Brendan reads a poem for South Florida PBS’ celebration of Poetry Month, 2024. Check it out here!

Reviews

Read Alex Wells Shapiro’s review of concussion fragment here:

“While concussion fragment depicts a good deal of pain, the second half allows the potential, the inherent holiness of the human body to shine through. This recontextualization, along with Walsh’s sharp, surprising descriptions, drew me to immediately reread the collection when I finished. It’s a striking exploration of how abundant and adaptive humans are in the face of cruelty and scarcity both despite and because of, as Walsh puts it, ‘the body’s desire for ground’.”

A review of the only flesh to feed you at Live Oak Review:

"The origin of each poem in this collection is the act of love. Often, we glimpse the moment right before the love making, the chase, the violence of it, the blood matted fur of closeness and of winning a mate by distinguishing ourselves with feathers or fending off other potentials. Sometimes Walsh spins his dervish language wildly, and we are caught up in the frenzy of the act itself—“rising with me buoyed by me / each finding me”—his rhymes becoming feral and trancelike. Sometimes we are caught in memory’s melancholy in the remembrance of a lover past. Given all the emotional registers, this chapbook reads like a sexy, poetic bestiary."

An interview with The Wire's Dream Magazine about writing and life:

"I hope to publish five more books in five years. I also hope to continue teaching writing. Mostly though, I’d like to feel more comfortable and confident with periods of non-creation or deep experimentation. It’s tough to move away from a routine when it works and it feels good, but I hope five years from now (assuming the world hasn’t ended) that I’m less concerned with efficiency (I hope I’ll have earned some time by then)."

Buddha vs. Bonobo on the Ploughshares blog:

“These humans, who can’t appreciate the awesomeness of observance of celestial bodies, are taken to task by the bonobos of the earlier section whose work is defined in part by the ceremonious rising and setting of the sun. Walsh’s eco-critical poetry takes a clear stance on humanity’s interaction with the earth.”

A review of Buddha vs. Bonobo for Live Oak Review:

"Throughout Buddha vs. Bonobo, Walsh leverages his travels to express wonder and confusion with the human in both harmony and discord with the natural world. We walk with him in monk’s shoes along the Mekong and consider how begging for alms to afford a meal is worth the vow of poverty. We are repeatedly shown incidents of loss, sorrow, longing through the perspectives of early migratory populations of animals-soon-to-be-people that stayed put..."

Five Questions with Brendan Walsh in Elsewhere Magazine

Review of Go by After the Pause:

"Storing and releasing all kinds of humanity, both the pleasant and the difficult in properly apportioned measures, the following sums up the pathos Walsh continuously feels through these explorations of heart and hurt: “Describe yourself: broken. Describe / the world: breaking. Nothing is everything, / so this must be.” This is a rare collection whose end I hoped to delay, and whose re-beginning I cannot resist."

Review of Make Anything Whole in Blotterature:

"...these poems present ripe fruit for meditation. Though Walsh’s writing is filled with contradictions, so is life, and it is Walsh’s willingness to bring us this collage of conflicting and coordinating ideas and images that makes his collection a worthwhile read."