About Benny
My name is Benny — Sip, if you’ve known me since I was a kid. I’m a poet 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, roadside rivulets, 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. Most recently, I’ve become a certified celebrant. I’ve previously been a contributor for The Fly Fish Journal. My work has been featured in 1964 Mountain Culture Journal. I am also the current world-record holder for the 4UR Fly Fishing Marathon with an unbeatable time of 1:33:45. I strongly identify as a fly-fisher-man.
These days, I write books full of poetic-prose — honest, raw ones, the kind 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 bush bash and stumble my way along, this writing-and-self-publishing thing. If you’d like to connect about publication send me a message.
And yes, I’m writing this in the first person because I can’t pretend to be some polished, perfect, third-person version of myself. It’s just me here, paving a creative path while keeping my life from collapsing into a pile of half-finished drafts and stash of fly-fishing gear in the back of my 1996 Nissan Terrano.
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.
What I’m Working On 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!
Release date: January-February 2026, right on time for your once-in-a-lifetime fly-fishing trip to Aotearoa, NZ.
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
“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 change 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)
“Benny’s book 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)
“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)
“Like Richard Brautigan’s Trout Fishing in America, Benny Sip has nearly invented a genre. Hands down the best book of ‘poetry’ I’ve read in years. I couldn’t put it down.” — Backcountry DOC Hut Review
“Before I even got to the poetry, there was precipitation from my eyes — in absolute awe of your ability to use language that tugs and strikes and floods the soul with raw love, beauty, and urgency. Absolutely love the book — it’s orgasmically awesome!!!” — Margaret C.
“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)
“It stopped me, made me laugh, made me tear up — every page hits a different emotion.” — Jennifer Y.
“I read it cover to cover in one sitting. It resonated so much.” — Warren K.
“Tears rolling down my cheeks… absolutely magnificent.” — Abi C.
