At-a-Glance
Latest book: Letters to Guns
Lives in: Hollywood
Used to be: A mortgage broker
Favorite restaurant: Boccali’s (in Ojai)
Website: www.brendanconstantine.com
Brendan Constantine was born in 1967 and raised in Los Angeles. The second child of two working actors, his parents named him for Irish playwright Brendan Behan. He is an ardent supporter of Southern California’s poetry communities and one of its most recognized poets. He has served these communities as a teacher of poetry in local schools and colleges for the last fifteen years. In addition to this, he has lead similar classes in hospitals and shelters for the homeless.
His work has appeared in numerous journals, most notably Ploughshares, The Los Angeles Review, The Cortland Review, RUNES, and LA Times Bestseller The Underground Guide to Los Angeles. New work can be found in the Spring editions of Ninth Letter and The Boxcar Poetry Review, as well as the anthology Bright Wings, forthcoming from Columbia University Press and edited by Billy Collins. His collection, Letters To Guns, was released in February 2009 from Red Hen Press.
Mr. Constantine is currently poet in residence at the Windward School in West Los Angeles and the Idyllwild Arts Summer Youth Writing Program in Idyllwild, California. He holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives in Hollywood at Bela Lugosi’s last address.
SoCal Book Scene Exclusive (Mini) Interview:
SCBS: What did you do before you “officially” became an author?
BC: Oh, my. So many things! Lots of temp and secretarial work, a mortgage brokerage (five years!), video stores, record stores (before CD’s!), a movie theater (very dark), I also had a couple of punk bands in which I sang and wrote songs, a fair amount of movie-extra work (Did you see me?), McDonald’s (first job!), and a lot of wondering what I wanted to do.
SCBS: How do you spend your weekends?
BC: I love field trips! I always try to get out and see something new, whether it be a part of town I haven’t explored, a gallery or museum, a new restaurant, or just someplace where I can look out over the world. The rest of the time I’m either reading or watching a movie. All of this is of course either prelude or postlude to actually getting some writing done!
SCBS: What’s your favorite restaurant in Southern California?
BC: I guess it has to be Boccali’s Italian restaurant in Ojai. Family owned since 1986, Bocalli’s has the best combination of good food and atmosphere. They grow their own produce in a garden out back and the restaurant terrace borders a vast orchard (acres and acres!). A list of perfect days has to include a drive up the coast to Ojai, book shopping at Bart’s Books (the best!), and going to Boccali’s to dine at one of their parasoled tables as the sun sets over the groves.
Available at your favorite local Southern California independent bookstore:
