12 days of what Christmas means to me: Russell Hannah, bush poet

As part of our 12 days of what Christmas means to me series, we meet Russell Hannah who is so inspired by Christmas 2024 he’s written a poem about it.

Illawarra bush poet and former TAFE teacher Russell Hannah has enjoyed a rich tradition of Christmas over eight decades.

“I grew up in southern Sydney, and around the age of seven I started placing orders,” he says.

It comes as no surprise to Russell’s poetry fanbase that a year later he included a Webster’s dictionary on his list – and got it.

“It was big and heavy, like most of the dictionaries of that time,” he recalls.

Russell and his older sister were raised in Gymea by a train-driver father and a stay-at-home mum.

Their house was always the centre of Christmas festivities for the wider family who lived in the street or just a short FJ Holden trip away.

At 27 and a year after he married Bev, Russell became the education officer at Long Bay Jail, which entailed interviewing every incoming prisoner to map out individual education programs.

“Long Bay was a maximum security jail so Christmas was just another day there,” he says.

Not even decorations? “Oh no,” he says with emphasis.

“They may have had a slight upgrade in diet because the prisoners under supervision cooked the food.

“But there were no hugs or kisses from relatives because it was a no-contact jail where inmates were allowed to see a relative once a month, with all conversations through a partition.”

He remembers one man, known as Arthur, who at 52 had spent only one Christmas in his entire adult life on the outside.

“Once we taught him to read and write and gave him some basic maths, he was a different man,” says Russell.

“I had five prisoners on my staff, and they were all good workers. In general, I got on well with most of the inmates. In fact, one, a lifer we called The Hook, who was a double murderer, used to warn me to stay away when prison riots were being planned.

“He’d say ‘Russ, I wish they wouldn’t do this crap because this is my home, and they’re just passin’ through,’” he says in such a polished fashion you know it’s one of his well-received one-liners.

After Long Bay, Russell and Bev set up their family home in Shellharbour and raised three children.

“Bev and I continue the Hannah tradition of Christmas lunch at our place but it became a lot more challenging with kids who as adults spent a lot of time overseas,” he says.

“My daughter Colleen, who has a five-year old daughter, now lives in New York; my son Brendan’s work is based in Port Headland and my other daughter, Sally, spent a few years in Japan and London before settling with her partner and two kids in Sydney.

“This year is a big one for us because we will have all of them home to celebrate Christmas as it should be celebrated – with family.”

For the past two decades, Russell has been sending cards to about 100 friends and relatives with a different Christmas poem each year.

Here’s a preview of this year’s offering:

I worry about climate change, as we near Christmas Day,

I want my friends to all stay cool, in an eco-friendly way.

But it’s Christmas time, so take a glass, fill it up with beer,

And drink a toast to absent friends – there’s more of them each year.

And if we cannot meet you, because it’s much too hard,

Know that we still think of you – that’s why we send this card.

We’ll have all the family here, they’ve come back to the nest

So, this Christmas time will have to rate, as just one of our very best.

Have a great new year and Christmas, enjoy your Christmas cake.

And remember not to overeat – it’s for the planet’s sake.