Dennis List (1946 – 9 November 2007) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

poet, editor and novelist. List was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

to a professional family whose name was originally Liszt but grew up in Rotorua. He became a student at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...

in 1964 and quickly gained prominence as a writer and editor. His work appeared in ''Argot'', ''Experiment'', ''Frogslegs'', ''Salient'', ''Poetry Broadsheet'', ''NZ University Arts Festival Yearbook'', ''Poetry New Zealand'' and other literary magazines. His first book of poems, ''A Kitset of 26 Poems'', appeared in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1972. It was followed by ''Pathways into the Brain'' (1973) and ''Falling Off Chairs'' (1996), both published in New Zealand. He featured in ''The Young New Zealand Poets'' (1973). His poetry is prominently represented in the anthology ''Big Smoke: New Zealand Poems 1960-1975'' (2000). In 2000, nine of his poems were printed in the Alsop Review, an online poetry magazine in the United States. In 1965, List became a co-editor (with his flatmates

Blair Peach Clement Blair Peach (25 March 1946 – 24 April 1979) was a New Zealand teacher who was killed during an anti-racism demonstration in Southall, London, England. A campaigner and activist against the far right, in April 1979 Peach took part in a ...

and David Rutherford) of the ''Argot'' magazine, which had a leading role as an experimental literary magazine. He later edited and largely wrote the first two ''New Zealand Whole Earth Catalogues''. In 1979, List and his family migrated to Australia, where he became head of

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers: know about them, starting with who they are. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Mar ...

for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, operating out of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. He took redundancy from the ABC in 1998 and became a freelance marketing guru, making several trips to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

for the Swedish Aid organisation and published major marketing guides. He took up a

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

n government scholarship to do a PhD at the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

, which he completed in 2006. He was made head of the market research department at

Adelaide University The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, having already established an international reputation in

Futures Studies Futures studies, futures research, futurism or futurology is the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social and technological advancement, and other environmental trends, often for the purpose of exploring how people will l ...

. In the latter part of his life, List worked on a dozen novels, six completed. His first comic fantasy novel ''The Return of the Triboldies'' was published serially in the Victoria University student newspaper Salient in 1968 and reprinted in 1996. He completed three novels in a series, with each one set in a different Australian state and New Zealand: ''Midnight Deli'' (1993), ''Gone: No Address'' (1994) and ''Cloud of Universal Light'' (1999-2006) as well as two other novels, ''Dromeworld'' (1997) and ''Lear on Limbo'' (1997-2006). Dennis List died in Adelaide on 9 November 2007.

References

Niel Wright Niel Wright (Frank William Nielsen Wright born 30 September 1933) is a New Zealand poet, literary critic, bibliographer, publisher, and cultural and political commentator. His major piece of work is his epic poem ''The Alexandrians'', self publis ...

, "Dennis List: An Appreciation". ''Ka mate ka ora A New Zealand Journal of Poetry and Poetics'', Issue 5, March 200

{{DEFAULTSORT:List, Dennis 1946 births 2007 deaths 20th-century New Zealand poets 20th-century New Zealand male writers New Zealand male poets University of South Australia alumni New Zealand publishers (people) People from Wellington City 20th-century New Zealand novelists 21st-century New Zealand novelists 21st-century New Zealand poets Victoria University of Wellington alumni University of Adelaide faculty New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand male novelists 21st-century New Zealand male writers