Joe Bennett (writer)

Julian "Joe" Bennett[1] (born 20 April 1957) is a writer and columnist living in Lyttelton, New Zealand.

Joe Bennett (left), Andrew Holden (editor of The Press) and Rod Oram

Born in England, Bennett emigrated to New Zealand when he was 29. Before his writing career, he worked as an English teacher at Christ's College in Christchurch. During this time, Bennett wrote the words to the musical "Tramps", which was presented as a co-production between Christ's College and St Margaret's College in 1994, and garnered a review in The Press.

Bennett is a columnist for Christchurch's newspaper The Press and for New Zealand Gardener as well as being an author.

From the "Introduction" to Fun Run and Other Oxymorons he describes himself as follows:

"If anything holds these articles together it is that I like people but not in herds. I distrust all beliefs, most thought and anything ending in ism. Most opinion is emotion in fancy dress."

Bennett is a seasoned hitchhiker and has a dog called Blue. He has previously had two dogs called Baz and Jess. He is fond of dogs and this is reflected in the titles and cover art of many of his books.

He has been in segments on the New Zealand comedy show Moon TV hosted by "That Guy" Leigh Hart in a segment called "Bookzone: A Show About Books".

In December 2011 he appeared in the media for refusing to evacuate his Lyttelton home as ordered by the Christchurch City Council due to fears of falling rocks if another earthquake was to occur.[2]

Selected bibliography
  • Just Walking the Dogs (1998) ISBN 1-877161-49-7
  • Sleeping Dogs and Other Lies (1999) ISBN 1-877161-67-5
  • Fun Run and Other Oxymorons (2000) ISBN 0-684-86136-4 (A collection of his first two books).
  • So Help Me Dog (2000) ISBN 1-877270-02-4
  • Sit (2001) ISBN 1-877270-10-5
  • Doggone (2002) ISBN 1-877270-34-2
  • Bedside Lovers (and Other Goats) (2002) ISBN 0743228650
  • Barking (2003) ISBN 1-877270-49-0
  • Unmuzzled (2004) ISBN 1-877270-85-7
  • A Land of Two Halves (2004) ISBN 0-7432-5713-8 ISBN 074326357X
  • Dogmatic (2005) ISBN 1-877393-11-8
  • Down Boy (2006) ISBN 1-877393-25-8
  • Mustn't Grumble: An Accidental Return To England (2006) ISBN 0-7432-7627-2
  • Love, Death, Washing-up, Etc: Joe Bennett Sorts It Out (2007) ISBN 1847391087
  • Eyes Right (and They's Wrong) (2007) ISBN 0731813502
  • Where Underpants Come From: Travels in the new China (2008) ISBN 1-84737-001-2 ISBN 978-1847370013
  • Laugh? I Could Have Cried (2008) ISBN 9781869507459
  • Alive And Kicking (2008) ISBN 1869506723
  • The World's Your Lobster (2009) ISBN 978-1-86950-810-4
  • Hello Dubai (2010) ISBN 978-1-84737-674-9
  • Celebrity Cat Recipes (2010) ISBN 9781869508111
  • Double Happiness: How bullshit works (2012) ISBN 978-1-86950-957-6
  • Fish like a Drink (2013) ISBN 978-1-77549-053-1
  • King Rich (2015) ISBN 9781775490920
  • From There to Here (2023) (an autobiography)

References
  1. Bennett, Joe (2003). "Jules". Barking. Hazard Press Publishers. ISBN 1-877270-49-0.
  2. Donnell, Hayden (16 December 2011). "Joe Bennett: I won't leave my quake-hit home". The New Zealand Herald.
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