Endemic Cretinism

John Dennison was born on May 28, 1978 in New Zealand. He is a poet who has also published poetry of another New Zealand poet - James Baxter. Dennison became a well-known poetry performer in Dunedin, New Zealand, during his time there in 2003-2007. In "Ko te Pakeha te teina: Baxter's cross-cultural poetry", Dennison explores "the potential of Baxter's engagement to inform an understanding of Pakeha identity"--the theme of Dennison's Master of Arts dissertation at the University of Victoria, Wellington, New Zealand.

In April 2007, Dennison was awarded the highest value scholarship from the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission. The scholarships awarded by the New Zealand Government were embroiled in controversy, when Opposition MPs criticised the award of $96,000 for the study of bogans. Dennison's scholarship was awarded to fund his doctoral research at St Andrews University, Scotland, looking at the ways in which Heaney¿s poetry addresses political conflict in Northern Ireland.

In 2015, Dennison published his first volume of poetry, 'Otherwise'. It was published simultaneously by Carcanet in the United Kingdom and Auckland University Press in New Zealand. It made The New Zealand Best Seller List.

030