Born in South Africa in 1947, John Eppel was raised in Zimbabwe, where he still lives, teaching English at Christian Brothers College in Bulawayo. His first novel, D G G Berry’s The Great North Road, won the M-Net prize and was listed in the Weekly Mail & Guardian as one of the best 20 South African books in English published between 1948 and 1994.

John's poetry collections include Spoils of War, which won the Ingrid Jonker prize, Sonata for Matabeleland, Selected Poems: 1965 – 1995, and Songs My Country Taught Me.

‘I know of no other poems which depict more poignantly the experience of being a white African during this time of transition.’ – Guy Butler

‘Ample proof that good formal poetry is very much alive, this poet uses run-on lines and counter rhythms to allow the rhymes to be the undersong of the poem rather than its striking measure. Lovely poems here about sex, arts, spiders, flowers, and yes, birds.' – Billy Collins