James Adriaan Harrison

I was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and lived there for 60 years. I am married to Dr Giulietta Harrison and have two adult children, Francis and Ines.

I am a zoologist who started his career as a high school teacher. Most of my working life was spent at the University of Cape Town where I coordinated the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project and subsequently managed projects on birds, frogs and reptiles. For seven years I worked as an environmental consultant. I now work as an editor, writer and part-time lecturer from my home in a rural village in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

As a poet, I began writing while in high school, and have continued, intermittently, throughout my life. My output is meager, but I rework my poems repeatedly, even those that are decades old. I am also a landscape photographer and have held one solo exhibition, entitled "Anthroposcenery". Photographs appearing in the poetry books are available to order as prints.

The series that I am currently publishing with Kindle, called Austral Anomalies, is essentially a collection of all my better work. I decided to publish a series of slim, themed volumes rather than one big collection, because I believe that poetry is best digested in small helpings. Also, the themed approach allows the poems to resonate with each other, creating a chorus of harmonizing voices.