The Ghost in Us Was Multiplying

by Brent Armendinger

Poetry. LGBT Studies. Where does one body end and another begin? In THE GHOST IN US WAS MULTIPLYING, Brent Armendinger explores the relationship between ethics and queer desire, infusing meditations on public life and politics with a radical sense of intimacy. Although grounded in lyric, these poems are ever mindful of how language falls apart in us and—perhaps more importantly—how we fall apart in language. Armendinger asks, "What ratio of news and light should a poem deliver?" This book is a continuous reckoning with that question and the ways that we inhabit each other.

Genres: Poetry

79 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Brent Armendinger is the author of Street Gloss (The Operating System, 2019) and The Ghost in Us Was Multiplying (Noemi Press, 2015), both of which were finalists for the California Book Award in Poetry. Brent is also the author of two chapbooks, Undetectable (New Michigan Press, 2009) and Archipelago (Noemi Press, 2009). His poems and translations have appeared in many journals, including Anomaly, Asymptote, Aufgabe, Bloom, Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, Ghost Proposal, Hayden’s Ferry Review, LIT, Puerto del Sol, Volt, and Web Conjunctions. He has been awarded residencies and fellowships at Blue Mountain Center, the Community of Writers, Headlands Center for the Arts, and Mineral School. Brent teaches creative writing at Pitzer College and lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Carlos Alvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brent Armendinger's collection of poetry is deeply rooted in the thoughts on culture, our society and the experiences and relationships that come through our lives. It's very autobiographical and within a world for readers to enter, yet I want to return over and over even though my own world lives separate of Brent's.

The read was a bit challenging at times but grasps me and it's a book I will read over and delve deeper into. An ideal collection of poetry for contemporary, experimental writers.

[Greg Bem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt my insides wobble through the aching force of time creaking.