Cirrus@Austlit

Sergio Mouat attended Miguel Luis Amunategui High School in Santiago, Chile and later completed two years of economics studies at the University of Chile. He developed his passion for poetry at age twelve. He then studied the Spanish classics as well as the Latin American poets, which inspired him to create his own style in poetry writing.

He left Chile due to the military coup in 1973, which overthrew the democratically elected President Salvador Allende. When he arrived in Australia he worked in the building industry as a carpenter until the end of 1999, when for health reasons he had to cease work.

Beginning with his collection To Life: Verses of Love and Hope, Mouat wrote of living with mesothelioma. Being diagnosed with the disease, he writes in 'Despertar', sharpened his focus on writing poetry.