Emanuelee Bean, also known as “Outspoken Bean,” was the first poet to perform on Houston Ballet’s main stage with their production “Play.” He has been commissioned to write and perform a national campaign on diversity for Pabst Blue Ribbon and VICE, while creating and producing his own festival, Plus Fest: The Everything Plus Poetry Festival. Born in New Jersey and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Outspoken Bean serves as Houston’s poet laureate through 2023. In 2022, Bean received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship.