"I immediately cop to the anarchic surrealism here, but what endures beyond the swerves and surprises is a brave honesty and emotional resonance. The innovation on the level of sentence, form and line brings out the soul of each poem, whether puzzling or consoling or both. The narrators, whether possessed by love or confusion or violence, speak to us and implore and try to find the meaning in their surroundings. Armstrong's poems are rooted in landscape, flora and fauna, but something continually breaks through the dirt, the surf, the sand and it's something beautiful and strange and terrifyingly human. Somehow he manages to fuse the inner life with the outer world, that-which-is-the-case with that which is notional, and undercuts it perfectly with a kind of resignation / acceptance / celebration - "I have no idea / how it came / to be this way." When I got to 'by divinity or unfavourable mutation (a murder)' I was fully sold on this as a debut of endless engagement and excitement by an original new voice you'd be so f@ck!ng stupid to miss." - Luke Kennard "Ben Armstrong possesses a compelling inquisitiveness about language and form and a boundless sense for subject and place. Inventive, maverick, and protean, Perennial is a work of a restlessly lyrical and fascinating new poet.

" - David Morley "Perennial is a laugh-out-loud, cry-out-loud, sci-fi mock epic that twists, turns and stretches in context and content as much as it does with its language. With Armstrong at the helm of this strange ship, we're in the hands of a master of the surreal and a poet of immense dexterity - one who clearly enjoys seeing just how far the poem, punchline and metaphor can stretch. In keeping with the influences scattered through this collection, these poems are as beautiful, savage and hilarious as Nick Cave's oeuvre; sexy and scary and mystifying all at once. In a world of tribalism and faux-certainties, Perennial is a much needed Trout Mask Replica." - R.M. Francis "The poems in Ben Armstrong's Perennial are laced with violent, unpredictable joy. Words, letters and punctuation sling about the pages, fading in and out, visually and sonically catching you offguard, slamming images together and straining off the page.

Part travelogue, part concerto for our damned environment, Perennial brims over myths and poems that show us the world through a passionate, wild music." - George Ttoouli.