Books
Satan's School for Girls and Other Works
In this sprawling collection, Schmitt shreds what you expect poetry to be. At times hilarious, other times moving, his poems are like heavy metal guitar licks that leave your mind blown.
-John Burgess, author of Punk Poems
Schmitt’s poems refuse to worship at pastoral altars, regaling instead the...do-or-die wild girls down the street shredding air and fighting demons.
-Susan Swartwout, author of Odd Beauty, Strange Fruit
"Benjamin Schmitt, has written a work of heartbreak, anger, and genius...If readers have lived through the moral confusion of the last two decades, they will see themselves in these pages."
Read Sandra Lindow's full review at Specpo.
"Benjamin Schmitt’s latest poetry collection is really two quite different books: a witty political/social satire of 21st century United States wrapped around a lush center of lyric poems."
Read Sibyl James' full review at Raven Chronicles.
Soundtrack to a Fleeting Masculinity
"Schmitt’s poetry forces us to dig deep. With a clear and accessible voice, Schmitt introduces us to “this collapsing civilization” that we call the United States of America."
Read Matthew Hamilton's full review at Kissing Dynamite Press.
Dinner Table Refuge
"Schmitt has a knack for writing about memory and the passage of youth, while detailing the people that inhabited those clubs, making them more than punk rock caricatures in Doc Martins boots and Black Flag t-shirts."
Read Brian Fanelli's full review at TheThe Poetry.
Note: this book is out of print. Please fill out the contact page if you would like a copy.
The global conspiracy to get you in bed
"I admire it for the imagery and the surrealistic sense of transition but unlike much surrealism coming out of America today, it maintains its content: lyrical quality of that imagery, the merging of the political and the personal, erotic material, the desperation of real intimacy."
Sam Witt, author of Everlasting Quail and Sunflower-Brother and poetry editor of Jaded Ibis Press.
Selected Publications
"The Baby Killers" and "Self-Portrait as Action Figure" in The MacGuffin.
"Job #21" in Inscape.
"Interview with a Poem" and "Self-Care" in the Talking River Review.
"Ode on Forgiveness" in Delta Poetry Review.
"Book Reviews by Max Fielding" in Sensitive Skin.
"The Detective Reichert Chronicles: An Excerpt" in Killer Nashville.
"Job #10" in Grey Sparrow Journal.
"Spider" in Sojourners.
"Upward" and "Accomplishment" in The Good Men Project.
"Close" and "Bildungsroman" in The Good Men Project.
"Honor" in Spillway.
"Healing" and "Exegesis" in Trampoline Poetry.
"Totalitarianism" in The Nonconformist.
"Track 15" and "Track 29" in The Antioch Review.
"Track 16" in the New Plains Review.
"Track 36" in The Columbia Review.
"Track 1," "Track 40," and "Track 54" in Arcturus.
"Track 68" in The Summerset Review.
"That night" in Hobart.
"The bookshelf" and "Smartphone" in The Monarch Review.
Miscellaneous Articles
Archive of featured poetry book reviews in At The Inkwell.
Archive of articles in The Seattle Times.
Reviews of classic movies can be found on Substack.