The Toolangi C. J. Dennis Poetry Festival in Toolangi, Victoria | Performance art theatre

The Toolangi C. J. Dennis Poetry Festival

Locality: Toolangi, Victoria

Phone: +61 400 729 780

Address: 1694 Healesville-Kinglake Road 3777 Toolangi, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.stephenwhiteside.com.au

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24.01.2022 Here is the last of the links to my blog for photos of the festival. This time, it contains a lovely bunch of shots sent to me by Will Moody. http://www.stephenwhiteside.com.au/some-photos-from-will-m/

21.01.2022 The 2018 Toolangi C. J. Dennis Poetry Competition is now open for entries. The entry form can be found on the Society's website, here: http://www.thecjdennissociety.com... Please note that the closing date has been brought forward to 15th August. As was the case last year, we now have a short story category also (maximum 500 words). Happy writing!

15.01.2022 This year, the Toolangi C. J. Dennis Poetry Festival is celebrating the centenary of the publication (in 1918) of 'Digger Smith'. This is the third in the series of books featuring Bill (the Sentimental Bloke) and Doreen, and their friends. The book is set as the First World Was is coming to an end. 'Digger Smith' is an old friend of Bill and Ginger Mick. He returns home having lost a leg and, with it, much of his confidence. Bill and Doreen conspire, together with their frie...nds, to reconcile him with his girlfriend, and help him to begin to build a future for himself. The book also explores the nature of war itself, and the ways in which returned soldiers in general can be re-integrated back into society. Like so much of Dennis' work, it is a clever mix of humour and pathos. The book will be presented in full on the Saturday afternoon and evening of the festival by the C. J. Dennis Society. The festival will take place this year on the weekend of Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st October at "The Singing Gardens", former home of C. J. Dennis, in Toolangi, 70 km east of Melbourne. See more

14.01.2022 Exciting news for all lovers of the works of C. J. Dennis! Dennis' numerous writings for the Melbourne Herald newspaper are finally appearing online as part of ..."Trove's" digitised newspaper collection. We are finally seeing poems (and works of prose) that have not seen the light of day for nearly one hundred years! C. J. Dennis wrote a poem a day on topical events for the Melbourne Herald for most of the years between 1922 and 1938. He called his column "The Mooch of Life". (The phrase comes from "The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke".) What I find works well is to type "The Mooch of Life" into the search box for the digitised newspapers. Pretty well anything that appears in the Herald is a piece of writing by Dennis. Many of them are listed as 'coming soon'. In these cases, there is an option to type in your email address, and the link will be sent to you as soon as the article appears online. It is a veritable smorgasbord! Happy days!

09.01.2022 Harold Herbert and C. J. Dennis both spent some time together at 'Sunnyside', the hobby farm cum artists' colony owned by Gary and Roberta Roberts in the Dandenong Ranges.

07.01.2022 It is 1923, and C. J. Dennis has some sound advice for beachgoers on what they should wear while swimming. (Source: Trove - National Library of Australia) Moral...s and Municipalities (Melbourne Herald 03.03.1923) The Council of a seaside town had met to consider the question of decent bathing costumes. The Mayor (Councillor Cuttlefish) said that it was the duty of the Council to take some action in regard to the shockingly indecent costumes worn by visiting bathers. It was a disgrace to the town! (Hear, hear.) He did not for a moment believe that any of their own ratepayers would be guilty of such conduct - (applause) particularly those ratepayers who had voted for him at the last election. Their town was noted for its morale. Councillor Nark: Good or bad? The Mayor said he treated such interjections with contempt. (Hear, hear.) He invited Councillors to offer suggestions for a fit and proper costume for our beaches. Councillor Nark said that the people who came to their beaches came to bathe, not to insult the ocean with absurd and ugly garments. If our first parents, Adam and Eve, thought it no harm to (Cries of Shame! Sit down! Kick him out! Councillor Nark subsided.) Councillor Kelp said he considered the skirt of the present two-piece costume totally inadequate. All costumes should be three-piece, or even four or five piece, and the skirt should extend below the ankles or even further. (Cheers.) Councillor Nark said that if a lady had a decent figure he did not see why The Mayor: Order! Order! (Councillor Nark sat down.) Councillor Stingaree said he had got the local dressmaker to design a costume that should be quite satisfactory. Besides, it had the added merit of cheapness. It could be made from a wheat sack, with a hole cut in the bottom to admit the head and a hole at each corner for the arms. A frill was attached to the mouth of the sack to cover the er lower extremities. The feet might be hidden under a coat of water-proof paint. (Cries of Capital! Great idea!) Councillor Nark asked if any motion on this question carried by a bare majority would be likely to compromise the Council. Councillor Cockleshell: Sit down, you satyr! Councillor Flounder said that he had even a better idea than Councillor Stingaree. It was one of those cases in which good might come out of evil. He referred to the costume used for reprehensible purposes by the Ku Klux Klan in America a hooded garment which concealed every portion of the human form but the eyes. These, however, might be partially concealed with smoked glasses. (Wild enthusiasm. Cheers. Prolonged applause.) Moved and carried with one dissentient: That this Council approves of the Ku Klux Klan Kostume for bathers, and that such costume be made kompulsory.

07.01.2022 It is 1922, and C. J. Dennis is wrestling with the question of how to spend his Sundays. His natural liberal tendencies suggest it is time for change, but the e...arly influences from the strict maiden aunts who raised him following the death of his mother are also very much in evidence. (Source: Trove - National Library of Australia) Sunday (Melbourne Herald 20.09.1922) Various people are still protesting against Melbourne City Council’s decision to allow Sunday games in the public parks. What shall we do on a Sunday? Shall it be as it was before, When we yawned and slept and the Sabbath kept By voting the day a bore When we listened to sermons dreary, That told of a hope forlorn, Leaving us mad and dreary, Longing for Monday morn. What should we do on a Sunday, After the Church is out? Should we dream and sleep, and the Sabbath keep Simply by lounging about? Should we sit on our horse-hair sofa Harboring thoughts of gloom? Should we think of the dread here-after, And ponder upon our doom? What may we do on a Sunday? May we not do as we please? Why should we bow to the dictum That’s fraying our trouser knees? There are divers ways that we wot of For wearing our garments out; For we should be gay on the Sabbath day, And we want to laugh and shout. What can we do on a Sunday? Shall we bow to the wowser’s word And cogitate on our sinful state? I think the game’s absurd. And yet with my early training Though I think that a Sunday’s slow Should you bid me say that it should be gay, Well, frankly I dunno!

06.01.2022 Results of 2018 Toolangi C. J. Dennis Festival Poetry and Short Story Competition Open Poetry Award First Prize - "Anzac Eyes" (David Campbell) Second Prize - "Bill" (Kyrie Covert)... Third Prize - "Ozrap: as things stand" (John Bond) Highly Commended Black Saturday (John Bond) My Herald Stuff? (Stephen Whiteside) Ode to a Spring Morning (Jim Kent) Open Short Story Award First Prize - "Opening Night" (Shelley Hansen) Second Prize - "Rosemary's Summer Harvest" (John Jenkin) Third Prize - "Miss Daisy" (Jim Kent) Adults Writing for Children (adult judging) First Prize - "Ozzie's Snozzle" (Kesta Fleming) Equal Second Prize - "The Class Photo" (Jenny Erlanger) Equal Second Prize - "If" (David Campbell) Highly Commended "Getting to Sleep" (Jenny Erlanger) "Career Moves" (Doc Bland) Adults Writing for Children (children judging) First Prize - "Scruffy Dog" (Jan Williams) Second Prize - "The Class Photo" (Jenny Erlanger) Equal Third Prize - "Wishes" (Maureen Halloran) Equal Third Prize - "Shadow" (Agi Dobson) Poems by Students in Primary School First Prize - "Far and Few" (Robert Simpson) Second Prize - "The Unfair Bear" (Jessica Nakad) Poems by Students in Secondary School First Prize - "Peek-a-boo" (Michelle Dinuan-Mason-Sanmiah) Second Prize - "Melting Globe" (Michelle Dinuan-Mason-Sanmiah) Third Prize - "My Australian Home!!!" (Nicky Louw) Congratulations to all the winners!

04.01.2022 Thank you to the members of the C. J. Dennis Society who have sent me heaps of wonderful photos from this year's festival! I have featured them in three new posts on my blog, which can be found here: http://www.stephenwhiteside.com.au/more-glug-photos/... http://www.stephenwhiteside.com.au/photos-of-the-2017-tool/ http://www.stephenwhiteside.com.au/a-few-more-of-shelleys-/

01.01.2022 Just to avoid any confusion, the Toolangi C. J. Dennis Festival is being held in 2018, not 1918!