“Sean Gunning, in his debut book No Samaritan, is a poet who is wrestling with the big questions of devotion, ethics, and good works in our post-modern world. Virtually all of the poems in this book deal with some aspect of the poet’s quest for meaning and direction, and Gunning often takes himself to task for not measuring up to his own ideals. Gunning is courageous in our current milieu, for he takes on matters of faith in a time when it is not popular, while avoiding dogma and cliché. Stylistically too, he is a risk-taker. Many of these poems are in rhyme and meter or written in a given form. Readers and seekers alike will find much to admire and much to ponder in this ambitious and successful first collection.”
—Frank X. Gaspar
“It’s a rare poet who can calmly admit, without any false modesty, that he is living the poem he cannot write. Let not any reader be deceived, however; Sean Gunning has written more than enough poems worthy of close, repeated attention. With a plethora of subtle detail, these meditations on the daily paradoxes of urban life create an intimate theatrical space of self-revelation. At the end of your day, leave a small, strong lamp on and sit down with this book. You’ll be grateful to encounter No Samaritan. These poems will bind your wounds.”
—Bill Mohr
“Sean Gunning writes with verve, wit, and audacious energy. I applaud these poems.”
—Charles Harper Webb
Sean’s debut collection of verse, No Samaritan, was published by Tebot Bach in 2016. He has won poetry contests in California and Canada, and has been published in various anthologies and magazines in the U.S., Canada, and France. Is This Man My Brother?: A Holy Land Story (a non-fiction account of eleven fascinating days in the Holy Land) is forthcoming in Spring 2020. He is working on The Purple Pit: A True Love Story that he hopes to publish in book and screenplay form in 2020-2021.
