Trust AAE Speakers Bureau for Booking Top Professional Speakers. Find a Keynote Speaker Today.
Trust AAE Speakers Bureau for Booking Top Professional Speakers. Find a Keynote Speaker Today.
Yusef Komunyakaa

Yusef Komunyakaa

Keynote Speaker: Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet & Professor at NYU

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Yusef Komunyakaa Biography

Yusef Komunyakaa is an award-winning poet and professor known for his autobiographical poems about race, the Vietnam War, jazz and the blues. His numerous books of poems include "Pleasure Dome: New & Collected Poems, 1975-1999;" "Talking Dirty to the Gods;" "Thieves of Paradise," which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; "Neon Vernacular: New & Selected Poems 1977-1989," for which he received the Pulitzer Prize and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award; "Magic City;" "Dien Cai Dau," which won The Dark Room Poetry Prize; "I Apologize for the Eyes in My Head," winner of the San Francisco Poetry Center Award; and "Copacetic."

Komunyakaa's prose is collected in "Blues Notes: Essays, Interviews & Commentaries." Komunyakaa also co-edited "The Jazz Poetry Anthology" (with J. A. Sascha Feinstein) and co-translated "The Insomnia of Fire" by Nguyen Quang Thieu (with Martha Collins).

His honors include the William Faulkner Prize from the Université de Rennes, the Thomas Forcade Award, the Hanes Poetry Prize, fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Louisiana Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, where he served as a correspondent and managing editor of the Southern Cross. In 1999 he was elected a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets.

Komunyakaa is Professor and Distinguished Senior Poet at New York University and served as a Chancellor for the Academy of American Poets from 1999 to 2005.

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Yusef Komunyakaa Videos

Reading - Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa on the Fragmentation of Poetry

How do I book Yusef Komunyakaa to speak at my event?

Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Yusef Komunyakaa for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Yusef Komunyakaa, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Yusef Komunyakaa or any other speaker of your choice.

How much does it cost to book Yusef Komunyakaa for a speaking engagement?

Speaking fees for Yusef Komunyakaa, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fee for a virtual event is $10,000 - $20,000. For the most current speaking fee to hire Yusef Komunyakaa, click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.

What topics does Yusef Komunyakaa speak about?

Yusef Komunyakaa is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Innovation, Authors, Music, Poetry, Creativity, Writing, Black Heritage, Diversity, Social Activism, Business and Culture.

Where does Yusef Komunyakaa travel from?

Yusef Komunyakaa generally travels from New York, NY, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances.

Who is the agent for Yusef Komunyakaa?

AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully secured keynote speakers like Yusef Komunyakaa for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Yusef Komunyakaa for your next private or corporate function.

What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Yusef Komunyakaa or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.

Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

If you’re looking for the best speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.


Yusef Komunyakaa is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics including Innovation, Authors and Music. The estimated speaking fee range to book Yusef Komunyakaa for virtual events is $10,000 - $20,000. Please contact us for live event fees. Yusef Komunyakaa generally travels from New York, NY, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Nikki Giovanni, Naima Coster and Dr. Cornel West. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Yusef Komunyakaa for an upcoming event.

Yusef Komunyakaa Videos

Reading - Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa on the Fragmentation of Poetry
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