Books and Chapbooks
november ninth: poems written when i was supposed to be working from home
november ninth: poems written when i was supposed to be working from home is a collection of poems composed in a single day in 2020. The poems explore how our need for human connection is undermined and confused by labor. We want to feel human when our work often requires us to be machines; we envy other animals whose lives, rustic and simple, don't require permission. november ninth is an irreverent, silly, and angsty act of rebellion for the workers of the world.
november ninth is for sale through dipity press.
concussion fragment
concussion fragment, winner of the 2021 elsewhere Chapbook Prize and the 2022 Florida Book Award Gold Medal, is about bodies moved by casual, ritual violence: the violence of backyards, sports fields, house parties, dinner tables, addiction, and labor. concussion fragment considers chaos, the need for and failures of companionship, and the shred of fierce longing buried in the skin of boys before they can put a name to it. It's about anger for anger's sake, and sadness for sadness' sake; it's an examination of life lived recklessly because it sometimes seems there is no other way. Purchase concussion fragment here.
fort lauderdale
Released in June 2019 through Grey Book Press, fort lauderdale examines, with humor and dread, a near-future Floridian landscape consumed by relentless hurricanes, biblical floods, and an apathetic population. Through it all, however, is reverence for Florida's incredible landscape, and the hope that it will rebound and replenish itself long after the plague of colonization. Purchase fort lauderdale through GBP.
the only flesh to feed you
Brendan's fourth collection, the only flesh to feed you, is the runner up in YellowJacket Press' Florida chapbook competition. the only flesh to feed you is a series of eighteen love poems written in the voices of animals. TOFTFY is now out of print, but I have some author copies if you want one!
Buddha vs. Bonobo
Brendan's third collection, Buddha vs. Bonobo, is a hand-sewn chapbook published by Sutra Press in October 2017. More about Buddha vs. Bonobo can be found here.
BvB gets a shoutout in Ploughshares as a debut chapbook from Sutra Press.
Go
Brendan's second collection of poetry, Go, was published by Aldrich Press in March 2016.
Go can be purchased on Amazon.
Learn more here.
Go was recently selected as a finalist in Alternating Current Press' 2016 Coil Book Award.
Make Anything Whole
Brendan Walsh’s Make Anything Whole is crafted from the best facets of both travel writing and the poetry of place. Among these pages, readers find the estranged familiarity of coming back to one’s home and country after traveling abroad. Taking us on the road as he experiences Laos, Korea, and then re-experiences the United States, Walsh chronicles the characters he meets along the way and ultimately discovers that you can take home with you wherever you go. His ultimately life-affirming experiences are set against a backdrop of interactions told through the sociological poetic eye.
A portion of the proceeds from this book will go to support CleanBirth.org, a group in Laos that educates women about safe birthing practices and provides sterile supplies to prevent mortality during child birth.
Make Anything Whole can be purchased on Amazon.
Readings/Reviews
Brendan reviewed two new collections of poems for America Magazine: “2 Poetry Collections Confront Modern Crises in Ancient Styles”
Brendan’s review of the Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology in Whale Road Review: “In Praise of Saint Dolly”
Brendan reads “epicurean ethics” for Inklette Magazine’s youtube channel.
Brendan performs virtually for the Seeing Things Spring 2021 Poetry Workshop
Brendan performs virtually for Hartwick College’s 2021 Visiting Writer Series
Readings and performances by Brendan can be found on his YouTube channel.
Magazine and Journal Publications
Latest:
Radar Poetry Journal, June 2024. “saturday”
Shot Glass Journal, February 2024. “for the dying and the dead”
South Florida Poetry Journal-Maureen Seaton Prize Finalist, March 2024. “there is an aldabra…", “last summer,” and “least bittern”
Stone Pacific, September 2023. “god. 26” and “sand crabs”
Red Noise Collective, September 2023. “raven”
The Fourth River, September 2023. “folding your laundry”
Hoxie Gorge Review, August 2023. “boca raton”
Hawai’i Pacific Review, April 2023. “the art”
Anacapa Review, March 2023. “qualia”
Scapegoat Review, Winter 2022. “Too many mangoes” and “Rum Punch”
Kitchen Table Quarterly, October 2022. “what’s living”
Red Ogre Review, September 2022. “The Last Poem I’ll Ever Write About Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jędrzejczyk I”
The Literary Bohemian, May 2022. “poem for this particular fear”
Inklette Magazine, April 2022. “epicurean ethics”
The Westchester Review, March 2022. “god. 15”
The Festival Review, February 2022. “the buck the buck the buck”
The American Journal of Poetry, January 2022. “vibetown summer” and “long week”
HASH Journal, December 2021. “final thoughts at the end of the world”
Miracle Monocle, November 2021. “particle board” and “pop tarts”
South Florida Poetry Journal, August 2021. “god. 5” and god. 26”
Barzakh Magazine, June 2021. “scenes from the climate apocalypse, florida”
Portland Review, May 2021. “to mukethe,” and “notjustyet notjustyet”
Up The Staircase Quarterly, July 2021. “horse poem for a long gone lover”
+ 2021 Publications
decomp journal, January 2021. "what will you do today?"
The Maine Review, January 2021. "little lie," and "balcony birds"
Sidereal Magazine, January 2021. "cedar key," and "purple sweet potato"
+ 2020 Publications
America Magazine, May 2020. "with goats" Winner, 2020 Foley Poetry Prize
The Underwater Railroad, September 2020. "bulguksa" (available in the full issue)
Into the Void Magazine, August 2020. "broke as fuck"
Limp Wrist Magazine, October 2020. "ode to spirit airlines"
+ 2019 Publications
Jet Fuel Review, Fall 2019. “office bowtie thursday”
Rattle, November 2019. “Mark Zuckerberg and i”
Cold Mountain Review, June 2019. “mulch”
Still Point Arts Quarterly, May 2019. “little planet” (page 26)
the minnesota review, April 2019. “concussion fragment #3”
The Nasiona, February 2019. “i wrestle Tom in the park in changwon” & January 2019. “hotel outside richmond”
+ 2018 Publications
Storyscape Journal, December 2018. “concussion fragment #1.5” & “fire”
American Literary Review, Fall 2018. “we are great apes”
pidgeonholes, July 2018. "two poems"
Baltimore Review, January 2018. "Dropping Weight"
Entropy Magazine, January 2018. "if it ends tomorrow, i die the luckiest person who ever lived"
Alternating Current Press, January 2018. "Where There is a Life, There is a Hope," "Sacks of Cells"
+ Older Publications
The Wire's Dream Magazine, December 2017. "the minimalists prepare for impending apocalpyse," "Hurricane Poem for the Colonizers"
The Indianapolis Review, October 2017. "there isn't enough Beerlao in all the universe to get us drunk tonight"
Her Heart Poetry, 2017. "why we kiss goodbye."
The Literary Whip Podcast, October 2017. Host Lise Quintana and Golden Walkman editor Joey Gould discuss Brendan's poem, "To Break Our Backs With It"
Still Harbor, 2017. “A Monk Realizes There is No More Earth to Walk”
Coldnoon: International Journal of Travel Writing and Traveling Cultures, 2017, "The First Homo-Sapiens Migrate to Europe"
Switched-on Gutenberg: A Global Poetry Journal, September 2017, "March Morning Recalling Masan, South Korea"
The Grief Diaries, September 2017, Four Poems
After the Pause, Spring 2017, "Dejected Fly's Death Note to a Mate"
Surreal Poetics, September 2017, "Opossum in Estrus Explains Why Her Lover is Made for Her."
Blacktop Passages: a Journal of the Open Road, Summer 2017 "To the Pilot Taking off as I Drive Past the Airport," "Big Cypress," "Road Trip Metaphors"
Golden Walkman Magazine, July 2017 Podcast. "I Imagined Montana" (audio poem)
Anchor Magazine, June 2017. "A Monk Realizes There is No More Earth to Walk"
Glass: A Journal of Poetry, May 2017. "Manatee and Her Mating Herd"
Parks & Points, April 2017. "what's wild"
Brendan recently read some poems from _Go_ and Make Anything Whole on Rocky Mountain Revival's latest podcast episode: Travel By Words
Mudfish, January 2017. "Movie Scene"
Turks Head Review, Fall 2015. "Guilt, after Privilege"
Young Raven's Literary Review, Fall 2015. "A Longing"
Elohi Gadugi Journal, Fall 2015. "Fruit Bat"
Off The Coast, Summer 2014. "Life Over Description"
Noctua Review, Spring 2014. “No Life, No Hope”
Drunk Monkeys, Spring 2013. “Sannaki,” “Kimchi,” “Makkoli,” “All the spring weather…”
Anak Sastra, Fall 2013. “He Sees Women Planting Rice,” “Fly Song, for Laos”
Lines and Stars, Winter 2013. “A Good Beer”
Paper Nautilus, Winter 2013. “Grat’s Travel Plans”
The Truth About the Fact, Spring 2013. “Red Light District, Masan”
Halcyon, Summer 2013. “Haiku Forecast: Spring in Connecticut,” “Yongi Park in Cherry Blossom Season”
The Connecticut Review, Spring 2012. “Mountain Temple, Masan, South Korea”
Diversion Press, Fall 2012. “Sacks of Cells”
Borderline Press, Fall 2012. “Mr. Shin Goes to the Makolli House,” "Mr. Shin Wakes up Hungover,” “Mr. Shin Speaks with the Mountain”