Mayor Karen Bass Wednesday announced Brian Sonia-Wallace as Los Angeles’ poet laureate, naming a nationally recognized writer known for creating spontaneous poems on a vintage typewriter.
Sonia-Wallace will serve a one-year term as a cultural ambassador for the city, promoting poetry and expanding access to the arts through public programming and community engagement, officials said.
“Poetry belongs to every Angeleno, and Brian Sonia-Wallace has a remarkable gift for bringing people together through its power,” Bass said in a statement. “I am proud to name him our next Poet Laureate and look forward to the inspiration and connection he will foster across the many communities that make up our great city.”
Sonia-Wallace said he hopes to expand the role of poetry across the city.
“L.A. is full of poets! Why shouldn’t every coffee shop and bookstore have a poet-in-residence? There’s the possibility in this role to create a blueprint for that enduring ecosystem,” Sonia-Wallace said.
The poet laureate program, established in 2012 as a collaboration between the Los Angeles Public Library and the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, is intended to promote civic dialogue and highlight the city’s literary culture.
“The Poet Laureate plays a vital role in connecting Angelenos to literature and to one another,” said City Librarian John F. Szabo. “We’re thrilled to welcome Brian Sonia-Wallace, whose innovative approach to poetry meets people where they are and invites them into the creative process.”
Sonia-Wallace was selected through a competitive, citywide process and succeeds past honorees including Eloise Klein Healy, Luis J. Rodriguez, Robin Coste Lewis and Lynne Thompson.
Officials said the announcement coincides with National Poetry Month, which is observed annually in April.