Edgar Alan "Poe" Yates (born January 3, 1997 [age 21]), is a British vlogger who makes weekly sit down videos on a variety of subjects as well as uploading daily life vlogs onto his second channel. His YouTube channel currently has 2.8 million subscribers and 500 million video views.
Early life
Poe was born in a small farming village in Cornwall, England to his parents who were both university professors. He was home schooled until the age of 12 while his parents travelled back and forth between Cornwall and Cambridge where they both taught. His father is Catholic and his mother was Jewish.
Poe had a unique childhood, as both his parents were archaeology professors and often took him along on digs and expeditions. He has spoken fondly of the many weeks he spent in Egypt as a child and the impact multiculturalism had on his upbringing. His mother died when Poe was 8 during a flight on a private aircraft. Poe and his father were also in the plane but survived with minor injuries. In Poe's Draw My Life video, he explains that she was sitting next to the pilot at the time of the crash whereas he and his father were in the back of the aircraft.
YouTube
Shortly after his 18th birthday, Poe started uploading YouTube videos with the intention of helping people through the university application process. His first videos were a series about how to write an effective personal statement, with appearances by his dad who spoke at length about his role as a Cambridge university professor and the types of things he looks for in university applications. He also created videos about navigating the UCAS system (the university application regulator for the UK) and what to expect at interviews. Although he didn't explicitly state that the series was aimed at students aiming to get into top universities, they were very much the focus due to Poe's own choice of universities.
After vlogging a couple of open days and interviews, Poe's channel began to pick up a wider audience. He began making daily vlogs and videos that focused on other subjects, such as losing a parent, health issues, life on his farm, becoming a vegetarian and DIY projects. He began to meet and collab with other popular YouTubers such as JacksGap, Sam Pepper (video now deleted), Marcus Butler, Alfie Deyes, Alice Polly, Caspar Lee, Zoella, Joe Sugg, and many more.
Poe has many popular travel vlogs from digs he attended as a university student as well as summer vacations with his friends and family. In June 2018, he began a mini-documentary series called Weird and Wonderful World. Young Bloods frontman Whip Wickham has participated in both videos in the series so far.
Trivia
- Faced backlash after dressing up as Tutankhamun for a Halloween party in 2015. He uploaded photos to Instagram which appeared to feature the YouTuber in heavily applied fake tan, many viewers deeming this blackface. Poe removed the photographs from his Instagram but issued no apology.
- Earned his nickname at secondary school due to his first two names, Edgar Alan, though he says this is coincidental and he was named after his parent's two best friends.
- Is best friends with beauty guru Alice Polly, who introduced him to several other British YouTubers after they collaborated together on their 'Vegan For A Week' challenge in 2015. Many viewers credit Alice as 'discovering' Poe and being the reason he was able to amass so many subscribers, as he had less than 50k before the two met. They toured together in 2017, performing ten dates in the UK and five in America.
- Has a noticeable stutter, rarely present in his sit down videos but easily spotted in his daily vlogs and at live events.
- Released 'The Socially Awkward Idiot's Guide to Surviving Uni' in July 2017 which earned a spot on the Times' Best Seller list.
- Has a friendly Twitter banter with YouTuber JaackMaate, despite the fact that he has publicly berated several of his friends for their exploitation of viewers.
- Was scheduled to appear at the wideley criticised Hello World in 2017 but pulled out at the last minute, supposedly due to tonsilitis. He featured on Alice Polly's SnapChat the following morning heading off to Paris.
- Has never spoken about his sexuality but is widely presumed to be gay.
- Interviewed Prince Charles in June 2018 when the Prince of Wales visited YouTube HQ to meet content creators.
