Brendan Constantine was born in Los Angeles, the second child of actors Michael Constantine and Julianna McCarthy. An ardent supporter of Southern California’s poetry communities and one of its most recognized poets, he has served as a teacher of poetry in local schools and colleges since 1995.
His first collection, ‘Letters to Guns,’ was released in February 2009 from Red Hen Press to wide acclaim. This was followed in 2011 by ‘Birthday Girl With Possum,’ under the performance based publisher Write Bloody, and established Mr. Constantine as a poet equally at home on the page and the stage. His work can be found in many standards, including Poetry, The Nation, Tin House, Best American Poetry, Poem-a-Day, Virginia Quarterly, Rattle, Prairie Schooner, Field, Chautauqua, and Poetry Daily. His most recent collections are ‘Dementia, My Darling’ (2016) from Red Hen Press and ‘Bouncy Bounce’ (2018), a chapbook from Blue Horse Press.
Brendan has received support from the Getty Museum, James Irvine Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. A popular performer, he has presented his work to audiences throughout the U.S. and Europe, also appearing on NPR’s All Things Considered, TED ED, numerous podcasts, and YouTube. He currently teaches creative writing at the Windward School and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
In addition, he brings poetry workshops to veterans, hospitals, foster care centers, and shelters for the homeless. He is also very proud of his work with the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project. Since 2017, he has been developing workshops for writers living with Aphasia and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI).
His sister Thea Constantine is a novelist and teacher in Portland, Oregon.
