When reading the unimpressive work of another writer selling poems on the street, local poet William Wonderful had an idea that would cement his place in Tempe lore.
"I read some of (the other poet's) work, and I thought to myself, 'If people give him money out of sympathy for this drivel, I'm sure they'll be willing to buy work from a man who knows what he's doing,'" Wonderful said.
The people were definitely willing, as Wonderful has been self-publishing his work since 2005 and selling it to passersby in the Maple-Ash neighborhood ever since.
Before becoming a fixture of the community, Wonderful said he was an English professor. He said he taught at ASU's Tempe and West campuses, and also did stints at a few local community colleges as well as some online universities.
Wonderful is originally from Chicago. He said his first taste of Arizona came in the form of being stationed at Luke Air Force Base as an air traffic controller.
"I did not like air traffic control," Wonderful said.
After leaving the military, he returned to Chicago, but eventually came back to Arizona after experiencing two frigid Illinois winters.
"I had arthritic knees, and those two winters were so brutal that I said, 'Alright, it's time for me to go to graduate school,'" Wonderful said. He has lived in Arizona since, developing his work and his relationship with the neighborhood residents he sells his poems to.
These days it is hard to be a regular in stores such as Cartel Coffee Lab and Ash Avenue Comics without seeing the poet.
"I've met a lot of different people and established a lot of lasting relationships with people," Wonderful said.
People and their varied relationships is the driving theme to Wonderful's work and life in general.
"I see so many atrocities in human relationships, and it gives me an opportunity to comment on them," Wonderful said.
The importance of relationships to Wonderful is apparent when watching him interact with people. He is an extremely friendly and kind person.
Wonderful also makes it a point to remember the names of the many people that he speaks to, and does so with ease. A daunting task considering the sheer amount of people he meets while selling his poetry. It is easy to make the claim that Wonderful is a people person.
"There's always something in people that needs to be drawn out or shared, and I relish in the opportunity to draw people out of themselves," Wonderful said.
Not only has Wonderful created relationships with the people frequenting local businesses, but he has also gained the love of the people working there.
Ash Avenue Comics employee and ASU anthropology alumnus, Eric Young, said he sees Wonderful two to three times a week and enjoys it every time.
"He contributes to the community by providing people with art everyday," Young said.
Stephanie Savage has been working at HTC Body Piercing on University and Ash Avenue for six years.
"As long as I've been working here he's been coming around," Savage said. "He's just kind of a bright shining beacon of hope in Tempe. He's always in a fantastic mood. Always brightens my day. Always has something incredibly beautiful to say about anyone he meets."
Wonderful's visits have become one of Savage's favorite parts of the job.
"It is always just a pleasure seeing him and makes working in this area just a complete joy," she said.
Those interested in hearing Wonderful's poetry should go to Cartel Coffee Lab on the last Friday of every month starting at 7 p.m., where Wonderful both reads his work and performs music.
Related links:
ASU professor Rosemarie Dombrowski takes poetry outside of the classroom
Second annual Rise! Poetry Event touches on themes like Black Lives Matter, PTSD, intersectionality
Reach the reporter at jdarge@asu.edu or follow @jeffdarge on Twitter.
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