AUBURN, SA. — C.J. Dennis was born Clarence Michael James Dennis on September 7, 1876, in Auburn, South Australia, as the son of a publican; his prudish aunts brought him up.
He was keen on writing from a young age, and several of his early verses were published in the ‘Critic’ in 1898. Dennis became editor of the ‘Critic’ in 1904, and two years later he helped launch the satirical weekly magazine, ‘The Gadfly’.
After this, he worked as a freelance journalist in Melbourne until his big success, ‘The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke’.
‘The Sentimental Bloke’, as it came to be known, was a love story, written in slang. Initially rejected by a Melbourne publisher, it was picked up by Angus and Robertson and published in 1915.
It became an immediate success for its irreverent larrikinism and use of Australian slang.
C.J. Dennis continued to write other satirical verses which were also popular.
In 1935, he published his last book, The Singing Garden, with poems describing the sounds, sights and emotions evoked by his bush home in Toolangi, Victoria.
C.J. Dennis’ former Toolangi home, his Singing Garden and tearooms remain open to the public, usually on weekends, except during high-fire-risk weekends.
He died on June 22, 1938.
