Australian Poet and Literary Scholar
John Kinsella nominated Who Would Know? as one of his Books of the Year in Australian Book Review, December 2024, saying “Dennis Haskell’s Who Would Know? (WA Poets Inc) is a vade mecum of different poetic modes, ‘conversational voice’, and formal control.”
Amy Lin has interviewed Dennis for the LA Review of Books; see: http:/blog.lareviewofbooks.org/poetry/matters-whats-always-mattered-talking-dennis-haskell/
With his partner Annamaria Weldon, Dennis will be reading at the Valentine’s Day reading organised by WA Poets Inc, 6.30pm on 14 February at Mattie Furphy House, Swanbourne
Dennis’s new book of poetry, titled And Yet…, is due to be published in May 2020. The book is divided into four sections, the first a follow up to his previous book, Ahead of Us (2016). Characteristically, the collection includes love poems, elegies, comic poetry, and ekphrastic poems. Some derive from travel to Hong Kong, Malta, Singapore, The Philippines, The Netherlands, and Taiwan. They aspire to a combination of intellect and emotion that appeal to a fulness of being.
In October Dennis joined Annamaria Weldon in reading a selection of their poetry in Valletta for the University of Malta.
Later in October he spoke on a panel at the Australian Short Story Festival, held at the Centre for Stories in Northbridge, Perth. The Panel with Marcella Polain and Rosemary Sayer, all Committee members of the Perth PEN Centre, concerned the power of the word and its conflicts with the sword.
In early November Dennis was Distinguished Visiting Professor at the International Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He gave talks, met members of the English Department as well as the Rector and Deputy Rector of the University, conducted a poetry workshop and judged a poetry competition.
