Welcome to brendanconstantine.com

Welcome to Brendan Constantine's website. Known for his dreamy abstraction and the emotional ferocity of his work both on the page and on the stage, Constantine has helped to shape the poetry scenes of Southern California. He is an ardent supporter of Southern California’s poetry communities and one of its most recognized poets. Mr. Constantine serves these communities as a teacher of poetry in local schools and colleges as well as hospitals, elder care centers and shelters for the homeless. He is currently poet in residence at The Windward School. Brendan is also very proud of his work with the Alzheimer's Poetry Project.

Please see my updated calendar for 2012!

Announcing the release of Brendan Constantine's third collection of poems - CALAMITY JOE

" Once there was a man who worked in a lab..."

Calamity Joe is the pen name of a mysterious narrator
in a new kind of poetry collection. Spending his days in
a lab, talking to mice & microbes, he will soon be the
last living member of his family. More and more life
seems to hint at its syntax and Joe feels that he can
just make out the page he inhabits. Drastic measures
are called for, but for what?

In his third collection, poet Brendan Constantine hasn’t
attempted a ‘novel in verse,’ so much as revealed a
complete psychology, stanza by stanza. Open it
anywhere and be rewarded with poems that stand alone;
read it from the beginning and discover the deeper
context that ties every image together.

As with his previous books, Constantine employs countless
approaches to poetry and no single style dominates.
Looking through Joe’s eyes we understand that life has no
single story, that love is not a single feeling, and that
sanity may be an act of sheer will.
“Constantine's ‘Joe’ takes up where Berryman's ‘Henry’
left off.

—Scott Hightower, author Part of the Bargain

Calamity Joe is available to purchase here.

Brendan Constantine is a Southern California poet and champion for the literary arts. He teaches at the Winward School and is well known for his workshops at Venice's Beyond Baroque. He performs his work across the United States.(more)