C.J. Dennis
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Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis (7 September 1876 – 22 June 1938), better known as C. J. Dennis, was an Australian poet and journalist known for his best-selling verse novel ''
The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke ''The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke'' is a verse novel by Australian poet and journalist C. J. Dennis. Portions of the work appeared in '' The Bulletin'' between 1909 and 1915, the year the verse novel was completed and published by Angus & Rober ...
'' (1915). Alongside his contemporaries and occasional collaborators
Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...
and
Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...
, Dennis helped popularise
Australian slang Australian English is a major variety of the English language spoken throughout Australia. Most of the vocabulary of Australian English is shared with British English, though there are notable differences. The vocabulary of Australia is drawn ...
in literature, earning him the title 'the laureate of the
larrikin Larrikin is an Australian English term meaning "a mischievous young person, an uncultivated, rowdy but good hearted person", or "a person who acts with apparent disregard for social or political conventions". In the 19th and early 20th centurie ...
'. When Dennis died, Australia's then
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...
said he was destined to be remembered as the 'Australian
Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
'.


Biography

C. J. Dennis was born in
Auburn, South Australia Auburn is a small town in the southern edge of the Clare Valley, in the Mid North of South Australia. It lies in the northern Mount Lofty Ranges just east of the Skilly Hills. Auburn is bisected by the Wakefield River as it makes its way to ...
. His father owned hotels in Auburn, and then later in Gladstone and Laura. His mother suffered ill health, so Clarrie (as he was known) was raised initially by his great-aunts, then went away to school,
Christian Brothers College, Adelaide Christian Brothers College (CBC) is a private Catholic school in Adelaide, South Australia. It was founded by a group of Irish Christian Brothers in 1878, and it is now one of three Christian Brothers schools in the state. CBC is predominantl ...
as a teenager. At the age of 19 he was employed as a solicitor's clerk. It was while he was working in this job that, like banker's clerk
Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...
before him, his first poem was published under the pseudonym "The Best of the Six". He later went on to publish in '' The Worker'', under his own name, and as "Den", and in '' The Bulletin''. His collected poetry was published by Angus & Robertson. He joined the literary staff of ''
The Critic ''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...
'' in 1897, and after a spell doing odd jobs around Broken Hill, returned to ''The Critic'', serving for a time c. 1904 as editor, to be succeeded by
Conrad Eitel Conrad may refer to: People * Conrad (name) Places United States * Conrad, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Iowa, a city * Conrad, Montana, a city * Conrad Glacier, Washingt ...
. In 1906 he co-founded and edited ''
The Gadfly ''The Gadfly'' is a novel by Irish-born British writer Ethel Voynich, published in 1897 (United States, June; Great Britain, September of the same year), set in 1840s Italy under the dominance of Austria, a time of tumultuous revolt and upris ...
'' as a literary magazine; it ceased publication in 1909. Dennis himself left ''The Gadfly'' and Adelaide for Melbourne in November 1907. In 1908, he camped with the artist Hal Waugh at Toolangi, north-east of Melbourne, near Healesville. Toolangi was his home for most of the rest of his life. C.J. Dennis married Margaret Herron in 1917. She published two novels and a biography of Dennis called ''Down the Years''. From 1922 he served as staff poet on the ''
Melbourne Herald ''The Herald'' was a morning and, later, evening broadsheet newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia, from 3 January 1840 to 5 October 1990, which is when it merged with its sister morning newspaper ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' to form the '' ...
''. C. J. Dennis is buried in
Box Hill Cemetery Box Hill Cemetery is a cemetery located in Melbourne's eastern suburb of Box Hill, Victoria in Australia. It currently occupies 12.5 ha (31 acres). It is known as the resting place of notable figures from Melbourne and its heritage-registered Co ...
, Melbourne. The Box Hill Historical Society has attached a commemorative plaque to the gravestone. Dennis is also commemorated with a plaque on Circular Quay in Sydney which forms part of the NSW Ministry for the Arts – Writers Walk series,Matilda – Australian Literary Monuments #18
/ref> and by a bust outside the town hall of the town of Laura.Matilda – Australian Literary Monuments #3
/ref>


Books

* ''Backblock Ballads and Other Verses'' (1913) *''
The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke ''The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke'' is a verse novel by Australian poet and journalist C. J. Dennis. Portions of the work appeared in '' The Bulletin'' between 1909 and 1915, the year the verse novel was completed and published by Angus & Rober ...
'' (1915) *''The Moods of Ginger Mick'' (1916) *''
The Glugs of Gosh ''The Glugs of Gosh'' is a book of satirical verse written by Australian author C. J. Dennis, published by Angus & Robertson in 1917. The book's 13 poems are vignettes of life in a fictional kingdom called Gosh, inhabited by an arboreal race (th ...
'' (1917) *''Doreen'' (1917) *''Digger Smith'' (1918) *''Backblock Ballads and Later Verses'' (1918) *''Jim of the Hills'' (1919) *''A Book for Kids'' (1921) (reissued as ''Roundabout'', 1935) *''Rose of Spadgers'' (1924) *''The Singing Garden'' (1935) *''The Ant Explorer'' (posthumously, 1988)


Poems

* "
The Austra-laise "The Austra-laise" is a poem by Australian writer C.J. Dennis that was first published in '' The Bulletin'' magazine on 12 November 1908 as an entry in a National Song Competition which drew 74 entries. The entry was entitled "A Real Australian ...
" (1908) * "
An Old Master "An Old Master" is a poem by Australian poet C. J. Dennis. It was first published in '' The Bulletin'' magazine on 4 August 1910, and later in the poet's poetry collection ''Backblock Ballads and Other Verses'' (1913). The poem depicts the prob ...
" (1910)


See also

* Angus & Robertson *
C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry The Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry, formerly known as the C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry, is a prize category in the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award. As of 2011 it has an enumeration of 25,000. The winner of this category prize vies w ...


Further reading

*


References


External links


Australian Dictionary of Biography
entry * *

at
Project Gutenberg of Australia Project Gutenberg Australia, abbreviated as PGA, is an Internet site which was founded in 2001 by Colin Choat. It is a sister site of Project Gutenberg, though there is no formal relationship between the two organizations. The site hosts free eboo ...
* *
Australian Authors – C. J. DennisPhilip " Your Vote is Wanted": C. J. Dennis at the ''Call ''JASAL'' 7 (2007)Jack Thompson reads poems by C. J. Dennis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dennis, C. J. 1876 births 1938 deaths Australian humorists Australian poets People from Auburn, South Australia People from Laura, South Australia Australian film studio executives Burials at Box Hill Cemetery The Herald (Melbourne) people