Brian Sonia-Wallace

Brian Sonia-Wallace was born in St. Louis and raised in Culver City, California, and Santiago, Chile. He holds an MA in sustainable development from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

The author of the memoir The Poetry of Strangers (Harper Collins, 2020), Sonia-Wallace’s other publications include the chapbook, I sold these poems, now I want them back (Yak Press, 2016), a chapter on poetry-as-placemaking for Art & The City (Routledge, 2018), and writing in the Guardian, LitHub, and Rolling Stone.

Sonia-Wallace curates an LGBTQ+ poetry column for The Pride LA and teaches creative writing through UCLA Writers’ Extension and Get Lit—Words Ignite. He has held residences from Amtrak, Dollar Shave Club, and the Mall of America, and runs the custom poetry business RENT Poet. Sonia-Wallace is the fourth poet laureate of the city of West Hollywood. In 2021, he received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship.