So I connected with him as a young artist. He’s a musician, and he plays music in his church.

She came with this young man, and we were just talking as you do about what was up, and what was up for him was going to China and possibly playing music there. Well, he was brought to my house by a friend who I’m connected with basically by our dogs. Can you say more about how you met Bryon and how he inspired the poem? What qualities do you think make a person sweet? The poem is a list of sweet people from all over world.

And I was wanting him-and other children-to understand that the world is large and in some ways quite scary but usually when you get to wherever you’re going, the people are pretty much like the ones you left at home. Leaving the United States seemed really huge. He was a teenager and had some trepidation about leaving home in Oakland. It was a poem that came about because Bryon, the young man in the poem, was about to go off to China. How did the idea for the book come about? PW spoke with Walker from her home in California about the responsibility of writing for children and how travel and activism have influenced her work. The poem celebrates the shared humanity of people around the world and invites readers to remember the fundamental sweetness they have in common with others in their travels. Her new picture book, Sweet People Are Everywhere, presents her poem of the same title alongside playful, slice-of-life illustrations by Quim Torres. She is also the author of numerous collections of poetry, nonfiction, and children’s books. Poet, writer, and activist Alice Walker’s novels include The Third Life of Grange Copeland and The Color Purple, for which she received the Pulitzer Prize.

Alice walker interview the color purple