Dick Warwick Cowboy Poet: Bio

photo by Bill Patterson

Dick Warwick

Original & Classic Cowboy & Outback Poetry

Born and raised in the Palouse Hills Region of Eastern Washington state, Dick Warwick lives on the family place where he and his wife, Sue, raise horses, a few cattle and grain crops. He is the fourth generation of his family to farm and ranch in that locale; and his son has followed in his footsteps. He has been involved with livestock and farming his whole life, and has written poetry almost that long.

He has been a featured poet at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering (most recently in 2011 and 2012) the Colorado Cowboy Poetry Gathering; the Ozark Folk Center, and many other venues, events, and festivals.
In 1999, 2002, and 2004 he was an invited participant in several Australian folk and poetry festivals, including the National Folk Festival; and in March of 2006 returned to Western Australia as a cultural ambassador sponsored by the US Consulate in Perth, performing for schools, organizations, festivals and other events.
He was a presenter at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference in 2007 and at the Skagit River Poetry Festival in 2012.

Annually, for more than ten years, he has hosted Australian poets and musicians, introducing audiences in the Pacific Northwest to bush poetry, the Australian tradition that parallels that of our own cowboy poetry. His own poetry has been published many times in the annual Australian anthology, The Bronze Swagman Book of Verse, and he received first place in the novice division at the Australian Waltzing Matilda Championships in 1999. In 2011 he was named “All-around Champion” at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, held in Kanab, Utah.

He has published two books, Fence Lines (out of print), and a hardbound volume, Out West to Outback and Beyond, A selection of some of the poems he has written over the past fifteen years. He has recorded several CDs, the latest the cricitally acclaimed Cowboy Poetry Lite, released in 2012.