About Us
Meet Bob
Bob Magor grew up with a love of Banjo Paterson, thanks to his dad who recited Banjo’s poems to him as a small boy. As an only child and with no kids on the adjoining farms his early years were spent in a mainly male environment listening to all the stories told by neighbours and his dad.
Upon leaving school at 15 he picked up a handpiece and went shearing for the next ten years as well as breeding fat lambs on the small family farm. The shearing sheds were full of fun and yarns and Bob began putting these experiences into verse to amuse his dad. In his mid-twenties he purchased some adjoining land, built a dairy on the growing property and spent the next 20 years milking cows as well as breeding sheep.
In 1989 when he became jaded with his dairy cows and from the 7 day a week commitment, he looked for a new challenge. This frustration caused a mid-life meltdown and he began writing bush verse in the dairy between batches of cows.
In an effort to get him to regain his sanity Bob’s wife Beryl encouraged him to lease out the dairy part of the farm and pursue his dream of becoming a bush poet.
While distributing his first book in 1991 Bob discovered Tamworth and the fledgling bush poet breakfasts at the Longyard. He was blown away by some of the poets who had memorised their poems and were performing them. This sent Bob home from his first festival highly enthused to lift his game.
As an inaugural member of the Australian Bush Poets Association established in the early 90’s Bob strapped himself in and took off with this new movement.
Now with ten books of his verse in the stable he has become one of the popular new generation bush poets in Australia. Three-time winner of the prestigious Bronze Swagman award for written bush poetry at Winton Queensland and collecting four Bush Laureate awards for written and audio verse at Tamworth. The impoverished sheep farmer from Myponga found this a lot more enjoyable than chiselling dags from an upturned sheep or standing under the business end up a herd of dairy cows twice a day!
For 25 years Bob found himself in demand at festivals and for corporate work all over Australia. As most of his work involved huge amounts of interstate travel in 2020 (just before Covid blitzed the entertainment industry), Bob decided to retire as a performing poet and spend more time at home. He has continued to write and in December 2021 produced his tenth book of his warped outlook of life through his bush verse.
Over the years Bob has strutted his stuff as an entertainer from Hobart to Cairns to Derby to Boyup Brook WA and everywhere in-between.
The Longyard Poets Breakfasts at Tamworth
Jim Haynes Big Bush Brekkies at Tamworth.
At Country Music Festivals
The Gympie Muster
Bush Poetry festivals
National Campervan and motorhome rallies
Caravan Rallies
Rotary Conventions
Lions Conventions
National Folk Festivals
CWA National Conventions
Outback Publicans Tristate Piss-ups at Innamincka
Shearing Championships
Beyond Blue functions
Rural Women’s Symposiums
Corporate dinners or just as a guest speaker.
Touring Tasmania, Victoria and SA with mates Frank Daniel, Geoffrey Graham and Noel Cutler with a two hour stage show.
In the 1990's he helped start the Poets Breakfasts at Derby WA and at the Ringers Reunion in Camooweal. Both these events are still going.
Along with a couple of mates, in October 2018 Bob had the honour of being a part of the first group of bush poets invited to perform on a country music cruise out of Sydney.