Barnett's volumes of poetry and short prose include collected Poems &,[1] collected Translations,[2] Translations Addenda,[3] Lithos,[4] The Making of a Story,[5] Like Those of an Eerie Ruin,[6] Book Paradise: Spillikins (with drawings by Lucy Rose Cunningham).
His translations include Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Anne-Marie Albiach, Roger Giroux, Pär Lagerkvist, Tarjei Vesaas, Andrea Zanzotto.
[11] He co-edits and publishes the literary, music and arts journal Snow lit rev (from 2013).
[13] Barnett has written extensively on African-American violinists, in particular Stuff Smith: Desert Sands, Eddie South: Black Gypsy, Juice Wilson: Fallen from the Moon: Robert Edward Juice Wilson: His Life on Earth: A Dossier.
He is the author of Listening for Henry Crowder: A Monograph on His Almost Lost Music (Allardyce Book, 2007), about the pianist consort of Nancy Cunard.