Ben Egerton
associate Fellow, Rivendell Center for Theology and the Arts
Poetic projects/research interests: experimental poetry and Christian belief; poetic fragmentation; poetry as/and sculpture; poetry and cross-genre composition; the work of British poet Michael Symmons Roberts.
Dr. Ben Egerton is a poet based in New Zealand, and the author of two poetry collections—the most recent of which is The Seed Drill (Kelsay, 2023). He has been an Associate Fellow with the Rivendell Center for Theology and the Arts since 2025.
His poetry projects explore—through poetry and generative collaborative art/installation practice—constraint, fragmentation, and how compositional techniques from music and other art genres (and digital technologies) might inform work on the page. He is primarily interested in understanding how experimental poetic form and constrained compositional techniques might enable understandings and interrogations of Christian belief. Questions of Christian poetics also infuse his literature research. He asks how poets and poetry—centered on the work of British poet Michael Symmons Roberts—might explore aspects of faith and encounter in a (post-)secular language and culture. His poetry, essays, and articles are widely published in journals in both hemispheres.
Since 2019, Dr. Egerton has taught at Te Whānau o Ako Pai the School of Education at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is the Director of Initial Teacher Education, responsible for the University’s teacher training programmes. His education research includes understanding the role digital technologies might play in enabling and supporting children’s creative thinking and storytelling.
Headshot Photo Credit: Robert Cross, Victoria University of Wellington
