John Bennett has performed his poetry around the world, transcribed his poetry for actors produced on ABC radio and won two of the most prestigious poetry prizes in Australia (the Newcastle and David Tribe). He has been
Sydney Harbour Artist of the Year and poet in residence at the Macleay Museum.
In 2010 he moved from the Inner West of Sydney to the coast and lives in Gumbaynggirr country. In the first year he saw over 100 species of birds in his garden and the adjacent forest. He is an occasional teacher of ecopoetry, Greenkeeper of the Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival and works with Saltwater/Freshwater facilitating Aboriginal writings. As well as a poet, he writes on ecological matters and is a photographer and video artist, exhibiting in Sydney and the Mid-North-Coast.
‘The collection is nearly a decade old, how time flies. I am now working in video, photography and text
focused on natural environments. A documentary on my working practice, ‘Poetry at first light’ was
broadcast by ABC Radio National in 2016. I have recently featured in two international anthologies of
nature and ecopoetry.’
