Country Campfire wouldn’t exist without the poets, musicians, photographers, storytellers and contributors who have shared their time, talent and stories over the years. This page recognises some of the legends helping keep the campfire burning.
Want to learn why this project exists?
→ The Country Campfire Legends Project
Bob Pacey
Bush Poet • Performer • Storyteller
One of Queensland’s best-known bush poets, Bob Pacey has entertained audiences across Australia with humour, storytelling and more than 120 poems committed to memory.
Phil McManus
Bush Poetry Performer • Henry Lawson Reciter • Storyteller
A passionate supporter of Australian bush poetry, Phil McManus has shared classic bush verse through performances, festivals and community events, helping keep the stories of the Australian bush alive for new generations.
Ben Eggleton
Bush Poet • Songwriter • Storyteller
A passionate storyteller of rural Australia, Ben Eggleton has shared original poetry and music through recordings, performances and published works. Known as The Bard From The Scrub, his work helps preserve the people, places and traditions that shape country life.
Corin Linch
Bush Poet • Storyteller • Head Stockman
Corin Linch draws on his years as a head stockman in the Kimberley to tell authentic Australian stories through bush poetry. His performances and recitals celebrate the people, landscapes and characters of outback Australia while helping preserve traditional bush verse for future generations.
Peter Flanagan
Bush Poet • Storyteller • Contractor • Shotfirer • Butcher
Peter Flanagan is a bush poet and storyteller whose work draws on contract work, mining rosters, road miles, station work, fencing, mustering, butchering and the pull of home. His poems and recitals help preserve the working life, humour and heart of Australian country culture.
James Cayce
Bush Poet • Humourist • Storyteller • Parody Writer
James Cayce is the pen name of Zbigniew “Zig” Ignaszak, a bush poet and storyteller whose work blends humour, parody, memory, gratitude and Australian country verse.
David J Delaney
Bush Poet • Writer • Storyteller
David J Delaney is an Australian bush poet and writer whose poems draw on a lifetime of work, travel, family, road memories, outback places and the people he has known along the way. His poems are preserved through Country Campfire as part of the Keeping The Verse Alive project.
Dick Roberts
Bush Poet • Author • Songwriter
Dick Roberts is an Australian bush poet, author and songwriter whose work celebrates the High Country, horses and the people of rural Australia. Alongside publishing his poetry in print, Dick has also begun adapting many of his poems into songs, helping bring Australian bush verse to a new audience while continuing to preserve the stories and traditions of the bush.
Rob Baldinger
Author • Bush Poet • Storyteller • Outdoorsman
Rob Baldinger, also known as The Venison Diplomat, is an author, bush poet and outdoorsman whose books, poems and stories explore wild food, hunting, family, outdoor life and the relationship between people and the natural world.
Billy Dettmer
Bush Poet • Singer-Songwriter • Storyteller
Billy Dettmer is an Australian bush poet, singer-songwriter and storyteller whose work spans more than four decades. From award-winning bush poetry and original music to the Frankston Guitar Festival and a career as a paramedic, Billy has spent a lifetime sharing Australian stories through words and song.
The Wannabe Bush Poet
Larrikin • Observer • Storyteller
The Wannabe Bush Poet is an anonymous Australian writer whose poems capture everyday country life with humour, honesty and sharp observation. Shared through Country Campfire’s Keeping The Verse Alive project, these poems preserve stories that might otherwise have been lost.