We recently connected with Younes Aomari and have shared our conversation below.
Younes, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
The most meaningful project I have worked on this year is definitely “7ed L’Klam FLuZine”, a monthly slam café that I hosted and co-organized as a member of D’KLAM with the collective VIS’ART and the cultural center L’uZine here in Casablanca,Morocco. After the success of “D’KLAM Morocco’s Poetry Slam 2022”, the community of spoken word poets grew bigger and stronger on a national scale, which gave birth to the need for a poetry space. The answer to that was the creation of “7ed L’Klam” (Sunday of Words), a space where spoken word poets from all over Morocco meet every month and spit their barz in Arabic, French, English, Tamazight (the indigenous language of North Africa), and Darija. With a stage balancing challenging thoughts and the beauties of poetry, “7ed L’Klam” helped the community stay connected and reach a larger audience. The slam cafe proceeded as any slam would, with the participant sharing their piece and the audience grading it. With the collective work of the team, we managed to share the performances on social media, bringing more attention and interest to the spoken word and slam art forms. By July, we had already hosted six editions, and we could observe a deeper understanding of the craft among our audience. With the practice and the competitive spirit of slam, the poets also noticed an improvement in their skills.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m Younes Aomari, also known by my stage name “Otakuflow” , a Moroccan spoken word poet and public speaker who just got his bachelor’s degree in mechanical design at Zhejiang Normal University (China). I’m one of the founders of Moroccan Poets and host of “mic مفتوح”, one of the first weekly poetry open mics in North Africa, and also a member of SlaM’aroc. I am a member of the collectives’ union that organized D’KLAM Morocco’s poetry slam, the first poetry slam organized fully by Moroccan artists. I also organize and animate “7ed L’Klam FL’uzine”, a monthly slam cafe. I’m the co-host of “Divartatay”, a podcast about the intersection between art and neurodivergency. An alumni of the Olive Writer’s summer camp of 2022. My work got published in the Space City Underground, Ripple Lit literary magazines, and the Paris Lit Up association.
My relationship with poetry started at a very young age, and I wrote my first poem when I was 12 years old. I have always been mesmerized by the power of words, and I have always tried to keep my speech precise and intentional, and with poetry, it’s exactly that with rythme and imagery.
To write my poetry, I generally draw inspiration from every corner of my life, my experiences, the experiences of people around me, and artistic works as well. Which explains the switch in my focus on the art I make; it always depends on what inspires me. Sometimes I’m writing about society and social justice; other times it’s climate change; and many other times I’ve written about mental health and heartbreak. It mainly changes depending on what I’m enjoying and what’s bothering me—keeping me up at night or waking me up early in the morning.
The work that I do with collectives and in the platforms and spaces we create aims to spread the word about our art, connect us with our audience, and bring people together.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspects of being an artist start with the self, as every piece of art I create serves me and helps me release any overflowing emotion and energy. And with the performance side of spoken word poetry, I get to meet the audience with my words, see their live reaction, and hear their feedback about their agreement and disagreement, as well as the relatability of the human experience and how universal it is. In addition to that, the performance gives me the privilege of being heard when the silence takes over the room and only my verses and the finger snaps of the audience break it; that’s definitely a moment of pure joy.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I think it comes down to the value of art and its importance in the human experience. When we have people who know the importance of art, we’ll find a society that cares for and supports artists by all means. And this conversation should be brought to the media and the educational system, and why not in our homes among our families too.
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/otakuflow
- Instagram: @otakuflow @moroccanpoets @dkalm.mps @slam_maroc @divartatay