Brian Sonia-Wallace

Brian Sonia-Wallace is the Poet Laureate of Los Angeles. They are a poet, educator, and public artist whose work explores the line between the intimate and the monumental, reimagining public space as a site of memory, care, and dialogue. 

Over the past decade and a half, he has written poems on-the-spot in public for over 10,000 strangers and their communities, a practice that has unfolded into books including The Poetry of Strangers (HarperCollins) and Maze Mouth (Moon Tide Press), as well as performances and public projects across theaters, galleries, and everyday city spaces. 

A City of LA Master Artist and former Poet Laureate of West Hollywood, Sonia-Wallace has served as Poet-in-Residence for places as varied as the National Parks, Amtrak, and the Mall of America (yes, really). His work centers on creating art that bridges civic space, public memory, and lived experience, often collaborating with LGBTQ+ communities, youth, and elders to amplify voices that are rarely heard. 

A Fellow of the Academy of American Poets and LA County, his writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Guardian, LitHub, Rattle, and American Poets, and has been performed from Walt Disney Concert Hall to the Kennedy Center. He teaches at UCLA Extension, facilitates the APLA Health Writers’ Group, and leads school outreach for Get Lit – Words Ignite. More @rentpoet.