Neil Hulm was born at Wagga Wagga in 1930. He attended school at
Tumbarumba. In 1938 the family moved to Mannus where Neil spent his early years
on the family property, assisting in general farm work with sheep, cattle and horses.
In 1943 his father took out a grazing lease in the Kosciuszko National Park near
Kiandra and Neil was engaged in attending to the cattle and sheep during the summer months and then moving them down to the lower regions for the winter. This
continued until 1960 when the "Park" was closed to summer grazing.
A keen follower of the rodeo circuit, Neil was a very successful saddle bronc rider
and in the mid-50s he was one of the top bronc riders in Australia. He then turned his
attention to rodeo judging for a further fourteen years. His love for horses took him
to polocrosse and he was captain of the Tumbarumba team in NSW taking the state
title in 1958. In 1972 he, with his family, moved to Albury and he turned his talents to racehorse
training through to 1984. Neil's words: "As others, a few winners and a lot of
losers".
Since then he has spent his time recording in prose and verse the events and memories of the past. This work, acclaimed by many, has now made Neil Australia's most
successful living poet. His first publication, Where the Snow Grass Grows, went
into a fourth print inside twelve months; his next book, Aussie Bush Yarns (went
into a sixth print) was followed by The Pub and The Scrub, Aussie Style Mate, Tales of the Bush, Aussie Ettamogah Pubs, The Rivers Roar No More, Country Comedy, Yarns Around the Camp Fire, Aussie Bush Comedy, Bush Humour, Yarns Of The Bush and now Aussie Country Comedy.
Neil Hulm's poem The Outback Cattle Drive - 2002
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