Typewriter Rodeo Real People, Real Stories, Custom Poems

What began as a playful idea among friends has made its way around the world, inspiring laughter, high-fives, hugs, and tears from New England to Brazil. Typewriter Rodeo celebrates poetry, spontaneity, and above all, the power of human connection.

Both a visual feast and a reference book in the style of Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York, Typewriter Rodeo collects custom, typewritten poems from “rodeos” worldwide, portraits of recipients, and their personal stories. Typewriter Rodeo began in Austin, Texas, when four poets brought their typewriters to a maker fair and began offering spontaneous, custom-composed poems to an enthusiastic crowd. The event quickly blossomed and rodeos began popping up all over the world.
 

Kari Anne Roy (a.k.a. “K.A. Holt”) is the author of Haiku Mama (Quirk, 2006), Rhyme Schemer (Chronicle, 2014), House Arrest (Chronicle, 2015), and Beyond the Rails (Chronicle 2016).
 
David Fruchter is the producer and host of “Slappy Pinchbottom’s Odd Preoccupation,” a long-running radio show in Austin devoted to spoken word and other literary arts.
 
Jodi Egerton holds a Ph.D. in English from UT Austin and is the founder of the editing, workshop, and mentor service Write Good Consulting.
 
Sean Petrie has an MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a law degree from Stanford. He is represented for his fiction writing by Erin Murphy Literary Agency.