View source for Christopher Brennan

{{Short description|Australian poet, scholar and literary critic}}
{{for|the Medal of Honor recipient|Christopher Brennan (sailor)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}

{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name         = Christopher Brennan
| birth_name   = Christopher John Brennan
| image       = Christopher_Brennan_(1870_%E2%80%93_1932),_Australian_poet_and_scholar.jpg
| birth_date   = 1 November 1870
| birth_place  = [[Haymarket, New South Wales]], [[Australia]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1932|10|05|1870|11|01|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Lewisham, New South Wales]], [[Australia]]
| nationality  = Australian
| occupation   = {{hlist|Poet|scholar|literary critic}}
| notableworks = ''Poems: 1913''<br>''The Prose of Christopher Brennan''<br>''The Verse of Christopher Brennan''}}

'''Christopher John Brennan''' (1 November 1870 – 5 October 1932) was an Australian poet, scholar and literary critic.

==Biography==
Brennan was born in [[Haymarket, New South Wales|Haymarket]], an inner suburb of [[Sydney]],<ref>[http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/brennanc/poems1913.html Poems (1913) by Christopher Brennen (1870-1932)], middlemiss.org. Retrieved 23 February 2019.</ref> to Christopher Brennan (d. 1919), a brewer, and his wife Mary Ann ''née'' Carroll (d. 1924), both Irish immigrants.<ref name= "bio">
{{cite book|title= Brennan, Christopher John (1870–1932)|chapter=Christopher John Brennan (1870–1932) |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition|chapter-url= https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/brennan-christopher-john-5345|access-date=17 April 2010}}</ref> His education took place at two schools in Sydney: he first attended [[St Aloysius' College (Sydney)|St Aloysius' College]], and after gaining a scholarship from [[Patrick Francis Moran|Patrick Moran]], he boarded at [[St Ignatius' College, Riverview]].<ref name= "bio"/>

Brennan entered the [[University of Sydney]] in 1888, taking up studies in the Classics, and won a travelling scholarship to [[Berlin]]. There he met his future wife, Anna Elisabeth Werth; there, also, he encountered the poetry of [[Stéphane Mallarmé]].<ref name="bio"/> About this time, he decided to become a poet. In 1893 Brennan's article "On the Manuscripts of [[Aeschylus]]" appeared in ''The Journal of Philology''.<ref name=dab>{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Christopher John|Last=Brennan|shortlink=0-dict-biogBr-By.html#brennan1|accessdate=17 April 2010}}</ref> Brennan began forming a theory about the descent of Aeschylus' extant manuscripts in 1888.<ref name="bio"/>

Returning to Australia, Brennan took up a position as a cataloguer in the [[State Library of New South Wales|public library]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Martin|first=Sylvia|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/19580629|title=Ida Leeson - A Life : Not a blue-stocking lady|date=2006|publisher=Sydney : Allen & Unwin|isbn=978-1-74176-206-8|language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Perkins|first=Cathy|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/236377323|title=The shelf life of Zora Cross|date=2020|publisher=Clayton, Victoria : Monash University Publishing|isbn=978-1-925835-53-3|language=English}}</ref> before being given a position as assistant lecturer in French and German in the department of modern languages and literature and in 1920 the position of  associate professor in German and comparative literature at the University of Sydney.<ref>[https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A27110 Christopher Brennan], austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 23 February 2019.</ref> In 1914, he produced his major work, ''Poems: 1913''.<ref name="PLJW">P.L.J.W., "Australia's Supreme Poet. Christopher Brennan. Conflicting Claims.", ''[[The Age]]'', 23 March 1946, p. 7.</ref>

After Brennan's marriage broke up in 1922, he went to live with Violet Singer, the 'Vie' of his later poems,<ref name="bio"/> and, as a result of both his divorce and increasing drunkenness, he was removed from his position at the university in June 1925. The death of Singer in an accident in the same year left him distraught, and he spent most of his remaining years in poverty. Brennan died in 1932 from cancer.<ref name="PLJW" />

==Legacy==
Brennan influenced Australian writers of his own generation and many who succeeded him, including [[R. D. Fitzgerald]], [[A. D. Hope]], [[Judith Wright]] and [[James McAuley]].<ref name= "bio"/> In remembrance, the [[Fellowship of Australian Writers]] established the [[Christopher Brennan Award]] which is presented annually to "an Australian poet who has written work of sustained quality and distinction".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060827231443/http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/grants/program/10808-3580.htm Grants and Services detail], cultureandrecreation.gov.au. Retrieved 23 February 2019.</ref>

Brennan Hall and Library at [[St John's College, University of Sydney|St John's College]] within the [[University of Sydney]], the Christopher Brennan building in the university's Arts Faculty, and the main library at [[Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview]] are named in his honour.<ref>[http://library.riverview.nsw.edu.au/home Christopher Brennan Library], riverview.nsw.edu.au. Retrieved 23 February 2019.</ref>

There was for several decades a Christopher Brennan Society "founded in... the 1970s by Axel Clark, Robin Marsden and [[John Edward Fletcher|John Fletcher]]",<ref>[[Elizabeth Webby]], [https://bookcollectors.org.au/the-higher-self-in-christopher-brennans-poems-esotericism-romanticism-symbolism/ The Higher Self in Christopher Brennan’s Poems: Esotericism, Romanticism, Symbolism], bookcollectors.org.au, No. 354, June 2007,. Retrieved 23 February 2019.</ref> whose patrons included "some who knew Brennan: Professor [[Alan Rowland Chisholm|A. R. Chisholm]]; Margaret Delmer; Professor Ralph Farrell; Sister Peter, of the Sisters of Charity; [[Walter W. Stone|Walter Stone]]; Professor G. P. Shipp; Richard Pennington".<ref>Helen Frizell, "Printout", ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'', 6 May 1978, p. 17.</ref>

==Bibliography==

===Works by Brennan===

* Sir Roger de Coverley, ''Selections from The Spectator'' (Sydney : Turner and Henderson, 1892). Edited with: A. B. Piddington. {{ISBN|978-1533275691}}
* ''XVIII Poems: Being the First Collection of Verse and Prose'' (Sydney : privately stylographed, 1897).
* ''XXI Poems: MDCCCXCIII-MDCCCXCVII: Towards the Source'' (Sydney : Angus and Robertson, 1897).
* ''Fact and Idea'' (Sydney : Govt. Printer, 1899).
* [https://archive.org/details/fromblaketoarnol00brenuoft/page/n6 ''From Blake to Arnold: Selections from English Poetry, 1783–1853''] (London : Macmillan, 1900). Edited with: J. P. Pickburn & [[John Le Gay Brereton|J. Le Gay Brereton]].
* ''A Mask'' (Sydney : Sydney U. Women's College, 1913). With: J. Le Gay Brereton.
* [http://purl.library.usyd.edu.au/setis/id/v00025 ''Poems''] (Sydney : G. B. Philip and Son, 1914). Commonly referred to as ''Poems (1913)''.
* ''Passages for Translation into French and German'' (London : Oxford University Press, 1914). Compiled with: G. G. Nicholson.
* [http://purl.library.usyd.edu.au/setis/id/v00034 ''A Chant of Doom: and Other Verses''] (Sydney : Angus and Robertson, 1918).
* ''Twenty Three Poems'' (Sydney : Australian Limited Editions Society, 1938).
* [http://purl.library.usyd.edu.au/setis/id/v00015 ''The Burden of Tyre''] (Sydney : Harry F. Chaplin, 1953).
* ''The Verse of Christopher Brennan'' ed. by [[Alan Rowland Chisholm|A. R. Chisholm]] and J. J. Quinn (Sydney : Angus and Robertson, 1960).
* ''The Prose of Christopher Brennan'' ed. by A. R. Chisholm and J. J. Quinn (Sydney : Angus and Robertson, 1962).<ref>Ian Mair, "Brennan as a Prose Giant", ''[[The Age]]'', 1 December 1962, p. 18. Retrieved 23 February 2019.</ref>
* ''Selected Poems of Christopher Brennan'' (Sydney : Angus and Robertson, 1965). Ed. by: A. R. Chisholm.
* ''Selected Poems of Christopher Brennan'' (Sydney : Angus and Robertson, 1973). Ed. by: G. A. Wilkes.
* ''Prose-Verse-Poster-Algebraic-Symbolico-Riddle Musicopoematographoscope & Pocket Musicopoematographoscope'' (Erskineville, NSW : Hale and Iremonger, 1981). Ed. by: Axel Clark. {{ISBN|9780908094882}}
* [[Terry Sturm]], ed., ''Christopher Brennan, Edited with an Introduction and Notes'' ( St. Lucia, Qld: University of Queensland Press, 1984) (Portable Australian Authors series). {{ISBN|978-2747580007}}
* ''13 Poems'' (Pearl Beach, NSW : Escutcheon Press, 1987). Ed. by: R. E. Summers.
* ''Interludes: Six Poems'' (Pearl Beach, NSW : Escutcheon Press, 1991). {{ISBN|9780958806633}}
* ''The Autumnal Glory of Valvins: Christopher Brennan on Mallarmé'' (Banora Point : Wind and Wave Press, 2007). Ed. by: Phillip A. Ellis.
* ''Like a Dream of Stone: Selected Verse Translations by Christopher Brennan'' (Banora Point : Wind and Wave Press, 2007). Ed. by: Phillip A. Ellis.

===Works about Brennan===
* Katherine Barnes, ''The Higher Self in Christopher Brennan’s Poems: Esotericism, Romanticism, Symbolism'', Leiden: Brill, 2006. {{ISBN|978-9004152212}}
* Alan Rowland Chisholm, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=UhjQAAAAMAAJ Christopher Brennan: The Man and his Poetry]'', Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1946.
* Alan Rowland Chisholm, ''Study of Christopher Brennan's "Forest of Night"'', Melbourne University Press, 1970. {{ISBN|978-0522839562}}
* Axel Clark, ''Christopher Brennan: A Critical Biography'', Melbourne University Press, 1980.
* T. Inglis Moore, ''Six Australian Poets: Hugh McCrae, Shaw Neilson, Bernard O'Dowd, William Baylebridge, Christopher Brennan, R. D. FitzGerald'', Melbourne, Robertson & Mullens, 1942.
* Simone Kadi, ''Christopher Brennan, poète'', Université de Nanterre 1994.
* Simone Kadi, ed. and tr., ''Christopher Brennan: Introduction suivie de 12 poèmes – textes et traductions – avec commentaires'', Paris: Editions L'Harmattan, 2005 (Poètes des Cinq Continents).
* Richard Pennington, ''Christopher Brennan: Some Recollections'', Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1970. Foreword by G. A. Wilkes.
* Walter W. Stone and Hugh Anderson, ''Christopher John Brennan: A Comprehensive Bibliography with Annotations'', Cremorne (N.S.W.), Stone Copying Company, 1959 (Studies in Australian Bibliography, No. 9).

==See also==
{{portal|Poetry}}
*[[List of Australian poets]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/brennanc/brennanc.html Australian Authors – Christopher Brennan]
* [http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/brennan-christopher/ The Australian Poetry Library entry on Brennan] contains 86 poems by Brennan.
* [http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/oztexts/ozlit.html Australian Studies Resources] contains texts of Brennan's poems in pdf format.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120304205357/http://sydney.edu.au/alumni/sam/november2011/christopher-brennan.shtml "Life as Whitest Flame"] - article by Christopher Bowen OAM and Annette Lemercier.
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Christopher John Brennan |sopt=t}}
* {{Librivox author |id=8331}}
* [https://trove.nla.gov.au/list?id=55207 List: Christopher Brennan], at [[National Library of Australia]]
* [https://library.sydney.edu.au/collections/rare-books/personal-papers.html#b Personal Papers and Books of Christopher Brennan] at Rare Books & Special Collection, University of Sydney Library. 
* [https://library.sydney.edu.au/collections/rare-books/downloads/brennan.pdf Guide to the Christopher Brennan Collection] - finding aid regarding Brennan's personal papers and books.
* [https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=950100389;res=IELAPA;subject=Education C. J. Brennan, T. J. Quinn and the Library of St Patrick's College, Manly] - Brennan owned and annotated books held by [[St Patrick's Seminary|St. Patrick's]], 1994 (login required)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Christopher}}
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1932 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian male poets]]
[[Category:Australian literary critics]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Sydney]]
[[Category:University of Sydney alumni]]
[[Category:People educated at St Aloysius' College (Sydney)]]
[[Category:People educated at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview]]
[[Category:Poets from Sydney]]
[[Category:Australian people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in New South Wales]]