"The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke is a verse novel by Australian novelist and poet C. J. Dennis. The book sold over 60,000 copies in nine editions within the first year, and is probably one of the highest selling verse novels ever published in Australia.
The novel tells the story of Bill, a larrikin of the Little Lonsdale Street Push, who is introduced to a young woman by the name of Doreen. The book chronicles their courtship and marriage, detailing Bill's transformation from a violence-prone gang member to a contented husband and father. C.J. Dennis went on to publish three sequels to this novel: The Moods of Ginger Mick (1916), Doreen (1917) and Rose of Spadgers (1924(Introduction from Wikipedia)"
"First published in 1917, The Glugs of Gosh satirizes Australian life at the start of the twentieth century - but the absurdities it catalogs seem just as prevalent at the start of the twenty-first. The foolishness of kings, the arrogance of the elite, the gullibility of crowds, the pride of the self-righteous, the unthinking following of tradition - all find themselves the targets of C. J. Dennis' biting wit. (Summary by Chris Goringe)."
"LibriVox volunteers bring you 16 recordings of A Ruined Reversolet by C. J. Dennis. This was the Weekly Poetry project for October 28, 2012.
Clarence James Dennis was an Australian poet and journalist. In his varied career, he worked as a barman, shearer, solicitor's clerk, newspaper proprietor and (as do many Australians) a civil servant, before settling down in a rural retreat at Toolangi, in the Dandenong Ranges, east of Melbourne.
His most famous work is "The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke", a verse novel written in an Australian vernacular and first published in 1915. Despite its artless presentation, Dennis' verse is constructed with great skill, and attracted enthusiastic reviews from such august critics as H.G. Wells. E.V. Lucas and Sir John Betjeman.
Dennis' significance as a literary figure has been recognized by the establishment of C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry, which is awarded annually as part of the Premier's Literary Awards for the state of Victoria."
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