Why Brian Sonia-Wallace brought his poetry residency to the largest mall in North America

Malls. Love 'em or hate 'em, you know what to expect. Some chain stores. A food court. Piped-in music. You could argue that shopping malls are the soulless heart of modern America.

Which is why it's sort of weird that Brian Sonia-Wallace hung out in the Mall of America for the better part of a week. It's the largest mall in North America, situated in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minn.

Sonia-Wallace is a writer and poet. He's 25, just at the beginning of his career. He lives in Los Angeles, but for a week in June, he was poet in residence at the Mall of America.

q host Tom Power spoke with Sonia-Wallace the day after he finished that residency about why the mall turned out to be a way more inspiring place than you might expect.

— Produced by Damon Fairless