Brook Emery has worked as a swimming instructor, beach inspector, removalist and, for more than twenty years, as an English and History teacher. He has lived in Sydney and holds a doctorate in Creative Arts from the University of Newcastle. His poetry collections include And Dug My Fingers in the Sand, Misplaced Heart : Poems, and Uncommon Light : Poems. Most recently, he published Have Been and Are.
His awards include the Dennis Butler Memorial Prize, the Newcastle Poetry Prize, the Australian Sports Poetry Award, the Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award, and the Bruce Dawe National Poetry Prize.
Emery has been the New South Wales editor of Blue Dog and has chaired the Australian Poetry Festival and the Poets Union. He has long been based in Sydney.