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Dallas John Baker (born Dallas John Angguish Baker on 19 February 1968) is an Australian writer and academic noted for poetry, short stories and travel writing whose work deals with themes of alienation, otherness and sexuality. He is also known as Dallas Angguish, the name he used as a performance poet beginning in the 1980s. He has been repeatedly compared to Truman Capote and to David Sedaris. Angguish, who is openly gay, has also written plays and screenplays some of which have been produced. He is known for a lyrical style that foregrounds feeling and the use of powerful descriptive passages. Due to his evocative short stories, he has been variously described as Truman Capote's literary heir and as reminiscent of Carson McCullers, the much lauded Southern Gothic writer.〔(An Angguished Moment - Qnet online community )〕 His prose poetry has appeared in the journals Text,〔(Text: Journal of the Association of Australiasion writing Programs )〕 Lodestar Quarterly,〔(Lodestar Quarterly - an online journal of the finest gay, lesbian, and queer literature )〕 Retort Magazine〔(RetortMag.com | Volume 2 Issue #2 Dec 02 - Jan 03 - Poetry )〕 and Polari journal.〔( Polari Journal - A Queer Creative Writing Journal, Issue 1 )〕 His short stories have appeared in the book anthologies "''Dumped''",〔Sarah Neal, ed, Bookman Press, Melbourne 1999〕 "''Bend, Don't Shatter''",〔Rachel and Costello, eds, Soft Skull Press, NY, 2004〕"''Sensual Travels''"〔Michael Luongo, ed, Bruno Gmunder Verlag, 2013〕 and others. His collection of memoir and travel writing "''Anywhere But Here''",〔Showpony Press, Brisbane, 2006〕 released in February 2006, received very strong reviews.〔(An Angguished Moment - Qnet online community )〕 In particular Graeme Aitken of Australian gay magazine DNA wrote: Dallas John Baker "was born in Toowoomba, Queensland and this collection of stories is a mix of travel tales, memoir and fiction. The first section of the book, set in America’s Deep South, confirm () talent. The stories are highly atmospheric, off-beat and absorbing. Some have gay content, but not all of them. Local readers will be interested in the final section of stories, set in Australia with locales ranging from Byron Bay to the Darling Downs. It’s refreshing to read new gay-themed Australian work that isn’t set in Melbourne or Sydney." The review also noted that Dallas John Baker "demonstrates an enviable flair for storytelling."〔(DNA Magazine )〕 Baker published a second book of travel writing in 2011 titled 'America Divine: Travels in the Hidden South'. This book focuses on travel in the South of the USA, particularly New Orleans. The book explores folk religion practices of the South including voodoo, Southern Hoodoo and snake-handling among other things. America Divine has been described as 'what you'd get if Victor Frankenstein made a new monster by splicing together body parts of David Sedaris, Truman Capote, Bruce Chatwin and just a bit of Djuna Barnes'.〔()〕 Another reviewer wrote that Angguish is 'an impressively skilled writer' and 'something of a strange genius'.〔()〕 The same reviewer later hailed Angguish as Truman Capote's literary heir.〔 ==Poetic style== In the eighties and nineties, under the nom de plume Dallas Angguish, Baker performed at many spoken word events in Australia garnering a reputation as one of Australia's most enigmatic, queer spoken word performers. A recording of his spoken word piece "The Pugilist", set to music by composer Luke Monsour, was played on Australia's national youth radio broadcaster Triple J. Baker's poetry is in the tradition of queer poetics initiated by Walt Whitman and consolidated by Allen Ginsberg, a tradition that foregrounds the colloquial voice, a first person, personal point of view and the expression of an erotic and mystical vision. Baker's poetry is often highly evocative and self-reflexive, as in the passage below:
Much of Dallas John Baker's poetry, written primarily to be spoken, deals with themes of eroticism, alienation and mysticism. The excerpt below, from his poem 'Embrace', is a good example:
This passage illustrates Baker's use of the Beat Generation inspired flowing stream-of-consciousness style he deployed in a series of poems that fuse the paradigms of eroticism and (Tantric Buddhist) mysticism. Baker spent five years as a Buddhist monk and is still committed to Buddhist practice.〔(An Angguished Moment - Qnet online community )〕 Another example from his poem 'The Tempo of Shamans' makes the fusion of these twin concerns in Angguish's work explicit:
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