Dr Martin Duwell was born in England and has lived in Australia since 1957.
He has been a publisher and critic of contemporary Australian poetry since 1967. As poetry reviewer for The Australian from 1989-1998 he reviewed over 130 books of verse. He is a Senior Lecturer in Australian Studies and Poetics at the University of Queensland.

He has edited or co-edited numerous volumes with UQP. The most recent of these is The Best Australian Poetry 2005, which was released in September 2005.