The Undisputed Greatest Writer of All Time

by Beau Sia

Driven by the unguaranteed nature of life, this collection of poetry bursts with urgency to understand, hunger to explore beyond one's comfort zone, and attacks the aspects that too often prevent us from having a full life.

Still recovering from post concussion syndrome, The Undisputed Greatest Writer of All Time, was written as a test of his cognitive function, with the express desire to nurture his friendship with Derrick Brown. The first book of poetry by Beau Sia in over 13 years, this work is the reflection of the child no longer at the mercy of his childishness. A boy who will not break his father to be a man. A poet whose words are iceberg.

Genres: Poetry

118 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2012

About the author

Beau Sia is a Tony Award winning poet, who is the son of Chinese immigrants from the Philippines. Raised in Oklahoma City, Beau discovered poetry as a way to seem less foreign, to hack belonging, and to articulate what wasn’t in textbooks. Through poetry, he was able to attend NYU’s Tisch School Of The Arts, where he graduated with a BFA in Dramatic Writing.

The stage has always been where Beau Sia’s poetry stands out. As an original cast member of the Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. As one of the poets asked to tour with the show for Edinborough Fringe Fest, Sydney Theatre Festival, & the Auckland Theatre Festival. As a member of six National Poetry Slam teams, two of which won the championship. As a poet for Norman Lear’s Declaration Of Independence Road Trip. As a poet sharing his work in spaces such as The Congressional Tri-Caucus, Harvard, and the million man march.

This performance transcended the stage and found its way onto screen. His work has been featured on all 6 seasons of HBOs Def Poetry. His time on The Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe national slam team is captured in the documentary SlamNation. He is one of the poets in Amber Tamblyn presents The Drums Inside Your Chest. Beau Sia has also been featured sharing his work for ESPN, Nickleodeon, and Showtime! At The Apollo.

Sia is featured in Rachel Getting Married, Hitch, and the Camera D’Or winning Slam. His solo play, Fish Out Of Water, won the Jury Prize for Best Alternative Event at The Aspen Comedy Festival. His improvisational solo play, Unguarded, was commissioned by The Museum Of Chinese In America.

As an author, he has written 3 collections of poetry, A Night WIthout Armor II: The Revenge, The Undisputed Greatest Writer Of All Time, and Well Played. His poems are featured in anthologies such as The Last American Valentine, Spoken Word Revolution, and Chorus. He has been commissioned to write poems for The Angel Island Foundation, People For The American Way, and APA Rock The Vote.

He has received the Creative Work Fund grant, been a writer-in-residence for Youthspeaks, and was the Artistic Director for Get Lit. Fortunate to share his experience and knowledge as a poet, he has mentored youth at Brave New Voices, AAWW, and Yale.

Reviews

[Syaz Wani · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8

[Fadillah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book from Kinokuniya book sales last year. I got curious with the title and flipped through the pages and stumbled into one poem titled ‘so you’re not into Asian guys’, i am instantly sold. I paid for the book and only now got a chance to read the book. I am aware that with poetry book, it can be tricky. Some readers prefer poems that they can understand which most of the time, simple and pretty straightforward, some readers like their poems to be long, detailed and deep so they can get reconnect with their emotion. Beau Sia’s poetry is pretty much in between. Its written in details but it can be taken in right away. A great combination, i would say. The book is divided into 3 sections ranging from Asian American Experience, Body Positivity, Sense of belonging, Love/Lust, Growing Up in USA, Immigrant Parents and many more.
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There are few poems that stand out. One of them is Traitor to the Patriarchy. I will just share a few lines from the poem.
- Patriarchy had its run,
- Leading with cock,
- erections piercing the sky.
- Women! yall let us drive the car,
- and the most impressive thing we’ve done is to dominate,
- Now’s the time for us to hand over the keys.
- Show us we’re too drunk on power,
- To know what to do in an age,
- That thrives on understanding.

[Bethany Ebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beau Sia's back with another great poetry collection. His first book, A Night Without Armor II: The Revenge, was funny and perverted. This book is not quite the same. There are no dick jokes in this book. Okay, maybe one dick joke. But not very many. He still writes about sex, but in a way that suggests he's done some reading on feminist rhetoric. There are a lot of political poems about race, about the family unit, about looking back at your past self. Sia has clearly matured as a writer, and it shows in his work. His style is less sparse than before; he uses repetition and does a few neat artistic things with line breaks. I enjoyed this book. My attention did start to wane after a while, and I got bored by the last few pages which is why I gave it four stars instead of fine. Still, this is a good book, and I recommend everyone to go out and buy a copy because this guy knows how to write.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed Beau's book, both for his choice of topic and the depth to which he explored those topics from angles that may otherwise slip past your mind. Also his use of the page is great to look at. He shy's away from the traditional stanza formatting in favor of scattering words and phrases around like confetti. Great book.

[Amar Pai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. I like Beau Sia, but more when he's reading his poems then when I'm reading them. A lot of it is in the delivery.

[Destroydecay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Beau Sia is better on the stage than on the page. His performance adds so much more energy to the words and the poems. There was some glitter in this book, but it wasn't my favorite.