Denis McMahon was born in Broken Hill, N.S.W. and spent his early childhood in western N.S.W. and New Guinea. He was educated at Shore and UNSW and teaches English and Literature at Applecross S.H.S. From 1978 – 1989 Denis was best known as a rhetorician. He represented Australia in debating and was regarded as one of the leading forensic orators of his generation. Terminally addicted to chess, these days he is known as a dangerous tournament player and is the President of the Chess Association of W.A. Denis is married with two daughters and lives in a house called Malta. A previous selection of his poetry was published in 1994 as a special issue of Navigations.