About Benny
My name is Benny—Sip, if you’ve known me since I was a kid. I’m a writer based in New Zealand. I’m a proud Minnesotan, but Aotearoa hooked itself deep into my soul over a decade ago, never let go, and quickly became home. An angler’s paradise and an outdoor lover’s wet dream, NZ’s waters completely rewired me—big braided rivers, innumerable crystalline streams, unassuming creeks all filled with (mostly) very large brown trout.
I’ve lived a few lives: Professional Footballer, Fly-Fishing Guide, Coach, Business Director, CEO, partner-in-crime to a strong wahine, Sim, and father to Rip. My work has been featured in 1964 Mountain Culture Journal and I’ve been a regular contributor for The Fly Fish Journal. I am also the current world-record holder for the 4UR Fly Fishing Marathon.
These days, I write books full of poetic-prose—honest, raw ones that get straight to the heart. I write them, publish them, and send them sailing into the ether from here. I’m figuring it out as I bushbash my way along, this writing-and-self-publishing thing. If you’d like to connect about publication, send me a message.
What I’ve Written, Finished, And Published
Butterfly: An Adult Children’s Book
An adult children’s book (yes, that’s a thing) for grown-ups who still believe in becoming something brand new. Think The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse—but Benny Sip style. Buy now.
A River Runs: Reduxed & Rewritten
A River Runs features over 200 original Benny Sip poems, fully revamped and expanded in this 2.0 edition. Rooted in rivers, nature, memory, family, friendship, and meaning, it’s a lyrical invitation to slow down, pay attention, and follow what moves you. Buy now.
Wading in Jandals: Fly Fishing In Aotearoa
Reflections on over a decade of fly-fishing in Aotearoa—part travelogue, part meditation, part love letter to family members, friends, and moving water. If you are a Kiwi angler, have fished New Zealand, or are planning a trip to Aotearoa, this book is an absolute must-read. Buy now.
What I’m Working On Now
Pereception: Reflections on Water
A contemplative collection of poetic reflections that uses rivers, lakes, and the natural world as mirrors for the inner life. Through lyrical prose and quiet inquiry, it explores identity, surrender, gratitude, and the extraordinary improbability of simply being here. At its heart, the book invites readers to slow down, look deeply, and rediscover the wonder flowing through both water and themselves.
Release date: Coming soon to a river, lake, or field near you.
If You Don’t Know Simone: A Personal Memoir
A personal memoir on my wife’s recent journey with cancer — love, survival, becoming, and all the other parts in-between, no one warns you about.
Release date: Whenever the poetry muse arrives in full force.
What They’re Saying
“In Wading in Jandals, Benny Sip has captured the dirt-bag essence of fly fishing in New Zealand. His writing is as fresh and ebullient as the wild streams he loves. The poems are thought-provoking, funny, irreverent, and land on the reader like a perfectly placed dry fly. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in fly fishing and rivers. It’s also packed with wise words about life and family from someone who knows.” — Dougal Rillstone, Upstream on the Mataura
"Of the dozens of fishing writers I know, none love writing more than Benny Sip. Of the hundreds of fishermen I know, none hike harder or farther. Of my many friends, none gave me a hug in the pitch-dark before we’d ever formally met. That exuberance for writing, fishing, and living pours off these pages like the characteristically clear waters from the mountains of Aotearoa. It’s as joyous to read as it must have been to write." — Sam Lungren, A Fly Fishing Legend
“Benny’s little book of poems can be life altering. Like a river following life’s twists and turns, profoundly moving—flowing—A River Runs will rock your world. We can’t own a river except in our hearts. Sip brings those rivers into our hearts through his personable and witty words.” — Craig Mathews, 1% for the Planet
“I finally had a chance to read A River Runs over the past few days. Beautiful—a sentiment to live by.” — William Souder, Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
“Benny’s book A River Runs is page after page of reset-buttons. Even standing behind the counter of a fly shop can become a mind-numbing affair. Open to any page, give yourself a minute to read, a minute to exhale, and find yourself ready for the next customer to ask, ‘What’s the best fly rod?’ Ben has saved many of my customers from the surly fly shop owner.” — Michael Fischer, Mend Provisions
