After completing a BA at the University of Newcastle, Andrew Menken was awarded a Vice-Chancellor's Scholarship in 2020 and began his PhD in poetry. Many of his poems are imaginative explorations of his little hometown of Budgewoi on the Central Coast. Andrew's work has previously been published in SWAMP and Westerly. He recently received a Bouddi Foundation for the Arts Grant and was awarded the 2021 Allen and Unwin Award for creative writing. In his free time, Andrew likes to play guitar and dabble in songwriting.