Brennan, Christopher

▪ Australian poet

in full  Christopher John Brennan 

born Nov. 1, 1870, Sydney, Australia

died Oct. 5, 1932, Sydney

      poet and scholar whose highly personal verse never was popular with the Australian public but was highly regarded by critics for its vitality and sincerity. For many years much of his work was virtually unobtainable, having originally been produced in small editions or circulated privately in typescript. A collected edition in 1958 helped rescue his reputation from obscurity.

      Brennan was educated in the classics at the University of Sydney (M.A., 1892). His verse shows the influence of Greek and Latin poets. While in Germany on a traveling scholarship, he became interested in the Symbolists. Returning home, he became a library cataloger, lectured part time at the University of Sydney, and, in 1920, was appointed associate professor of German and comparative literature at the University of Sydney. He was dismissed from this post in 1925 because of his unconventional life-style; he then lived in poverty for some years.

      In 1897 XXI Poems: Towards the Source was published in an edition of only 200 copies. Poems (1914) was followed by A Chant of Doom (1915).

Additional Reading

G.A. Wilkes, New Perspectives on Brennan's Poetry (1953); Axel Clark, Christopher Brennan (1980).

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