Dennis List (1946 – 9 November 2007) was a New Zealand poet, editor and novelist. List was born in Wellington to a professional family whose name was originally Liszt but grew up in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

. He became a student at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

in 1964 and quickly gained prominence as a writer and editor. His work appeared in ''Argot'', ''Experiment'', ''Frogslegs'', ''Salient'', ''Poetry Broadsheet'', ''NZ University Arts Festival Yearbook'', ''Poetry New Zealand'' and other literary magazines. His first book of poems, ''A Kitset of 26 Poems'', appeared in London in 1972. It was followed by ''Pathways into the Brain'' (1973) and ''Falling Off Chairs'' (1996), both published in New Zealand. He featured in ''The Young New Zealand Poets'' (1973). His poetry is prominently represented in the anthology ''Big Smoke: New Zealand Poems 1960-1975'' (2000). In 2000, nine of his poems were printed in the Alsop Review, an online poetry magazine in the United States. In 1965, List became a co-editor (with his flatmates Blair Peach and David Rutherford) of the ''Argot'' magazine, which had a leading role as an experimental literary magazine. He later edited and largely wrote the first two ''New Zealand Whole Earth Catalogues''. In 1979, List and his family migrated to Australia, where he became head of

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining com ...

for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, operating out of Adelaide. He took redundancy from the ABC in 1998 and became a freelance marketing guru, making several trips to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

for the Swedish Aid organisation and published major marketing guides. He took up a

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

n government scholarship to do a PhD at the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1991, it is the successor of the former South Australian Institute of Technology. Its main campuses along North Terrace are ...

, which he completed in 2006. He was made head of the market research department at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, having already established an international reputation in

Futures Studies Futures studies, futures research or futurology is the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social and technological advancement, and other environmental trends, often for the purpose of exploring how people will live and wor ...

. In the latter part of his life, List worked on a dozen novels, six completed. His first comic fantasy novel ''The Return of the Triboldies'' was published serially in the Victoria University student newspaper Salient in 1968 and reprinted in 1996. He completed three novels in a series, with each one set in a different Australian state and New Zealand: ''Midnight Deli'' (1993), ''Gone: No Address'' (1994) and ''Cloud of Universal Light'' (1999–2006) as well as two other novels, ''Dromeworld'' (1997) and ''Lear on Limbo'' (1997–2006). Dennis List died in Adelaide on 9 November 2007.

References

* Niel Wright, "Dennis List: An Appreciation". ''Ka mate ka ora A New Zealand Journal of Poetry and Poetics'', Issue 5, March 200

{{DEFAULTSORT:List, Dennis 1946 births 2007 deaths 20th-century New Zealand poets 20th-century New Zealand male writers New Zealand male poets University of South Australia alumni New Zealand publishers (people) Writers from Wellington City 20th-century New Zealand novelists 21st-century New Zealand novelists 21st-century New Zealand poets Victoria University of Wellington alumni Academic staff of the University of Adelaide New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand male novelists 21st-century New Zealand male writers