About Poet and Author Sean Petrie

“Sean always lifts the mood.”

~ Naomi Shihab Nye, U.S. Young People’s Poet Laureate

Sean Petrie is an award-winning poet and author. As a founder of Typewriter Rodeo, he’s written more than 20,000 poems for strangers — from teachers in Texas to lobstermen in Maine, from politicians in Boston to celebrities like Sharon Stone and Billy Collins. (Sample poems and videos.)

“Thank you Sean for the beautiful poem. It brought tears to my eyes and perfectly captured my feelings. I loved every single syllable. You have a gift and I am thankful that you share it with us.”

~ Dr. Shanetia Clark, International Board on Books for Young People Congress

Sean’s poetry books include Pet Poems & Pet Poems Plus (Burlwood Books; independent publisher (IPPY) awards bronze medal), Listen to the Trees (Documentary Media; IPPY silver medal), and Typewriter Rodeo (Andrews McMeel). His kids’ books include the Jett Ryder series (JollyFish Press) and educational books for Fountas & Pinnell.

Sean has an MFA in Writing for Kids from Vermont College and law degree from Stanford. He teaches creative writing workshops and is a legal writing professor at the University of Texas Law School.

Sean does weekly radio poems for Austin NPR and his work has appeared in The Texas Observer, Dallas Morning News and other outlets. He owns a metric ton of typewriters.

FUN FACTS!

: 1st Halloween costume

: Thanksgiving poem

: Christmas poem

Hometown? I was born in Columbus, OH, and split my childhood between there and Flower Mound, TX.

First Job? Dressing up as a Care Bear for the Columbus Zoo. (I was the pink one.)

First Halloween Costume? When I was 3 or 4, my mom asked what I wanted to be for Halloween. I’m still not sure why I replied: “A green mushroom!” (The hat? She made it from a toilet seat cover.)

First Poem? Somewhere around 1st grade, I started making up poems. Two early ones were about Thanksgiving & Christmas.

First Story? In 2nd grade, I told my classmates that I’d had my poem about Thanksgiving published in Highlights magazine. Like all stories, it had some truth (the poem was real), and some not so much (the Highlights part wasn’t).

Favorite Book? The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin

Favorite Movie? Dead Poets Society

Favorite TV Show? Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Buffy forever!)

First (& Only) Job Dressing Up As a Lottery Number? I was the number three in the Texas Lotto’s “Pick 3” ad campaign.

Number of typewriters owned? At least 40…

Dream Job? Owning a typewriter shop!

Number of tattoos? Only one (for now) – it’s a tattoo of the main typewriter I use for poem-writing.

: I’m #3!

: Typewriter tattoo

FUN FACTS!

Interviews

Sean Petrie