Paul Hofmann

Paul Hofmann (20 November 1912 in Vienna – 30 December 2008) was an Austrian, later American, author, journalist, linguist, and political activist. The New York Times, for whom he was a foreign correspondent, described him as fluent in German, Italian, French, and English, and having a command of several other languages that was more than passable, as well as "a broad grasp of history and diplomatic affairs and an often playful curiosity".

Biography

Hofmann was born in Vienna, Austria on 20 November 1912. He was raised for the most part by his uncle, who was an influential Socialist. He studied law at the University of Vienna after which he became a member of the Christian Socialist Party.

In 1934 he became a travelling speaker for the Catholic Popular Federation, and after two years with the Federation, he became the chief editorial writer of one of their publications, Die Sonntagsglocke. In the late 1930s, as Austria came under increasing pressure to submit to a union with Germany, Hofmann wrote editorials urging his country to resist the Nazi initiative. In March 1938 as German troops occupied Vienna he fled to Rome, Italy, only hours before his apartment was raided by the Gestapo.

Paul

Paul may refer to:

People

Christianity

Roman and Byzantine empire

Royals

Other people

Poetry slam

A poetry slam is a competition at which poets read or recite original work. These performances are usually judged by selected members of the audience or by a panel of judges.

History

American poet Marc Smith is credited with starting the poetry slam at the Get Me High Lounge in Chicago in November 1984. In July 1986, the slam moved to its permanent home, the Green Mill Jazz Club. In August 1988, the first poetry slam was held in New York City at the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe and hosted by Bob Holman. In 1990, the first National Poetry Slam took place in Fort Mason, San Francisco, involving a team from Chicago, a team from San Francisco, and an individual poet from New York. Soon afterward, poetry slam had become so popular that people were able to make full-time careers as slam poets; they traveled around the country and performed.

In 2001, the September 11 attacks actually had an interesting impact on poetry slam. This was because many performers were stuck in cities they had been performing in before the attack, and they could not get home because flights were down. After the attacks, a new wave of poetry slam started within New York City with the focus on the community of poets coming together to speak about and try to understand the terrorist attacks.