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danadalloway 's review for:
The Poetry of Strangers: What I Learned Traveling America with a Typewriter
by Brian Sonia-Wallace
Poet Brian Sonia-Wallace is part performance artist and part therapist, listening to people he encounters on trains, in the Mall of America, at an epic EDM festival, or in the beauty department of a department store. Since 2012, he has written poems for strangers in thirteen states and three countries, and he finds ways to connect with everyone, often eliciting tears from grateful recipients of his poems. As he travels, he reflects on how the individual people he meets fit into the larger American narrative, taking the pulse of this changing nation, from evangelicals to trans people to Wiccans, always with an open heart and mind.
This is a humble man's reflection on his unique perspective. "Who is the appropriate person to tell what story?" he wonders. Sonia-Wallace gives not only an ear but also a voice to people who don't often feel heard. He asserts, "This vision is about writing as connection -- poetry as a service industry ... Poetry is the shortest distance between feeling and expression."
In his role as witness and reporter, Sonia-Wallace is compassionate and informative, but I wish he had been more reflective about how he was able to open his heart day after day in city after city. The book read more like a travelogue than an autobiography. He is often almost painfully honest, but I think his book does not live up to to its subtitle: "What I Learned Traveling American with a Typewriter." Sonia-Wallace met fascinating people, who keep framed copies of his street poems on their walls and often stay in touch with him for years. This is a testament to the value of his work. He asserts, "Perhaps it is the duty we have as citizens of the world. To show up for strangers until they are not strangers anymore."
This is a humble man's reflection on his unique perspective. "Who is the appropriate person to tell what story?" he wonders. Sonia-Wallace gives not only an ear but also a voice to people who don't often feel heard. He asserts, "This vision is about writing as connection -- poetry as a service industry ... Poetry is the shortest distance between feeling and expression."
In his role as witness and reporter, Sonia-Wallace is compassionate and informative, but I wish he had been more reflective about how he was able to open his heart day after day in city after city. The book read more like a travelogue than an autobiography. He is often almost painfully honest, but I think his book does not live up to to its subtitle: "What I Learned Traveling American with a Typewriter." Sonia-Wallace met fascinating people, who keep framed copies of his street poems on their walls and often stay in touch with him for years. This is a testament to the value of his work. He asserts, "Perhaps it is the duty we have as citizens of the world. To show up for strangers until they are not strangers anymore."