David Brooks, Ph.D.
Affiliated Scholar
David Brooks, Ph.D., is currently Honorary Associate Professor of the University of Sydney where he taught Australian Literature from 1991 until 2013. He is a writer of fiction and poetry as well as non-human animal advocacy. Author of numerous works concerning non-humans in philosophy, literature and public life – Animal Dreams (essays, 2021, Sydney U.P.), Derrida’s Breakfast (essays, Brandl & Schlesinger, 2016), Turin (meditations, Brandl, 2021), The Grass Library (Brandl, 2019), and Essay on Rights for Non-human Animals (Sanje, 2025) – he focusses principally on kangaroos (e.g. the essays ‘The Number Game’ and ‘The Grieving Kangaroo Photograph’). With his partner Teya Brooks Pribac he is also founder of the Australian Sanctuaries Trust, a major new charity supporting animal sanctuaries and refuges. They live in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales with rescued sheep. In 2025 David was awarded the Australian Prime Minister’s Award for Poetry, and the Patrick White Award for services to Australian literary culture.