Robert Karimi

At root a comedic storyteller and community engagement specialist,Robert Farid Karimi mixes humor, rasquatche aesthetics and performance tocommunicate poems and stories that feed audiences an interactive cross-culturalcollision of joy, pop culture & personal history in theatres, grocerystores, backyards, and off-Broadway. His writings have appeared in newspapers,NPR, literary journals, and anthologies, most recently Asian American LiteraryReview. A national poetry slam champion, he has featured throughout the countryat venues such as the Nuyorican Poets Café, Def Poetry Jam, The ChicagoTheater, and SXSW. He has directed short films that have travelled the world,and has recently directed PSAs for PBS in St. Paul, and a music video for hiphop group The Bar. He has curated interactive art exhibits throughout thenation. Creative Capital, the NEA, the MAP Fund, Warhol Foundation, andSuperValu Foundation have invested in his recent projects. He works atKaoticGood Productions as an arts educator, producer, public engagementdeviser, playwright, director, and community arts consultant. Arizona StateUniversity is currently engaging in a multi-year study to examine theeffectiveness of ThePeoplesCook Project, Karimi’s performance platform pedagogy onbehavioral change as it relates to popular health education and food incombatting Type 2 Diabetes and obesity in communities of color.