John Egan is a Sydney poet who also lives on the south coast of NSW. He was a high-school teacher of English for twenty-two years, Second Master of Bankstown Grammar School for nine years and later taught English as a foreign language and university preparation courses at the University of NSW, Wollongong University College and Newcastle University. For some years he also taught English and business communication at JDW Business College. His first chapbook was published by the Melbourne Poets Union and Ginninderra Press have published five collections, a verse novel, six collaborations with other poets and a number of chapbooks. He considers himself a poet of memory and the sea, but also writes of the natural world, the urban environment, social issues and Australian history.