Mick Bocchino was born in Australia of an Anglo-Italian mother and an Italian father. He studied French and Italian. Graduating from Adelaide University in English, classics and philosophy, he then worked as a teacher. He also acted with the Adelaide Theatre Group from 1982 to 1984. He has been a member of the Adelaide University Science Fiction Club, the Literary Society of Adelaide University, the South Australian Writers' Centre, Friendly Street Poets, a president of the Keith Sheridan Institute, 1983-84, and a founding member of the Performance Collective. His work has been read on the Writers' Radio program on Radio 5UV and also on Radio 5MMM. He read at Friendly Street poetry readings from 1980, at Club Foote from 1987 and at the Cathedral Hotel, North Adelaide, from 1985 to 1988.