002 and 2007. The series features performances by establ ...

. He began to go to

open mics Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (Y ...

in his area until they were closed due to

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

. With a group of local poets and activists called "Collective Purpose", he opened an open mic known as ''Elevated'' in

, which has been open for over ten years. Francisco attended

Alliant International University Alliant International University, often called Alliant, is a private for-profit university with its main campus in San Diego and other campuses in California. It offers programs in six California campuses – in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Ang ...

in San Diego. He completed a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and pursued a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

industrial and organizational psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology), an applied discipline within psychology, is the science of human behavior in the workplace. Depending on the country or region of the world, I-O psychology is also known as occupational ...

. Francisco was a

resident assistant A resident assistant (RA), also known by a variety of other names, is a trained peer leader who coordinates activities in residence halls in colleges and universities, mental health and substance abuse residential facilities, or similar establishm ...

at his school and started hosting open mics. He was invited to other open mics and met other poets through them. He worked as a statistical analyst and completed three years of a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

program before quitting to do poetry full-time.

Poetry career

Francisco first got into

performance poetry Performance poetry is a broad term, encompassing a variety of styles and genres. In brief, it is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. During the 1980s, the term came into popular usage to describe p ...

after going to open mics and watching a show that featured the poet Shihan and falling in love with the style. He says that reading ''The Music Lesson'' by

Victor Wooten Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an American bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He has been the bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones since the group's formation in 1988 and a member of the band SMV with two other ...

was pivotal moment in his life as a poet. Francisco has performed in competitions as well as shows around the world. Francisco wrote his debut poetry book ''Getting Stitches'' in 2013, then ''Scratch'' in 2014, ''No Gravity'' in 2015, and his first full-length book ''Helium'' in 2017, which was published by

Button Poetry Button Poetry is a Minneapolis-based poetry company and independent publisher of performance poetry. They are known for their viral videos of slam poetry performances, including a performance of "OCD" by Neil Hilborn that the Knight Foundation c ...

. It took Francisco a year and a half to write the collection of 58 poems. ''Helium'' received positive reviews. When asked what ''Helium'' means in an interview, Francisco states that "helium allows you to defy gravity" and “in a lot of ways poetry always gave me that temporary escape.” Themes for Helium include race, class, gender, love, and self-reflection. His style for his poems encompasses "personal and political narratives through an honest and humorous approach." Francisco is the founder and current coach of the San Diego Poetry Slam Team, which won the 2017

National Poetry Slam The National Poetry Slam (NPS) is a performance poetry competition where teams from across the United States, Canada, and, occasionally, Europe and Australia, participate in a large-scale poetry slam. The event occurs in early August every year an ...

Championship. Francisco performed his spoken-word poem "Complainers" on his first appearance on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

'' on March 1, 2018. Rudy Francisco is the first to perform a full-length poem on the show. Many of his poems are on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, some of which, like "Scars/To the New Boyfriend" have accumulated over two million views. He has also grown a large following on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

with over 250,000 followers.

Personal life

Francisco has said that the slam community allows one be a part of a family, saying “some of my closest friends are people I have been on teams with or competed against. It is what keeps me coming back around.” Francisco has a five-year-old daughter.

Tours and events

Francisco toured the UK in May and June 2018. In early June of 2018,

announced on Facebook that performances scheduled for India with

Sabrina Benaim Sabrina Benaim (born November 30, 1987, in Toronto, Canada) is a writer, performance artist, and slam poet. Benaim was a winner of the 2014 Toronto Poetry Slam. She is best known for her poem "Explaining My Depression To My Mother." Personal life ...

were cancelled due to "scheduling and organizational issues." He performed at the August 2018 slam poetry competition in Chicago, representing the San Diego team. Francisco went on tour in October in the UK with fellow poets Neil Hilborn and

. On April 30, 2019, he performed at Beltway Poetry Slam in Washington, D.C. He was the host city coordinator for the May 13, 2019

Individual World Poetry Slam The Individual World Poetry Slam (iWPS) is a yearly poetry slam tournament put on by Poetry Slam, Inc. that pits individual slam poets from around the world against one another. History From 1990 to 2007, the National Poetry Slam held an "indiv ...

in Southern California.

Books of poetry

*''Getting Stitches'' (2013) *''Scratch'' (2014) *''No Gravity'' (2015) *''No Gravity Part II'' (2016) *''Helium'' (2017) *''I'll Fly Away'' (2020) *''Excuse Me As I Kiss The Sky'' (2023)

Filmography

Poetry awards

* 2007 San Diego Grand Slam Champion * 2007 Poet of the People Slam Champion * 2008 Member of the Hollywood Poetry Slam Team * 2009 National Underground Poetry Individual Champion * 2009 3rd place in the Individual World Poetry Slam * 2010 La Poloma Slam Champion * 2010 Chico Invitational Slam Champion * 2010 San Diego Grand Slam Champion * 2010 San Francisco Grand Slam Champion * 2010 Member of the San Diego Poetry Slam Team (Regional Champion/6th ranked team in the nation) * 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam Slam Champion * 2017

Champion (as part of the San Diego Poetry Slam Team)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francisco, Rudy Living people 21st-century American poets American male poets Writers from San Diego 21st-century American male writers 1982 births African-American poets American spoken word artists 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people African-American male writers American writers American writers by century American people of Belizean descent